“This campaign is not dead.”
— Jeb Bush, quoted by Politico, after finishing fourth in New Hampshire.
“This campaign is not dead.”
— Jeb Bush, quoted by Politico, after finishing fourth in New Hampshire.
Politico: “The two warring Floridians spent much of the New Hampshire campaign eyeing each other, with Bush blasting Rubio in millions of dollars in ads. But in the end, both of them ended up finishing behind Donald Trump, John Kasich, and, barring a last-second shift in the counting, Ted Cruz.”
“Now, friends and longtime allies agree, both Rubio and Bush are leaving the primary so badly battered that the chances of either of the rival Floridians nabbing the GOP nomination are tougher than ever.”
Said one Rubio adviser: “South Carolina is gonna be a bloodbath.”
Mike Allen: “Rubio is bleeding: Marco Roboto moment was no paper cut. A reality unthinkable four days ago: Marco could be dead if he doesn’t bounce back in S.C. primary 10 days from now, Feb. 20.”
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Donald Trump told CNN that Jeb Bush was a “pathetic” and “desperate” candidate.
Said Trump: “He doesn’t even use his last name in his ads. He’s a sad person who has gone absolutely crazy. I mean this guy, he’s a nervous wreck. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
He added: “Jeb is having some kind of a breakdown. He’s an embarrassment to his family. He has to bring his mother out and walk his mother around at 90 years old. I think it’s a very sad situation that’s taking place.”
Jeb Bush said that he “would push to reverse the Supreme Court decision paving the way for super PACs that spend big money backing candidates — including himself,” The Hill reports.
Said Bush: “If I could do it all again I’d eliminate the Supreme Court ruling… This is a ridiculous system we have now where you have campaigns that struggle to raise money directly and they can’t be held accountable for the spending of the super PAC that’s their affiliate.”
“Here is the story on Jeb. He is a stiff who you wouldn’t hire in private enterprise. This is a stiff. This is a guy that, if he came looking for a job, you’d say no thank you. And that’s the way it is.”
— Donald Trump, in an interview on Morning Joe.
Jeb Bush’s campaign manager warned top staffers to expect “dirty tricks” from Marco Rubio’s campaign in the run-up to voting in New Hampshire, Politico reports.
“The stakes are high for both candidates on Tuesday — but especially for Bush, who has made New Hampshire the cornerstone of his campaign. There is a growing sense among some of Bush’s top supporters that a less than impressive performance will make it harder for the former Florida governor to continue on his campaign.”
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.”
Jeb Bush “didn’t hesitate to join the pile on of Sen. Marco Rubio’s debate performance on Saturday night,” Politico reports.
Said Bush: “He’s so scripted, he’s so gifted. He’s a great speaker, but he came across as totally scripted and kind of robotic.”
“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 said that his mother, former first lady Barbara Bush, is “not as great as everybody thinks she is,” Politico reports.
Said Bush: “I jokingly say that when we were growing up in Midland, in Houston, that mom was fortunate not to have a child-abuse hotline available.”
He explained that that “the discipline of learning right and wrong was her doing.”
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.”
“If Rubio beats him badly in New Hampshire, Jeb is toast.”
— Sen. Lindsey Graham, quoted by the New York Times.
“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.”
Jeb Bush told Bloomberg that his brother, former President George W. Bush, would campaign with him in South Carolina.
Said Bush: “He’s the most popular Republican alive… It may go against the conventional wisdom outside of the Republican world.”
“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.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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