At an event in Nevada on Wednesday, Jeb Bush told reporters something they already knew: "I'm running for president in 2016, and the focus is going to be about how we, if I run, how do you create high sustained economic growth." Since Bush hasn't officially declared his candidacy, for reasons Taegan Goddard explains (money), he quickly clarified his comment.
"No, no I'm not an official candidate," Bush said, according to a transcript supplied to Reuters by Bush aides. "I've been traveling the country for the last three months and making up my mind, trying to determine the support I may have should I go forward."
The Campaign Legal Center has argued to federal election officials that Bush should be considered a candidate for fundraising purposes, regardless of whether he's "officially" declared or not. "He's going to say it was a slip of the tongue," Larry Noble, the group's senior counsel, told Reuters, "but that's absolute nonsense at this point."