A spokesperson for Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley responded to speculation that Bentley could be a potential 2016 presidential candidate by simply saying that he’s focused on his current job for now.
“Right now Governor Bentley is focused on being the best Governor he can be for the state of Alabama,” campaign spokesperson Rebekah Mason told Yellowhammer.
The Washington Post last week published an article titled “Governors to watch for 2016 and beyond” suggesting that Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley should be added to the list of GOP governors who are considered viable presidential contenders. Their reasoning was simply that Bentley’s polling numbers are outperforming their election models by the second highest amount of the 28 incumbent governors seeking re-election.
Yellowhammer followed up by asking if it would be fair to say that the Bentley camp is not totally squashing a potential national run and sought to clarify the comment above, to which Mason replied that the comment was accurate.
A quick search revealed that Bentley2016.com was purchased at some point using a private domain registry service, but Mason said it is not owned by the governor or anyone in his camp.
“We have not purchased the domain name, and to my knowledge neither has the Governor,” she said.
As we mentioned in our initial post this morning, there’s a lot more that goes into running for president than having good polling numbers in your home state, even numbers as strong as the Alabama governor’s.
Bentley has no national fundraising base and zero national profile, which puts him at a great disadvantage compared to more high profile governors, like Chris Christie, Scott Walker or Bobby Jindal, who have all managed to make a name for themselves outside of their states and have been laying the groundwork for potential national campaigns.
But the fact that the Bentley camp did not totally dismiss the possibility is at least something interesting to chew on one week from election day.
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
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