The best political campaign logos convey a feeling or a message, a memorable bit of information about the candidate running for office.
Jeb Bush is going with his old standard — “Jeb!” — to harken back to his tenure as Florida governor (and to avoid spelling out “Bush”).
But will his campaign be worthy of an exclamation point?
Bush will try to energize his supporters Monday when he formally launches his 2016 campaign in Miami, after spending six months exploring a candidacy but failing to position himself comfortably ahead of a crowded and ambitious Republican field that so far boasts 10 candidates, without counting Bush.
“I thought Jeb would take up all the oxygen,” Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a potential candidate, said in New Hampshire earlier this month. “He hasn’t.”
To be sure, Bush has scored big political donors. But he hasn’t scared off other challengers. He’s stumbled trying to distance himself from his brother’s unpopular Iraq war. And he’s struggled to reintroduce himself to GOP voters in a party much changed since his last time on the ballot 12 years ago.
“It will take time. It always does,” Bush told CNN’s “State of the Union” in an interview aired Sunday.
Monday at Miami Dade College’s Kendall campus, Bush will portray himself as a doer, a politician who put conservative ideas into action in a diverse state and who seeks public office to govern rather than pontificate. He will then take his pitch on the road, visiting New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina between Tuesday and Thursday.
“This is what leadership is about — it’s not just about yapping about things,” he said in a campaign video unveiled Sunday. “There are a lot of people talking, and they’re pretty good at it. We need to start fixing things. I said I was going to do these things and I did them, and the result was Florida is a lot better off.”
