Over on twitter, Byron York wrote that the recent spate of Jeb Bush-running-for-president stories were designed to create a sense of inevitability and discourage potential rivals from entering the race. While this is supposed to show confidence, it could also show anxiety. If Bush can’t clear out the other potential candidates that have broad appeal to the party’s donors and officeholders (Chris Christie, Scott Walker, Mitt Romney, possibly others) he could find himself with much less of a margin of error than did Mitt Romney in the 2012 cycle.

There are obviously huge advantages in being the sole, plausible “establishment” Republican candidate. The most obvious advantage can be summed up in the word “more”. It means more money, and more media coverage.

But there is one big advantages other than simply more of everything. Being the sole establishment Republican is an insurance policy. Imagine Bush makes a very ugly gaffe, or comes out on the wrong end of a debate exchange with Rick Santorum, or has a disappointing primary performance. If Bush is the only establishment candidate and the only other options are Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, or Rick Santorum, then the donors and the officeholders (most of them) will rally to save Bush in order to save the party (as they would see it). If you still had a Chris Christie or a Scott Walker in the race, the donors and the officeholders might be inclined to hedge their bets and let Bush save himself.

So it is understandable that Bush would want to push out the other potential establishment candidates before the voting has begun.