For example, he signed into law a parental notification measure for teenage girls considering abortion and supported a controversial “choose life” specialty license plate, the proceeds from which benefited organizations serving pregnant women who planned to put their babies up for adoption.

In 2003, he made headlines by asking a circuit court to appoint a representative for the fetus of a mentally disabled rape victim. That same year, Bush began a nearly two-year fight to keep alive Terri Schiavo, a brain-damaged woman whose family members battled in court over whether to terminate her life support. The case sparked intense interest and a national debate about end-of-life issues.

It is this record that Bush’s supporters believe will help inoculate him from the “centrist” label that repeatedly threatened to sink Romney during his 2012 primary fight against a weaker field of candidates than the one Bush would likely contend with in two years.

But it won’t be easy.

If Bush does run, one of those key primary fights is certain to center on education policy. And his fierce advocacy for the Common Core public educational standards, which have been adopted by 45 states, looms as perhaps a political problem for him that would be equal to his support for immigration reform.