Jeb Bush spoke to conservatives at CPAC Friday night, centering his speech around the ideas of Republican "inclusion and acceptance." The former Florida governor pushed his colleagues to open the party more to minorities and the poor.
"The face of the Republican Party needs to be the face of every American," Bush said.
He also criticized the GOP for being the "anti-" party.
"All too often we’re associated with being 'anti' everything," he said. "Way too many people believe Republicans are anti-immigrant, anti-woman, anti-science, anti-gay, anti-worker, and the list goes on and on and on. Many voters are simply unwilling to choose our candidates even though they share our core beliefs, because those voters feel unloved, unwanted and unwelcome in our party."
For lower-income Americans and immigrants, opportunities to advance are rare, Bush said.
"In our country today, if you’re born poor, if your parents didn’t go to college, if you don’t know your father, if English isn’t spoken at home, then the odds are stacked against you," he said.
Bush said a conservative philosophy, "not liberal dogma" is the answer. He told Republicans they must do better at reaching out to citizens and building "real" relationships.
Bush is said to be considering a presidential run in 2016. He has split with his party on the issue of immigration, favoring a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
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