SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Jeb Bush worked his way through the dim hallway of an Arizona resort for hours, shuttling from room to room and meeting with dozens of Republican officials, many for the first time.
He was in need of a political reset. The former Florida governor was trying to recover from what was undeniably his worst week in politics since announcing he was considering a run for the White House.
“It’s the one thing you have to learn in a campaign,” said Matt Borges, the Ohio Republican Party chairman. “How to fall down and get up.”
Bush’s tough week began with a Fox News interview that included a question about the Iraq war begun by his brother. Over the course of 72 hours, Jeb Bush said he would have ordered the invasion, based on the intelligence presented at the time; claimed he misunderstood the question; then said he would have done something different but refused to say what that might be.
On Thursday, he finally answered: “I would not have engaged. I would not have gone into Iraq.”
Bush’s answers about Iraq prompted a wave of commentary from his likely Republican rivals.
Amid the talk about Iraq, Bush slipped up for a moment about his candidacy. After a town hall-style meeting in Nevada on Wednesday, Bush said, “I’m running for president in 2016,” before catching himself, noting, “if I run.”
Perhaps more than anything, Bush’s week underscored a concern among some Republicans about a candidate who last ran for office 13 years ago: He’s rusty.
