PALM BEACH, Florida – With the announcement Tuesday by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush that he plans to “actively explore” a run for president in 2016, radio host Rush Limbaugh says the real reason Jeb is seeking the White House is to choke the influence of tea-party conservatives out of the Republican Party.

“You want to know why Jeb Bush is thinking about running?” Limbaugh asked on his top-rated program Tuesday.

“He’s … being looked at as savior by the big-money donor class and the consultant class – the establishment of the party – to head off the tea party. They’re gonna pull out all the stops to make sure that a tea-party-type conservative doesn’t get the nomination.

“It could be a sacrificial run just to make sure that a conservative doesn’t get the nomination in 2016. There’s a whole bunch of stuff under the surface here that’s percolating and effervescing, and it’s all about us being the No. 1 enemy of these people.”

Listen to audio of Limbaugh’s comments:

In a message posted on Facebook on Tuesday, Bush said he’s discussed his plans with his family.

“As a result of these conversations and thoughtful consideration of the kind of strong leadership I think America needs, I have decided to actively explore the possibility of running for President of the United States,” Bush wrote.

He added, “In the coming months, I hope to visit with many of you and have a conversation about restoring the promise of America.”

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Limbaugh said Bush is going to run “in a unique way.”

“He’s going to do it by ignoring the base. Jeb Bush is out telling donors … that he is not gonna compromise his principles like others have in order to get the nomination, meaning he’s not gonna pander to the tea party. Nope. He’s not gonna pander to conservatives. He’s gonna show that you can win the Republican Party nomination without securing the base.”

“The Republican Party is dominated now by what is called in the parlance of the day, the donor class … the big, big donors,” Limbaugh continued.

“So when you hear Jeb, or anybody else, seek the Republican nomination and start talking about doing it without winning the base … they’re trying to all come up with a way to win the party nomination without owing anything to the tea party. Their wildest dream is to render the tea party, conservatives an irrelevant factor.

“And one of the primary reasons for that is that’s what the donors want. The donors rule the roost. The donors are the big money. And the donors determine in large part what the party does. Clearly that’s what happened here in this budget deal. It’s clearly what’s happening with amnesty. …

“A lot of this talk about the Jeb candidacy is an attempt to see if they can actually, once and for all, in a primary setting, relegate the tea party and members of it who are elected – such as [Sens.] Ted Cruz and Mike Lee – impotent.”

Rush Limbaugh

On Monday, Bush appeared in the right-leaning state of South Carolina, delivering the winter commencement address to some 14,000 people, including about 2,000 graduates at the University of South Carolina.

Warren Tompkins, a longtime South Carolina strategist who steered former President George Bush’s 2000 campaign and has been talking with Jeb Bush’s advisers about a 2016 run, told the Washington Post the state’s politics are “fundamentally different” now.

“We’re much more conservative than we were in 2000,” Tompkins said. “There’s a perception that [Jeb Bush] is a moderate. Here, we’re a classic three legs of a stool primary electorate: you’ve got to be right on social issues, on fiscal issues and on foreign affairs. You’ve got to navigate all those waters. His challenge will be to prove that he’s fundamentally sound and in sync with us here.”

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