An influential voice among the conservative grassroots says he thinks Jeb Bush has missed his chance to run for the White House.
RedState editor Erick Erickson wrote in a post on his website Wednesday that, while he holds Bush “in high regard,” but that the former Florida governor’s “time to run is over.”
“We have an amazing crop of potential candidates and a far deeper bench than the Democrats,” Erickson said. “Bush running in 2016 would be a distraction in media coverage from a solid crop of candidates.”
Erickson said he encouraged Bush to run in 2012, when conservatives were looking for an alternative to Mitt Romney.
“Jeb Bush is a great guy and I appreciate his contributions to the party over the years,” Erickson wrote. “But we have a solid bench to choose from in 2016. This flirtation both undermines the newer governors Jeb Bush helped elect and gives a new wedge for the media to put between the party leadership and its base headed into 2016.”
Bush said over the weekend that he would decide whether to run for president by the end of the year.