CORALVILLE, Iowa — Jeb Bush says he misjudged the intensity of anger among Republican voters before his White House campaign and believes the country in 2016 is “dramatically different” than in past elections. Yet he insists he’s still a viable candidate, and one who has broadened his mission to include defending conservativism from GOP front-runner Donald Trump.

“I just think it’s important to fight this fight,” a reflective Bush said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I don’t know what the consequences politically for me are. But I do think it’s important that the conservative party nominate a conservative, and someone that understands the role of America in the world.”

In particular, Bush reaffirmed his commitment to conservative social issues in an AP Conversation, the latest in a series of extended interviews with the candidates to become the nation’s 45th president.

The former Florida governor spoke to the AP in Iowa, where he argued the Supreme Court should overturn its landmark Roe v. Wade ruling affirming abortion rights and, as he has for weeks, pummeled Trump incessantly.

But as the state’s leadoff Feb. 1 caucuses draw closer, the man once thought to be the Republican Party’s most likely nominee, shows few signs of momentum. Bush is favored by just 4 percent of likely caucus-goers in the respected Iowa Poll, published Wednesday by The Des Moines Register and Bloomberg News, down two points in the past month and mired in sixth place.

To be sure, Bush isn’t giving up. Yet, rather than talking about winning in the early voting states, Bush says he’s working to “beat expectations” in the February contests before moving into March as “a candidate that’s viable.”

“After that, the fur starts flying pretty quick,” he said. “We’ll be viable.”

The son of one president and brother of another, Bush told AP this week he was never comfortable with his place as the early favorite for the GOP nomination. He effectively blocked 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney from entering the race, winning over many of Romney’s donors en route to raising more than $100 million last year to support his bid.

But that political pedigree and fundraising prowess scared no campaign rivals, least of all Trump, who got into the race the day after Bush in June. Bush told AP he failed to predict Trump’s popularity, reflected in the real estate mogul’s sustained lead among GOP voters in preference polls and the large, raucous crowds he draws to his rallies.