Commentary
Is This The Demise Of The Bush Dynasty?
- by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, January 7, 2016
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush has presided over the complete implosion of his campaign. His team has failed to bolster solid support early in the season and is now unable to counter the anti-establishment wave that is taking the traditional Republican party by storm.
The campaign tried a couple of resets, and each time it didn’t seem to work. The candidate with the most cash, who led in both national and New Hampshire polls in July, has now slumped to a second-tier candidate occupying sixth place in national GOP polls with 3.3%.
What went so wrong for Jeb?
For one thing, he’s the brother of a president and son of another. Both these facts raised expectations for success, as well as raising suspicions of dynastic favoritism within the party. He is neither gregarious like his brother, nor as statesmanlike as his father.
Jeb’s floundering when asked about his brother’s decision to invade Iraq didn’t help. Infighting within the Bush clan -- former President George H. W. Bush apparently swung at one of his son’s aides -- added to the confusion about what exactly was going on within Jeb’s campaign.
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In addition, his own personal gaffes were endless. After a mass shooting in Oregon, Bush claimed "stuff happens," while also suggesting the country "phase out" Medicare and stumbling badly on funding women's health.
The campaign has aired an outrageous 20,985 TV advertisements as of January 4, 2016, mostly through super PACs. TV advertising has fallen from the illustrious helm of political advertising to lows of now being considered complete waste.
According to The Washington Post, the Bush campaign has spent $6.4 million for every point the candidate has lost in the polls since September.
Bush is one of the only candidates to have attacked Donald Trump outright and remain in the ring. Clearly, it hasn’t done him much good.
The former Florida governor has been pulling out all the stops, even going so far as to challenge Trump in a one-on-one debate. “Donald, I’ll take you on one-on-one in a debate, any time, any place. You name it, and I’ll do it.”
This all makes sense; the campaign has nothing lose at this point. Even with the significant number of endorsements he’s received from Congress, the next few months are an all-or-nothing situation for Jeb!
There are a lot of Bushes yet to come in the next generation, and they've all been "groomed." in one way or another. One uprooted bush does not vanquish a field of weeds.
Early surveys last year showed the dynasty factor was of concern to less than 10% of voters.
Jeb Bush simply did not present himself or his plans for the future well. I suspect he was undermined by the advice he received from a corps of old professional political strategists/marketers the way Romney was. Beltway insiders do not understand the mood (anger) of many voters.
Bush focused on his past rather than what he would do in the future, at a time when voters want to see change in the very dysfunctional system of career politicians in Washington. He also sounded like he was trying to remember key talking points that his advisers had given him rather than speaking from the heart (and brain).
Too bad, because Bush, like Romney, is well qualified and could have done a good job.
Early surveys last year showed the dynasty factor was of concern to less than 10% of voters.
Jeb Bush simply did not present himself or his plans for the future well. I suspect he was undermined by the advice he received from a corps of old professional political strategists/marketers the way Romney was. Beltway insiders do not understand the mood (anger) of many voters.
Bush focused on his past rather than what he would do in the future, at a time when voters want to see change in the very dysfunctional system of career politicians in Washington. He also sounded like he was trying to remember key talking points that his advisers had given him rather than speaking from the heart (and brain).
Too bad, because Bush, like Romney, is well qualified and could have done a good job.
He is hanging on chads.