Jeb Bush endorses Romney, urges Republicans to line up behind the candidate

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who has so far kept his neutrality in the 2012 GOP presidential race, has finally made his decision of endorsing Romney as he urges the rest of the Republicans to line up behind him and support the candidate for the nomination.

In a statement issued right after Mitt Romney’s decisive victory in Illinois, Jeb Bush said that the presidential hopeful has earned his right to take on to Obama in November’s general elections. “Now is the time for Republicans to unite behind Governor Romney and take our message of fiscal conservatism and job creation to all voters this fall," Bush said as he congratulated Romney for his victory and the other candidates for fighting back so hard through the entire primary season.

“I am endorsing Mitt Romney for our party’s nomination. We face huge challenges, and we need a leader who understands the economy, recognizes more government regulation is not the answer, believes in entrepreneurial capitalism and works to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to succeed,” Bush said.

That being said, the possibility of the most expected non-candidate to continue through an open floor fight has ended. While Bush’s endorsement has given a signal that the nomination is to arrive soon enough, Romney has already started to use it as a call for Republicans to gather behind his leadership. Moreover, this high profile endorsement could very well push the front-runner further into a possible victory in Louisiana, squeezing out Rick Santorum’s already slim chances of beating Romney in the nomination race.

Though Bush denied any truth to the rumors regarding his run along side Mitt Romney, he’s clear over the person he wants Romney to pick up as his vice-presidential running mate. “Marco Rubio," he said. “He is the best orator of American politics today, a good family man. He is not only a consistent conservative, but he has managed to wind a way to communicate a conservative message full of hope and optimismm," Bush said calling the Florida GOP senator a “dynamic, joyful, disciplined and principled” man.

Meanwhile, Romney continues to shove back the damage done by comments given by adviser Eric Fehrnstrom on CNN, who said that Romney’s might change his position in the general election the same way an Etch-a-Sketch image changes. Romney acted promptly saying that the issues he’s advocating today will remain the same through November. “Im running as a conservative Republican," he said. “I’ll be running as conservative Republican nominee."