These are things he truly believes and neither would be controversial in the 90s or early 00s when he was in office. This is part of who he is and he wasn't planning on running for president when he took these positions.
One has to remember that Bush was Plan B for the establishment after the fall of Christie. This position was part of Bush's bargain. He didn't really want to run in the first place and if he did he was saying he wasn't willing to do a Romney and pretend to be a 'severe Conservative' and pander.
Again part of the reason he wasn't seriously considering running before 2014 was he was self-aware enough to know that his brother had screwed up the family name and he missed his chance.
So to answer the question 'what was he thinking?' Bush was thinking he didn't want any part of this, but was talked into it. He then though the old rules applied like with his brother and a shock and awe fundraising apparatus and some establishment endorsements would act as a domino effect and the party would eventually coalesce around him.
