“This campaign is not dead.”

— Jeb Bush, quoted by Politico, after finishing fourth in New Hampshire.

Franklin Foer: “With his few remaining breaths as a candidate, however, Bush may have a path out from his debacle, an actual shot at the nomination. For months, he tried and failed to crush Sen. Marco Rubio. But he wielded the hatchet like a man who would rather be sailing. What he needed was a wingman. Last night, Gov. Chris Christie, with his bully’s instinct for weakness, baited the golden boy into choking—thereby, relieving Bush of all the throbbing pressure to stage a miraculous New Hampshire comeback.”

“Nobody — not the media, not the GOP establishment — can now consider Rubio a fait accompli. Republicans can see the fear in Rubio’s eyes, and it has panicked them, confirming all their nagging anxieties. There was a reason that the party has resisted its urge to fully rally around the perfect paper candidate.”

“As Republicans scrounge for their center-right tribune, they will find themselves coming full circle. Christie has no cash and no organization beyond New Hampshire. Kasich is out-of-synch with his party; his moderation won’t play outside a few suburban pockets. Which only leaves one.”

“Frustration inside Bush world has begun to spill into open view, with even the most outspoken family loyalists admitting it may soon be time to move on,” Politico reports.

“Many donors and influential supporters, bound by a deep and longstanding connection to the patrician clan, say they will remain with Bush no matter what. Yet others, deeply distressed by the rise of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz and eager for the Republican Party to rally around a mainstream candidate with viability, say they have come to terms with Bush’s long odds and the possibility they will eventually get behind someone else.”

The Onion: Advisors hopeful Jeb Bush finally has momentum to end campaign

Jeb Bush finished a fiery riff about protecting the country as commander in chief but was met with total silence, the New York Times reports.

Sounding defeated, Bush said, “Please clap.”

“I want to be your first.”

— Jeb Bush, quoted by The Week, when told by a college student that the 2016 election would be his first time voting.

Vice News: “The flyer, which was tweeted out by staffers for a rival campaign and super PAC on Monday, offers cash for individuals who show up to — and sit through — a Bush rally at an Embassy Suites in Des Moines, which began at noon Monday. Bush’s campaign quickly denied on Twitter any connection to the flyer or the offer for cash.”

“I know it may sound contrarian, but this is the position that he wants to be in.”

— George P. Bush, quoted by Texas Monthly, on his father’s lagging presidential campaign.

“There were stays at boutique hotels featuring rooftop pools, private soirees at members-only, jacket-and-tie clubs and fundraisers at the Four Seasons, the St. Regis and the Mandarin Oriental,” Reuters reports.

“In the world of Jeb Bush, the campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination has at times been a whirl of private planes and high-end affairs, according to the federal filings of Bush’s campaign and his Super PAC, Right to Rise, which can raise unlimited funds for Bush as long as it does not coordinate directly with him.”