Bush: I’ll compete in Iowa

Jeb Bush in an interview published Sunday tamped down speculation that he would not compete aggressively in the early voting state of Iowa, saying the Hawkeye State would be integral to his all-but-announced Republican presidential campaign.

{mosads}”Absolutely,” Bush said in an interview with “The Brody File” on the Christian Broadcasting Network when asked if he would be a serious competitor in Iowa.

“Look, I’m a really competitive guy to begin with. It’s hard for me to imagine ‘I’m going to plan for fifth place.’ That’s not going to happen. We’re gonna work hard here,” Bush said during a swing through the state.

Bush’s emphasis on Iowa, with its caucuses early next year serving as an opportunity to narrow a likely extremely crowded field of GOP hopefuls, had so far been unclear.

Bush’s comments signal that he intends to compete actively against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a GOP favorite in recent polls in the state, and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R).

His father, former President George H.W. Bush, won the caucuses in 1980, as did his brother, former President George W. Bush, in 2000.

Coming up short in the state is a risk, however.

Iowa voters most recently gave their approval to former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Penn.), a likely 2016 competitor who won narrowly in 2012, as well as former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R), its 2008 winner, who is running again.

Bush trailed six other GOP White House hopefuls in a recent Quinnipiac University poll of likely caucus-goers.

Bush in the new interview also played down news that he would not participate in the Iowa Straw Poll of GOP presidential candidates later this year, which drew the ire of the state party’s chairman on Twitter.

Bush said in the CBN interview that he would not participate in straw polls “anywhere,” describing them as “a distraction.”