There were a bit of murmurs earlier this month that certain powers that be within the Republican Party were so disenchanted with the current crop of presidential candidates they were throwing around the idea of persuading a big-name candidate to enter the race at the last minute. The biggest of those big names being thrown about supposedly was ol' Jeb Bush.
Well, turns out residents of New Hampshire, one of the earliest primary states, have been getting robocalls asking for thoughts about Jeb Bush for prez.
"Ken Merrifield, the mayor of Franklin, noted on Facebook last night that he was 'just phone-surveyed about Jeb Bush for president.'" reports Patch.com. "The caller mentioned 'consistent conservative' twice, the mayor Facebooked. Hmmmm."
Meanwhile, Ruth Graham, a New Hampshire-based writer tweeted, "I live in NH & just got a robocall polling me about what I think about Romney vs. Gingrich vs. *Jeb Bush*." Ricochet.com says other New Hampshirites have been getting the same call.
So does this mean that Bush, or someone who would very much like to see him run, is paying for the polling? Not necessarily. For one thing, the deadline to qualify for the ballot in New Hampshire has long since passed, so it wouldn't make much sense to be paying for polling there (save the possibility of a massive write-in campaign).
Then Jeb Bush spokeswoman Jaryn Emhof tells the Buzz: "We don't know who is behind it. Nothing has changed, Governor is not running in 2012."
The Buzz speculates it's probably just some pollster looking to stir up some interesting numbers and get some attention. Perhaps it's just a poll to gauge how hungry GOP voters really are for another option.
Though, we wouldn't be surprised if Bush wouldn't mind getting a peek at those numbers. You know, just to gauge his 2016 or 2020 chances.
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