This week Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida (and second son of George Bush), has been discreetly pressing the flesh in London. Unsurprisingly, interest in him has been sky high. For with the Republicans feeling exuberant after the recent midterm vote, there is fevered speculation about whether the genial Bush will become a 2016 Republican presidential candidate – and thus potentially pave the way for a bizarrely dynastic Bush v Clinton fight.
Indeed, curiosity is so intense that when Pi Capital, the financial networking group, arranged a private breakfast with Bush in a Mayfair hotel, the room was packed with business leaders and financiers, all eager to hear his plans, his views on Hillary Clinton and much else.
But having attended the breakfast meeting myself, I came away with two clear conclusions. The first is that this latest Bush is still playing it coy about whether he will actually run. His famous father and brother – the 41st and 43rd presidents respectively – say they would back his bid and Bush seems to be seriously considering it. But he remains carefully non-committal right now – much like Clinton herself in fact (she talks about her new grandchild if anyone asks if she will run for the Democratic nomination).