Jeb Bush in The Huffington Post

On Health Care: Clear & concise response stops unneeded fears about Ebola

Bush, who is the latest potential Republican presidential candidate to attack the president over Ebola, also said in a wide-ranging discussion at Vanderbilt University that he supports travel restrictions for people who have been to the most severely affected countries in Africa.

Bush said Obama should have been more "clear and concise" about his plans, and lent more credibility to health officials leading the response.

"It looked very incompetent to begin with, and that fueled fears that may not be justified," Bush said. "And now you have states that are legitimately acting on their concerns, creating a lot more confusion than is necessary."

On Health Care: Handle Ebola like I handled anthrax in 2001

Obama has tried to place his own imprint on the government's Ebola response, making sure photographers captured images of him meeting with the Ebola team and embracing Nina Pham, one of the Dallas nurses who recovered after contracting the disease. He also called US workers in West Africa.

Bush contrasted what he characterized as the president's indecisive approach on Ebola to his own actions as governor when anthrax was mailed to a supermarket tabloid in Florida after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001. "We gave people a sense of calm, what the plan was," Bush said. "We talked in plainspoken English. We were totally engaged."

On Health Care: You should vaccinate your children; over and out

Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) both have been criticized for saying earlier in the week that parents should have some choice about whether to vaccinate their children.

In addition to the vaccination debate, Bush's speech also discussed conservative policies aimed at lifting up the middle class, immigration reform and President Barack Obama's foreign policy.

On Homeland Security: Deal with bullies like Putin with strength, not nuance

"I'm not talking about being bellicose--but saying 'here are the consequences of your actions', that would deter the kind of bad outcome we don't want to see."

Bush said signaling what further sanctions Russia could face, and reassuring Poland & the Baltic states that the US would meet its NATO obligations to view an attack on one member state as an attack against the whole alliance, could halt Putin's aggression. "If he thinks we're resolute, that's the greatest possibility of restricting any kind of further aggressions." However, he said, it was essential to ensure that the US did not isolate Moscow to such an extent that it ended up in the arms of China.

On Principles & Values: GOP must stop being the party of 'anti' everything

"All too often we're associated with being 'anti' everything," Bush said. "Way too many people believe Republicans are anti-immigrant, anti-woman, anti-science, anti-gay, anti-worker, and the list goes on and on and on. Many voters are simply unwilling to choose our candidates even though they share our core beliefs, because those voters feel unloved, unwanted and unwelcome in our party."

On Principles & Values: We need to be the party of inclusion and acceptance

The only way to attract these new faces to the party, Bush said, is through building real, ongoing relationships with others over a long period of time. "As Republicans, we need to get re-acquainted with the notion that the relationships that really matter are not made through Twitter and social media. Real relationships take time to grow, and they begin with a genuine interest in the stories, dreams and challenges harbored within each of us," he said.

On Welfare & Poverty: If you're born poor, the odds are stacked against you

"In our country today, if you're born poor, if your parents didn't go to college, if you don't know your father, if English isn't spoken at home, then the odds are stacked against you. You are more likely to stay poor today than at any other time since World War II," he said.