Bush Vote Divided in GOP Race

Jonathan Bush Jr., the president's first cousin, gave $2,300 to Romney. Doro Bush has given $2,100 to Romney. John Prescott Ellis, a former NBC journalist and a nephew of President Bush's father, said his wife wrote a check to Giuliani's campaign, though the contribution is not listed in Federal Election Commission records.

"When Susan said to me, 'We're going to write a check for Rudy,' I thought, 'Fine,' " said Ellis, a partner in a venture capital firm.

Jeb Bush Jr., 23, announced his support for Giuliani in a news release last month. "I know that Rudy has the leadership qualities and unmatched experience to be the next President of the United States," he said in the statement.

The younger Jeb Bush said he did not ask his father or his older brother for advice or permission before contacting the Giuliani campaign to volunteer. He will be hosting conference calls and holding other events for young people.

"The way he helped get us though 9/11 really sold me," he said in a brief interview.

While the elder Jeb Bush has professed neutrality, it does not seem a coincidence that almost all of his closest political advisers have signed on to Romney's campaign.

They include Sally Bradshaw, who served as Bush's chief of staff in Florida; Ann Herberger, his longtime finance director; and Toni Jennings, who was his lieutenant governor. All three have said Bush urged them to talk with Romney before signing on with another presidential campaign -- a sign, perhaps, of his true feelings.

"Governor Bush said, 'I really think you should meet and sit and talk to this guy. He's something,' " Jennings said, recalling the conversation she had with her former boss in late 2006. "I asked him if he liked him. He said, 'Yes, I'm very impressed with him.' "

Jennings said the two men bonded as governors with similar backgrounds -- both began careers in business and later turned to state politics. Both come from political families: Romney's father, George, was governor of Michigan and ran unsuccessfully for president in 1968.

George H.W. Bush, now retired and living in Houston, has met privately with several leading GOP candidates at his presidential library. Ron Kaufman, a longtime adviser of the former president, predicted that "once we have a nominee, I think he'll do whatever he can do to make sure that person is president."

Kaufman is a Romney supporter, giving credence to speculation that the elder Bush is secretly a Romney fan. In addition, the 41st president was close to Romney's father, a political contemporary who helped Bush found the Points of Light Foundation while he was president.

In 1995, when George Romney died, Bush called him "a dear friend, a dedicated family man, and a first-class public servant." In 2002, Bush headlined a fundraiser at Maine's Cape Arundel Golf Club for Mitt Romney, who was running for governor of Massachusetts.