Crowley Political Report

Jeb Bush announced today that he will announce on June 15 whether he is a candidate for president. Of course the only thing that would surprise everyone that day would be an announcement that he is not running for the 2016 Republican nomination.

After months of being the "golly, I'm still thinking about it" candidate, Florida's former governor is not quite the unstoppable candidate that many thought he would be when he first launched his bid. 

The Bush campaign has created a new website jebannouncement.com.

According to the campaign, "This event will take place Monday, June, 15. Doors open at 1:00 p.m., at the Miami Dade College Kendall Campus.  The event will be held in the Theodore R. Gibson Health Center."

Much has changed over the last six months, including a growing number of GOP candidates, the rise of Florida Senator Marco Rubio, and steadily dropping poll numbers for Bush. His campaign has become a bit of a punchline for opponents who see Bush's long, tedious journey to a formal announcement seemed exhausting even to his supporters.

But his campaign has stuck to its plan willing to weather early criticism confident that early polls are meaningless with few voters locking onto a candidate. Still, Bush's path to GOP nomination seems more treacherous than it did just a few months ago.

Even the Bush campaign's expected $100 million-plus bank account has done little to scare off opponents. And some political commentators are now calling Bush a middle-of-the-pack candidate as opposed to a front runner.

Bush has not helped himself with gaffes about Iraq, and a campaign style that lacks the rhetorical passion of a Rubio. 

All of this creates a lot of pressure on Bush when he launches his campaign in 11 days. This will be his moment to prove that Bush is indeed a leader of the GOP who is, as he is fond of saying, his own man.