Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) called the Iowa Republican Party chairman on Wednesday just to let him know that he’s exploring running for President — but not running right now.
“But there was a resolve in his voice,” Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann told The Des Moines Register. “What I heard is a man that’s ready to come out and tackle the Hawkeye state.”
The friendly call by Bush followed Kaufmann saying publicly that only two candidates widely believed to be planning to run for President in 2016 hadn’t called him yet: Bush and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
“He was very upbeat,” Kaufmann told the Register in describing the 20-minute call. “Very general in terms of his strategy, and very specific in terms of geography…What impressed me the most about him was the intricate knowledge he had about the various spots in the state.”
Bush, according to Kaufmann, stressed multiple times that he hadn’t decided to run for President yet.
“When I hung up the phone, I was very heartened that this guy is going to play in Iowa,” Kaufmann said.
