Jeb Bush: GOP Must ‘Reach Out’ to Latinos With ‘Hopeful Message’

Saying he believes Republicans can win the White House in 2016 “with a hopeful, optimistic message,” former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush came out in defense of the PATRIOT Act, currently under debate in Congress, according to Knox News:

“We need to protect the homeland. ThePATRIOT Act has been a device, along with other strategies, that have kept us safe. There is not a single shred of evidence that anyone’s civil liberties have been violated. Why would we change something that has been working?”

Bush also criticized Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, on foreign policy.

“We see the consequences of the Obama-Clinton foreign policy. And yes, it is the Clinton foreign policy. She’ll try to do the Heisman on it but she was secretary of state for four long years. We’re seeing the world unraveling because America is not there.”

Bush also seemed to prod the GOP, if not conservatives, for presumably not being inclusive enough — saying the GOP can win only “if they reach out to everybody in our country, not just those that have already decided that they are conservatives and Republicans.”

“The next Republican that will win will reach out to the Latino community, will campaign among Asian-Americans, will campaign in the black curches and on college campuses. The next Republican president will restore America’s greatness but they have to win, and the only way you can win during a period of deep disaffection is to share your joy, to stay focused on a hopeful, optimistic message that gives people their future and their children’s future is brighter than it is today. I believe we can do this.”