MIAMI BEACH — Jeb Bush said he thought it was unnecessary to spend $1 billion on a presidential campaign, a figure reached by both Mitt Romney and President Obama in 2012, saying a smart team could run a leaner operation.
It was an implicit critique of the emerging campaign of Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose supporters estimate she will raise and spend that amount in her bid for the White House.
“I don’t think you need to spend a billion dollars to be elected president of the United States in 2016,” Mr. Bush said in a brief question-and-answer session here.
“I don’t think it’s necessary if you run the right kind of campaign,” he added. “You don’t need to have these massive amounts of money spent.”
Mr. Bush made the remark as he prepared to head to a retreat for his biggest fund-raisers at a hotel in Miami Beach.
Such a comment, no doubt welcomed by advocates for campaign finance reform, could eventually pen Mr. Bush in, should his campaign exceed the $1 billion mark.
In 2012, Mr. Romney spent about $1 billion, and Mr. Obama spent about $1.1 billion.
The issue of presidential campaign spending has touched off soul searching in both parties. Advocates for tighter campaign regulation say that big donors command too much influence and that this source of increasing amounts of cash is kept secret.
Critics may also argue that Mr. Bush is being disingenuous: He has acted more aggressively than any presidential candidate before him to raise money for a “super PAC” and for a related political nonprofit run by close aides. In effect, Mr. Bush is offloading major costs of his likely campaign to “independent” groups that can raise and spend unlimited money. Some donors have suggested that corporations and big donors will spend more to aid Mr. Bush during the Republican primaries than Mr. Bush’s own campaign.
And he is already building a network of volunteer “bundlers” to help raise the somewhat smaller contributions that a campaign committee can accept.
Asked if he would release the names of his bundlers should he run for president, Mr. Bush said he was unsure.
“That’s a good question,” he said.
First Draft provides fast-paced and comprehensive coverage of politics and elections by The New York Times. Come back throughout the day for the latest news and analysis, and be part of the political conversation.
Like it? Hate it? Have a tip for us? Send any and all feedback to firstdraft@nytimes.com.
We send out a newsletter around 7 a.m. eastern time each weekday that serves as a look-ahead to the day's political events and expected stories.
Sign Up
No comments:
Post a Comment