Jeb Bush Touts Conservative Credentials in New Hampshire

DERRY, N.H.—Former Gov. Jeb Bush held his first town hall in New Hampshire today since he announced yesterday that he is running for president.

The Florida Republican told the audience that he is extremely proud of his family and their accomplishments, but that he is his own person with a unique set of achievements and life experiences.

Bush said that he has a record of executive experience that has left him prepared for the White House.

“I know how it’s done because I’ve done it,” Bush said. “I did it as governor of Florida. I cut taxes every year. I reduced the government workforce by 13,000. That’s kind of hard to do. But I did it by reforming how government works.”

New Hampshire is considered a key state for Bush because of its history in bringing out moderate Republican voters.

Bush rejected the notion that in order to reduce the size of government, services that help the needy must be cut.

“You can do both,” Bush said. “You can show how to take care of people that truly need the help of government and create an economic environment where there’s high, sustained growth, cut taxes and reduce the size and scale of government. It can be done, because it happened in Florida.”

Bush defended his conservative accomplishments while serving as governor, including balancing the state’s budget “eight years in a row.”

Bush stressed his belief in the necessity of “civility” in the political process, but he said that his executive experience shows that he “actually did things” as governor of Florida, opposed to others in the race who merely “talk about doing things.”

“We’ve got a lot of people that are really good at talking, much better than me, I wish I could speak as well as some of the people I see on TV, [but] it’s time for someone to be president to fix a few big things so that this nation takes off.”

Prior the event, Bush taped an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity.

Hannity asked Bush what it was like to run for president against his “good friend” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.

“It’s a little awkward,” Bush joked, before saying that they’ll still be friends after the race.

The interview airs tonight on Fox News at 10 p.m.