Bush Plots a Return

Senator Mel Martinez’s retirement announcement Monday is sparking even bigger news—a possible return to politics for Jeb Bush. W.’s brother, once governor of Florida, is “seriously considering” seeking Martinez’s Senate seat when he retires in 2010, two sources tell The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder. “He is receiving a lot of encouragement from both in and out of the state,” a longtime Bush adviser said. “He is going to take his time and approach this very methodically.” The younger Bush is said to be weighing whether the Senate would be the best platform for his favorite causes: education, immigration, health care, and energy. “If he decides to run,” Ambinder reports, “Republicans expect the field to clear for him.”