Noncandidate Bush woos packed house in Cedar Rapids

DES MOINES - Jeb Bush makes clear that he's not running for president. At least not yet.

The distinction seemed lost on 150 or more people who came out to see him at a southwest Cedar Rapids pizza restaurant Saturday evening.

Although many of those who waited nearly an hour or more for Bush to arrive said they were merely curious to see him, there was no lack of enthusiasm as he spoke and answered questions for more than 30 minutes.

'He helped himself tonight,” said Mike Vestle of Marion, who described himself as a longtime political observer. 'He gave thoughtful, detailed answers and he positively featured his record, which is impressive.”

Zach Schulz of Independence, president of the Wartburg College Republicans, had a similar reaction to the son and brother of the Presidents Bush.

Schulz was on his way back to Waverly from the Young Americans for Liberty conference in Iowa City where, he said, Bush was not the favorite potential 2016 GOP presidential candidate.

'He's not the favorite of a lot of conservatives, but I think people have him all wrong,” Schulz said, adding that he's made no decision about who he will back.

'I know he had to be a moderate because he was governor of a purple state, but he was a true conservative. He cut taxes and had the first statewide school voucher program,” he said. 'He has as many conservative credentials as anybody.”

That was a point Bush made, frequently working the word 'conservative” into his comments during his first public, retail campaign-style appearance in Iowa. It was at Pizza Ranch on Cedar Rapids west-side, a Democratic stronghold that rarely hosts GOP events.

Before Bush arrived, Pizza Ranch owner Brandon Pratt went through several maneuvers to make space for the crowd. He asked people who had not RSVP'd to move to the overflow area. Then he removed all the dining tables to increase the capacity from about 75 to about 120. A speaker was set up in the main dining room to accommodate the overflow.

Bush, who began by saying he was 'having a blast here in Iowa,” recalled the last time he was in Cedar Rapids was in 1980 when he campaigned for his father, George H.W. Bush.

He delivered an upbeat message about his eight years as governor - 'the coolest job in the world.”

America is the greatest nation, but 'we need to act like it,” Bush said in saying his experience as governor and in the private sector would help his 'fix a few big things” like immigration, making long-term investments in infrastructure - including flood mitigation, which he discussed with Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett earlier in the day - and medical research and reforming entitlements.

Bush hasn't decided to run and spoke of his candidacy only in hypothetical 'if I run” terms. If he runs, Bush said, he will run a 'hopeful and optimistic” campaign with an 'uplifting message” and appealing to emerging voter blocs not traditionally aligned with the Republican Party.

'It's the only way we can win. I want to win” he said. Then the not-yet-a-candidate corrected himself. 'I mean, I want our party to win.”