Former Bush Cabinet official endorses Jeb

Jeb Bush hasn’t yet said he’s running for president, but he’s picked up the endorsement from a former member of his brother’s White House Cabinet.

Former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge -- a former Pennsylvania governor -- tells Larry King tonight that he’s “governor-centric” and backs the former Florida governor for president.

“So I’m feeling really good about the number of really quality governors that we have in this upcoming election,” Ridge said. “But, I think the governor of a pretty complex state like Florida, a governor who has a great track record, a governor who’s into the problem solving business, and he’s done a great job, someone I’m fully -- what little credibility or what little traction I may have politically left after all those years. I’m pleased to send it and let Jeb Bush use it however he sees fit.”

He called a potential Bush-Hillary Clinton match up a “clash of titans,” noting that he knows more about Bush, but met with Clinton when he was a Cabinet secretary and she was a U.S. senator.

“She was always well prepared, very civil, we had great conversations,” Ridge said.

“These are two very capable people,” he said. “And I think and would hope, that the debate would be tough, rigorous, and hopefully for the first time in a long time, civil.”

This story was originally published February 3, 2015 at 3:45 PM with the headline "Former Bush Cabinet official endorses Jeb."