http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/23/us/politics/jeb-bush-and-mitt-romney-in-gentlemanly-meeting.html?_r=1Bush and Romney in ‘Gentlemanly’ Meeting
By JONATHAN MARTINJAN. 22, 2015
WASHINGTON — Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney did not reach an agreement during a Salt Lake City lunch meeting on Thursday on how to reconcile their competing plans to run for the White House next year, advisers to both men indicated after the talk.
“Governor Bush enjoyed visiting with Governor Romney today in Salt Lake,” Kristy Campbell, Mr. Bush’s spokeswoman, said, declining to elaborate.
Republicans close to both Mr. Romney and Mr. Bush were notably tight-lipped about the long-planned meeting, which the two would-be candidates and their advisers were unhappy had been revealed publicly.
The meeting was cordial and touched on both policy and the Republicans’ need to field a strong contender for the presidency in 2016, according to an adviser to one of the candidates who was not authorized to discuss the meeting.
Former Gov. Mike Leavitt of Utah, a close friend of Mr. Romney’s, said he felt “very confident it was a gentlemanly conversation.”
“Every interaction I’ve observed between them has been positive and friendly,” he said.
The meeting was organized by Mr. Bush and scheduled well before Mr. Romney began musing about mounting a third presidential campaign, first mentioned this month in a meeting with donors in New York.
Neither man sought to later cancel the gathering because each was curious about the other’s thinking on the 2016 race, the adviser said.
“It seemed like a good thing to get together to keep the lines of communication open,” Mr. Leavitt said.
Some of the party’s fund-raising bundlers have stopped making firm commitments since Mr. Bush and Mr. Romney declared their interest in a campaign.
On Wednesday, representatives for Mr. Bush, a former Florida governor, and Mr. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, refused to confirm the meeting.
But after Mr. Bush was approached by a pair of reporters and a host of well-wishers as he waited on Thursday for a flight from Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington to Salt Lake City, Ms. Campbell said it was simply a chance for the two “to catch up.”
By the time Mr. Bush reached Utah, a group of reporters and television cameras was awaiting his arrival at what is, with the beginning of the Sundance Film Festival, already a busy time at Salt Lake City’s airport.
Even before the trip began, Mr. Bush was making light of how a secret meeting had become a national news event.
At the Washington airport, he posted a picture of himself on Twitter with a group of Delta employees.
“Thank you to the @Delta team for always being great sports — sorry about all of our reporter friends milling around,” he wrote.
