While Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) repeatedly says in public that he hasn't made up his mind about a run for the White House, there were more signs on Monday that the 43 year old Republican is edging in that direction, as his political group hired a top former aide to Mitt Romney.
This from the Associated Press:
The move sets up Merrill to lead Rubio's possible presidential efforts in New Hampshire, an early voting state, and is another sign that Rubio is positioning himself to run for president despite the likely candidacy of his political mentor, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
While ex-Gov. Bush has received a great deal of attention in recent weeks, Rubio has been raising money and making plans for more travel in key primary and caucus states.
Later this week, Rubio will be in Iowa to plug his new book; he will also make appearances next week in Nevada, South Carolina and New Hampshire.
Those are the first four states in the next year's lineup for President; Iowa is tentatively set to kick off its caucus on February 1, 2016; New Hampshire will follow with its first in the nation primary on February 9, 2016.
Gov. Bobby Jindal also looking to 2016
While all signs seem to point to Rubio getting in the race, the same also seems to be happening for Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, who told reporters on Monday that he is certainly evaluating the possibility of a race for the White House.
"In terms of my timeline process, it will be the next few months," Jindal said, when asked about a decision to get into the GOP race.
Jindal would enter what seems to be a very crowded field of GOP heavyweights - a much different type of Republican race than what was run in 2012.
Meanwhile, we have more today from former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who also seems to be heading in the direction of a run for the White House:
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