Jeb Bush Has an Unlikely Group of Supporters: Millennials
MANCHESTER, NH -- Jeb Bush was in an unfamiliar setting. Instead of his usual crowd of sexagenarians, the 62-year-old Republican presidential candidate was surrounded by millennials, a group mostly under 30, at a campaign event. Bush was asked what kind of party he’d throw as president if hosting young professionals at the White House.
He began by recounting a story that involved him taking a Meyers-Briggs test and discovering he was an introvert.
"Well, the introverts were planning their party and the extroverts were planning theirs. So, we quickly decided that we were all gonna read a book that week and then we would have an interesting dinner conversation that would be over early, about the book that we read,” Bush said, as the young crowd laughed.
"I would actually probably try to learn from the 40 most talented young professionals rather than kind of tell them what I was thinking. I found that to be a good leader you have to listen and learn first,” he added.
He was then asked about three people, including one celebrity, that he’d like to invite. “Well I wouldn’t invite Donald Trump,” he joked, before naming Neil Armstrong, Winston Churchill, and Abraham Lincoln.
When reminded that he had to list a celebrity, he demurred.
"The current celebrity, I don't know, I really don't believe in celebrity,” he said. "I find it superficial.”
Bush continues to trail Republican front-runners Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Ted Cruz in voter polls. In a recent CNN/ORC poll conducted in New Hampshire, Bush got 8 percent, behind Sen. Marco Rubio and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. But the millennials present on Wednesday could care less about the latest polls.
Tori Purtell, a freshman economics major at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, said it was too early to make up her mind. But after hearing Bush, she said she’s now seriously considering him, along with Rubio.
"He just has this amazing charisma to him...he's very relatable but you can tell that he has just has a brilliant mind, you want to hear what he has to say and do,” she said.
She added, "I wish I could listen to him talk all day, he was amazing."
Tommy Royer, a sophomore studying business at Saint Anselm College, admitted that Bush isn’t the candidate typically thought of as being able to attract young voters.
"I mean [he’s] not necessarily the normal candidate that appeals to young people but what I'm more concerned about is that he seems like a real person. He gave us real answers, it wasn't all completely based on politics, which I really like,” Royers said.
Bush's campaign is not neglecting the youth population. His son, Jeb Jr., has hosted dozens of events focused on young voters, and the campaign also has organized support at 450 college campuses in 45 states.
Bush also reflected on his relationship with his father and how how he "idolized" him.
