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Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush launched the "Right to Rise PAC" on Tuesday
He shared a video on social media in Spanish and in English, and joined Instagram
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush launched a new political action committee Tuesday in the latest move that he is moving closer to a 2016 presidential run.
Bush launched the “Right to Rise PAC” on Tuesday, a Leadership PAC which will allow him to raise money, hire staff, travel around the country and donate to candidates and other groups that could help him lay the groundwork for a presidential run. Bush supporters also launched a Super PAC in the same name on Tuesday according to FEC filings.
Super PACs can accept unlimited contributions from supporters, but will not be allowed to coordinate with the Bush campaign if he officially becomes a candidate. Veteran Republican strategist Charles Spies, who co-founded a Super PAC that buoyed Gov. Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential bid, is the new Super PAC’s treasurer, according to FEC filings.
Both the Leadership PAC and Super PAC list the same assistant treasurer in documents filed with the FEC on Tuesday.
The move is the latest hand wave from Bush that he is leaning toward running for President as he looks to lock up top GOP donors ahead of other potential contenders. The PAC formation comes less than a week after Bush announced he was stepping down from all his corporate and nonprofit board memberships.
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Bush announced his move online on his Facebook and Twitter pages with a video in English and another in Spanish. He also joined Instagram.
“Today we’re setting up The Right to Rise PAC, which is a PAC to support candidates who believe in conservative principles to allow all Americans to rise up,” Bush says while walking down a street in the English-language video.
Bush has talked about the “right to rise before,” talking about the phrase as a way to describe “the core concept of economic freedom” in a Dec. 2011 Wall Street Journal Op-Ed.
“We have to make it easier for people to do the things that allow them to rise. We have to let them compete. We need to let people fight for business. We need to let people take risks. We need to let people fail. We need to let people suffer the consequences of bad decisions,” he wrote in 2011.
Bush attributed the phrase to Rep. Paul Ryan in the editorial, but the phrase appears to trace its roots to President Abraham Lincoln.
Bush aides gave Ryan a “heads up” about naming the PAC based on Ryan’s use of the “right to rise” phrase, Ryan spokesman Kevin Seifert said.
“Congressman Ryan doesn’t claim ownership of the phrase, however he has used it extensively in recent years,” Seifert said.
CNN’s David Chalian contributed to this report.
