Easygoing amid a swarm of media, the former Florida Governor chose a Hudson biotech firm for his first N.H. stop in his likely presidential bid.
"I am joyfully pursuing the possibility of this," Bush said.
Along they way, Bush talked policy with members of the Nashua Chamber of Commerce. He faced questions on education and immigration, areas where his views are at odds with many conservatives in his party.
The “grown up” approach to immigration policy, Bush told the crowd, is to provide undocumented immigrants a path to legal status.
“It’s easy to say anything you propose us amnesty, but that’s not a plan, that’s a sentiment perhaps.”
On education, Bush described himself as “all in” when it comes to the common core education standards.
“Because something is controversial, or because you have a view that, the narrative, the so-called political narrative has been built up, you don’t abandon your core beliefs, you go persuade people,” he said.
Bush declined to endorse the letter sent by 47 U.S. Senators to leaders in Iran warning a future president could undo any nuclear agreement struck by President Obama.
"I'm not a Senator," Bush told reporters, adding he thought the Senators who did sign the letter did so "out of frustration, that there has been no dialogue, no conversation. There’s been a stifling of debate about the properness of this negotiation,” he said.
Bush’s trip overlaps with a visit by another likely-GOP candidate Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who will rally with republicans in Concord Saturday morning.