Jeb Bush just endorsed Romney. The general election starts now.

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From Chris Cilizza's Facebook feed:

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Jeb Bush is relevant how?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

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Jeb Bush is relevant how?

The blue bloods matter, no matter what the palinistas would have you believe.

Especially today, post-Citizens United.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

The blue bloods matter, no matter what the palinistas would have you believe.

Especially today, post-Citizens United.

Jeb is still quite popular in FL. FL has 29 electoral votes. FL is a swing state. That makes Jeb's backing significant for Mitt.

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Jeb is still quite popular in FL. FL has 29 electoral votes. FL is a swing state. That makes Jeb's backing significant for Mitt.

Except we're in the primary phase of the process and FL has already had its say.

For the general, there was never really any doubt that the Bush family would back the nominee.... whoever that was.

But for now, this is a signal to all the big donors (you know, the people who really call the shots in this post-CU era) that Romney has the blessings of the Bush family and the other two guys don't.

The money train was already dragging Newt and Rick by the balls but now it's about to run them the #### over.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Except we're in the primary phase of the process and FL has already had its say.

For the general, there was never really any doubt that the Bush family would back the nominee.... whoever that was.

But for now, this is a signal to all the big donors (you know, the people who really call the shots in this post-CU era) that Romney has the blessings of the Bush family and the other two guys don't.

The money train was already dragging Newt and Rick by the balls but now it's about to run them the #### over.

True. There was never really any doubt that Mitt would be the nominee. I was sort of hoping for Santorum to pull off the impossible but that was more wishful thinking than anything. Mitt's been at this for 4 years now and he was, from the beginning, the only plausible candidate for the nomination.

[james&olya 1,121]

He is an empty suit now being positioned for all the big money donors to start pouring their millions in to become shareholders of Mitt, Inc.!!

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Jeb Bush’s endorsement of Romney is meant to send [a] ... message to the Republican party. That message? Enough is enough.

Bush all but says those words in his statement endorsing Romney — congratulating all the candidates “for a hard fought, thoughtful debate and primary season” before adding: “Primary elections have been held in thirty-four states, and now is the time for Republicans to unite behind Governor Romney and take our message of fiscal conservatism and job creation to all voters this fall.”

The vision that popped to mind for us in reading those words was of Bush as the referee in a prizefight. After watching former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum absorb a series of haymakers from Romney, Bush is doing his best to step in and declare a technical knockout before things get any bloodier.

It’s no simple task given the divisions — both ideological and geographic — that have been made apparent in the primary fight between Romney and Santorum.

But, if anyone can make it all stop, it’s Bush. Here’s why: 1. He’s a member of the most powerful family in the Republican party. 2. He spent eight years as the governor of Florida, a critical swing state with a large Hispanic population. 3. He’s seen as the closest thing the party has to an honest broker, a guy driven far more by policy concerns than political ones and a guy who always has his eye on what’s good for the party.

It’s hard to see Santorum getting out of the race because Jeb Bush says he should. But the Bush endorsement of Romney will have significant reverberations across the media, activist and, perhaps most importantly, donor worlds that will likely have a negative impact on Santorum’s ability to move forward in a viable manner.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/jeb-bush-mitt-romney-and-the-fix-endorsement-hierarchy/2012/03/21/gIQAUzlzRS_blog.html