A top Chamber of Commerce official and a veteran Republican campaign finance lawyer who co-founded a pro-amnesty super PAC are advising former Florida governor Jeb Bush ahead of a likely 2016 presidential run.
According to a Washington Post report, “Rob Engstrom, senior vice president and national political director at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is providing assistance by taking a temporary leave from his post there to help Bush for several weeks.”
Bush has doubled down on his support for amnesty legislation and Common Core, both of which the Chamber of Commerce has enthusiastically supported. The Chamber of Commerce vowed to spend at least $50 million last year pushing for Common Core and comprehensive amnesty legislation, which will be two huge liabilities for Bush with conservative primary voters. Though history says otherwise, Bush has indicated that he believes a Republican like him must “lost the primary” in order to “win the general election.”
In addition, Charlie Spies, the GOP campaign finance lawyer who ran the most prominent pro-Mitt Romney super PAC in 2012, “set up the two PACs that make up Bush’s new political operation.”
Spies, along with President George W. Bush’s Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, also set up a super PAC, Republicans for Immigration Reform, that attempted to give cover to Republicans in favor of comprehensive amnesty legislation.