Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush poses for photos after a question and answer session at the Mountain Shadows Community Center in Las Vegas on Monday. (AP Photo/Las Vegas Sun, Steve Marcus)
Presumptive GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush indicated on Friday that he would not continue using his private e-mail address if he's elected president.
"For security purposes, you need to be behind a firewall that recognizes the world for what it is and it’s a dangerous world and security would mean that you couldn’t have a private server,” Bush said in an interview with Radio Iowa of reports Hillary Clinton used a personal e-mail address to conduct official business as secretary of state, and even stored its server at her suburban New York home. “It’s a little baffling, to be honest with you, that didn’t come up in Secretary Clinton’s thought process.”
Bush and his campaign-in-waiting pounced almost immediately after reports surfaced on Monday night. They touted Bush's decision to publish hundreds of thousands of emails he sent and received while serving as governor and using a personal e-mail address, jeb@jeb.org.
But Bush's e-mail dump includes only self-selected messages that he was required to release in compliance with Florida public records laws. The Web site housing his e-mails doesn't include any correspondence related to his political activities, or any between him and his family or friends.
Regardless, Bush aides argue that he has already gone beyond what Clinton and his potential GOP rivals for president have done or are willing to do on transparency.
During the radio interview, Bush also indicated that he's seriously preparing a presidential run.
"The possibility of running is daunting and running would be even more so," he said. "I think the lesson learned that I took away from Iowa in my forays in there for my dad and my brother is that you’ve got to be all in. You’ve got to really take the time to meet people and campaign there actively one-on-one and on a personal level."
To that end, Bush has been hiring our staff in the state and will make three public appearances this weekend in the Des Moines area and in Cedar Rapids.
Bush also dismissed suggestions that voters -- especially early-state Republican primary voters -- are not willing to back another man named Bush for president.
"That’s not the Iowa that I know," he said. "The Iowans I know are pretty thoughtful and want to get to know the candidates. They don’t discount any of them…I’m going to go make my case and, once people know my record as governor and know my life experience, I think I’ll get a fair hearing."
Bush gladly takes questions from reporters at campaign-style appearances, but his interview with Radio Iowa and a similar interview published on Friday by the Des Moines Register are among his first one-on-one exchanges with reporters since he began organizing a presumptive campaign.
In his interview with the Register, Bush defended his conservative bona fides, telling the publication that after eight years as Florida's governor "I'd put my record up against anybody's, to be honest with you. That's a solid conservative record."
Ed O’Keefe is covering the 2016 presidential campaign, with a focus on Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio. He's covered presidential and congressional politics since 2008. Off the trail, he's covered Capitol Hill, federal agencies and the federal workforce, and spent a brief time covering the war in Iraq.
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