Former Florida governor Jeb Bush hasn't endorsed either GOP Senate candidate in Florida -- Gov. Charlie Crist or former State House Speaker Marco Rubio -- and he said recently that the national Republican Party shouldn't have either.

"I think he should be given a chance," Bush said of Rubio on Friday at a local Republican club function, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. "I think that the idea that the national party would pick a winner a year and a half before an election is the wrong way to go."

The National Republican Senatorial Committee and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kent.) endorsed Crist May 12, just minutes after the governor formally announced his bid.

As for his own elective office prospects, Bush -- who turned down a chance to run for Senate and also took his name out of the mix to temporarily replace retired senator Mel Martinez -- said he's "going to focus on education reform," not running for office.