In reporting Thursday on some of Jeb
Bush's hires for his 2016 presidential campaign, BuzzFeed News quoted
a Republican supporter as saying that the former governor may be
“evolving” on gay marriage.
According to the report, Bush's inner
circle is stocked with advisers who are vocal supporters of LGBT
rights.
Bush has hired David Kochel, who ran
Mitt Romney's 2012 Iowa campaign, as his national campaign manager.
Kochel began vocalizing his support for
marriage equality shortly after the 2012 election ended.
“When Bush officially launches his
presidential bid later this year, he will likely do so with a
campaign manager who has urged the Republican Party to adopt a
pro-gay agenda; a chief strategist who signed a Supreme Court amicus
brief arguing for marriage equality in California; a longtime adviser
who once encouraged her minister to stick to his guns in preaching
equality for same-sex couples; and a communications director who is
openly gay,” BuzzFeed
reported.
After Florida became the 37th
state, in addition to the District of Columbia, where gay couples can
marry, Bush reiterated his opposition to marriage equality but also
called for “respect for the good people on all sides of the gay and
lesbian marriage issue – including couples making lifetime
commitments to each other.”
David Aufhauser, who recently co-hosted
a fundraiser for Bush in Virginia, said of Bush: “His thinking [on
marriage equality] appears to have evolved.”
Three additional Republicans said that
“they came away with the impression that on the question of
marriage equality, [Bush] was supportive at best and agnostic at
worst,” BuzzFeed wrote.