Monday, September 28, 2015

It’s Make or Break Time for Jeb Bush


As noted in a post yesterday, Jeb "Jebbie" Bush's poll scores remain in the toilet and despite Jebbie's sense of entitlement to the White House, his donors are increasingly seeing Bush as this year's political equivalent to the Titanic.  All the tons of money he has accumulated seemingly is counting for nothing and donors may be readying themselves to bolt to someone - anyone - they see as a more viable candidate.  Personally, I hope Jebbie sinks - we do not need another Bush destroying the country the way his cretin brother did.  A piece in the Washington Post looks at the nervous donor class and their demands aimed at Jebbie.  Here are excerpts:
Jeb Bush is entering a critical phase of his Republican presidential campaign, with top donors warning that the former Florida governor needs to demonstrate growth in the polls over the next month or face serious defections among supporters.

The warnings, expressed by numerous senior GOP fund­raisers in recent days, come as Bush and an allied super PAC are in the early stages of an aggressive television ad campaign they say will help erase doubts about his viability.

But Bush continues to battle against a steady decline in the polls, sinking to fifth place at just 7 percent in a national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Sunday and similarly languishing in the early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

The warnings from top donors come as Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s exit from the race re­focused the battle within the GOP’s establishment wing as one between Bush and his former protege, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). Right now, the momentum appears to be behind Rubio, who has jumped ahead of Bush in most polls. At least a third of the bundlers who signed up to raise money for Walker have switched their allegiance to Rubio . . . 

Bush also is facing fresh scrutiny for comments that critics say bear echoes of remarks Mitt Romney made during his 2012 GOP presidential bid, part of a pattern of awkward statements that Bush or his campaign have had to clarify.

Campaigning in South Carolina last week, he said that Democrats often win over black voters by telling them “we’ll take care of you with free stuff.” Romney made similar comments during his 2012 presidential bid. 

Party strategists said that Bush must find a way to recharge his campaign with a compelling message about his conservative governing record in Florida.

“People are looking at the stage and saying: ‘Jeb and Marco? I’m going with the new,’ ” said a top party fundraiser not aligned with a campaign. “You’re seeing people really gravitate to [Rubio] and saying, ‘Okay, we’ll buck the Bush machine.’

“What I hear everywhere when you say Jeb’s name is, ‘If you want to lose the general election, nominate Jeb,’ ” the fundraiser added.

Rubio has jumped ahead of Bush in recent polls of Republicans in New Hampshire and Florida — two states critical to Bush’s campaign strategy. In New Hampshire, a CNN/WMUR poll released last week gave Trump a commanding lead with 26 percent. Rubio was third with 9 percent, and Bush tied with Ohio Gov. John Kasich for fifth place, with 7 percent. A Florida Atlantic University poll released last week put Trump’s support among Sunshine State Republican voters at 31.5 percent, with Rubio at 19.2 percent and Bush at 11.3 percent.

One persistent problem for Bush has been a tendency to wander into verbal culs-de-sac, drawing the ire of minorities, women, Democratic leaders or Republicans.

Over the summer, Bush suggested that the federal government should stop funding women’s health programs. He later said he misspoke. He defended the term “anchor babies” — widely viewed by Asians and Hispanics as offensive — as an appropriate way to describe how some undocumented immigrants exploit U.S. citizenship laws. And after saying that “people need to work longer hours,” he clarified that he meant Americans need more full-time rather than part-time work.

Democrats warn they will use Bush’s tongue-twisted answers against him if he becomes the GOP nominee.

“Jeb Bush either has no idea what he’s talking about or he’s a cynical politician appealing to the ugliest elements of the Republican Party,” said Michael ­Tyler, spokesman for the Democratic National Committee.
We do not need a warmed over version of the Chimperator's failed policies.  Jebbie needs to be sent into permanent political retirement.

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