"Do you miss me yet? No, not my brother George! Do you miss ME. Do you miss ME yet? C'mon, you miss me don't you? Aren't you tired by now of that Donald Trump?"
Posted on 08/22/2015 6:42:10 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Jeb Bush is sticking with the plan.
Despite Donald Trump shooting ahead in the polls and Bush’s debate performance getting bad reviews — and amid signs of frustration on the campaign trail from the former Florida governor himself — his supporters aren’t panicking, multiple sources close to the candidate insist. The Bush camp is projecting confidence that the Summer of Trump will fade to winter, and that Jeb will prevail when it matters.
Here are five reasons Jebworld isn’t freaking out:
1. ‘TRUMP V. SOMEBODY’
Trump is the man to beat, the undisputed leader in national and early-state polls. Even Bush, before launching into a lengthy attack on Trump’s conservative bona fides, called him “the current front-runner” this week and said the billionaire businessman had “done a pretty amazing job to get to that point.”
Before Trump soared, Bush was on top. But while Trump’s climb has corresponded with Bush’s fall, Bush hasn’t crashed to earth.
Being No. 2 is not necessarily a bad thing, Jeb’s allies argue: So much focus on Trump, they say, means the rest of the Republican field isn’t training their guns on him.
“It’s going to come down to Trump v. Somebody and Jeb is the somebody,” said one consultant who has worked for Bush, summing up the thinking inside his orbit.
In this reading, Bush’s amped-up attacks on Trump look more like a calculated strategy than a sign of panic. The more the press focuses on Trump v. Bush, the calculation goes, the less attention the lesser candidates get, starving them of oxygen. A two-man race is good for Jeb.
Bush’s backers acknowledge Trump has unexpectedly soared. But they believe he has a ceiling of support in the high 20s to early 30s – and that it’s unsustainable. Trump’s demise has been long-predicted and refuted, though.
2. JEB, INC.
By any measure, the roughly $120 million amassed by Bush’s campaign, super PAC and leadership PAC is as stunning as it is life-sustaining for the candidate. Money doesn’t buy love in an election, but it puts a down payment on it. And Bush’s camp is about to spread the love.
Right to Rise, the pro-Bush super PAC sitting on $100 million, this week began flooding New Hampshire and Iowa with mailers touting Bush’s conservative record. That’s the first salvo ahead of a TV ad campaign that begins Sept. 15 with an initial $10-$15 million buy and isn’t expected to end until Election Day. This first round of ads are focused on presenting a positive message and introduction of Bush to the broader electorate. But don’t be fooled — the super PAC has its own in-house team of researchers digging into his opponents and could go negative quickly when necessary.
While Bush’s Miami headquarters cheered the announcement, aides in Los Angeles insist it had nothing to do with Trump’s surge.
“We have a long-term strategy and are in the strongest position for a sustained and independent effort to support Jeb Bush,” said Right to Rise spokesman Paul Lindsay.
Beyond its size, the super PAC’s formulation was unique because it was built at the same time Bush’s team was constructing his campaign. By delaying the official announcement of his candidacy, Bush wasn’t bound by some restrictions that limit official candidates from working closely with super PACs. So he raised unlimited sums of money for it and put his longtime adviser, Mike Murphy, in charge. That allowed the super PAC to become infused with Bush’s DNA, so as it grew independent it still reflected the core mission and style of Bush’s official campaign, which hasn’t spent any money on TV, radio or mailers — leaving it free to focus on organization.
3. BUSH, INC.
Before there was Jeb, Inc. 2016, there was Bush, Inc. His grandfather was a U.S. senator; his father and brother were presidents. No other family in modern America has wielded such political power and had such ties to the GOP establishment and Wall Street, where he reestablished relations after leaving the governor’s mansion in 2007. Membership has its privileges. About half of Bush’s total $120 million haul came from donors who previously gave to his brother or father, a recent Associated Press analysis found.
These aren’t small donors — they’re millionaires, billionaires, major CEOs and former ambassadors. Not only are they loyal to the Bush dynasty, they’ve seen insurgent candidates flare up before and aren’t spooked by Trump, unlike some of the less experienced contributors to some of the other campaigns.
“Our donors are very sophisticated people. They know it’s a long-term process. They know about summer bumps in the pre-season,” Murphy said. “They’re happy with where we are.”
Several Bush bundlers told POLITICO they remain committed to Bush and that the Trump surge happening in the dog days of summer couldn’t have been better timed.
“I think he is on the right track. This is a marathon, not a sprint,” said David Beightol, a Bush supporter and fundraiser. “Trump is a celebrity and he gets people’s attention so it makes sense that people are drawn to him. Over time, people will make a decision who is more presidential.”
Bush’s camp is banking on that continued support. He continues to keep an aggressive fundraising schedule. He’ll be in Virginia next week and has a Washington fundraiser slated for Sept. 23.
That said, while no one is bolting to other candidates, several donors said they are looking for Bush to show more fire on the campaign trail and have a breakout moment that shows he has the passion for the job like he did in his first gubernatorial run.
4. THE BUSH RECORD
Underpinning Jeb, Inc.’s belief in its candidate is that no other Republican candidate can match his record as governor: high job growth (more so than any other GOP candidate), a pioneering school-choice voucher program, fighting the teacher’s unions, eliminating a stocks-and-bonds tax, expanding gun-ownership rights, restricting abortions and cutting so much in spending that an ally dubbed him “Veto Corleone” for “whacking” so many parts of the budget.
This is “the Florida story” that Jeb, Inc. has already started to tell. The campaign and his backers say that, in the end, most Republican voters don’t know it and only identify Bush as the son and brother of former presidents. And Bush supporters are counting on Bush’s long history of working to elect Republicans — in contrast to Trump, who has supported and contributed to Democrats.
“Mr. Trump doesn’t have a proven conservative record,” Bush said in Iowa. “He was a Democrat longer in the last decade than he was a Republican.”
Look for Bush’s campaign and super PAC to continue to hammer this message over and over again in the coming weeks as both look to introduce him to the broader electorate.
5. BUSH TIME
With all that money and institutional support, Bush’s team says it’s secure because it has the luxury of time. Though he’s now in second place, Bush isn’t fending off daily questions about his longterm viability. Bush has compared himself to the slow, plodding tortoise in Aesop’s fable. He has also said he intends to be “joyous” on the campaign trail – a conceit he dropped recently as he began using Trump as a foil.
“It is going to be a long fall to the first primary and he’s doing all the right things,” said Richard Cullen, chairman of McGuireWoods, who was appointed a U.S. attorney by President George H.W. Bush. “I think Republicans ultimately are not going to look for soundbites or the flashiest candidates. We’re hungry for a win and he certainly is our best chance of beating Hillary, or Biden, or whoever ultimately is their nominee.”
Bush’s campaign and super PAC have no immediate plans to attack Trump in paid media. That’s what town hall events and free-media appearances on TV are for.
“It’s August,” said Bush spokesman Tim Miller. “Getting to use the August shark attack season to contrast Jeb’s proven conservative record against Trump’s past as a Democrat socialite is something we relish.”
Yeah, I saw quite a few Republicans that were a bit against Trump turn on twitter to Trump.
But, again, all that matters is what people think in Feb. 2016.
He was a Phi Beta Kappa and graduated magna cum laude.
How much did his family pay them?
Bush needs to read the new NYT article out tonight - Trump leads amoung every GOP demographic - women, college age, no college, etc. Trump will be almost impossible to beat.
I’m thinking the Jebster is the Vice Principal in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
Save Ferris...
1) Because
2) He
3) Knows
4) It's
5) Fixed.
I don’t know, scares me. All those uninformed voters watching their tvs, this is their only source of information. I think that’s how Romney finally pulled it off.
Hope I’m wrong.
“I’m thinking the Jebster is the Vice Principal in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”
-—Donald Trump is Ferris with Hillary as the sister
The only reason he wouldn’t panic is that he is as stupid as he looks and sounds.
I would find it very difficult to vote for JEB! maybe impossible.
GOP-E manipulation of the primary system.
1. Anyone with the last name BUSH. Na-Ga-Da-It!
2. Lindsey Graham. Too flaming IMO.
3. John Kasich. No, I'm NOT my brothers keeper!
4. Carly Fiorina. She ruined HP, no way in hell she can run a country (Unless it's into the ground!)
5. Mike Hucksterbee. Yes, I said HUCKSTERBEE.
6. Rick Perry. Is he still in the race?!
7. Rand Paul. He's as nutty as his old man.
8. Chris Christie. A heart attack waiting to happen.
9. Bobby Jindal. Not voting for someone who reminds me of Apu from the Simpsons.
10. Marco Rubio. Meh, forgeddaboutit. 11. Rick Santorum. Doesn't have a chance in hell.
12. George Pataki. Declared, and candidacy already deceased.
That leaves Ted Cruz, Scott Walker, and (OMG!) Donald Trump for consideration. Yeah, that's a somewhat eclectic mix of candidates isn't it?
Even with these three, I'm not that happy. Cruz while right on damn' near ever issue doesn't seem to make friends very well. He alienates damn' near everyone.
Scott Walker. I like what he did in Wisconsin but is he really Presidential Material?
Donald Trump: He's 2016's Ross Perot with bad hair, and seemingly just as nutty sometimes. Still -- he shakes up DC and makes alot of the DC Establishment nervous and I like that.
Wishing someone like John Thune would run myself....
BINGO!
Who is the Charlie Sheen character, Cruz?
Jeb: Wrong on immigration, wrong on Common Core, no defined tax policy, wrong on foreign policy, can’t stand up to the Washington cartel because he was born into it.
Cruz: Right on immigration, right on Common Core, defined tax policy including abolishing the IRS, right on foreign policy, consistently, and LOUDLY, stands up to the Washington cartel.
Just in case anybody should be in doubt Jeb is my line in the sand. Will not vote for him for any reason. Will never happen.
The GOPe shot the money wad way to early on The Jebster. Now they are stuck with him the grand push sales job commences but good luck convincing any buyers... eheheheh
Kasich does not sell outside of Ohio.... He’s at Joke level...
I know the Establishment likes him since Jeb and their back up plan Walker looks to be toast too. Nevertheless, Kascich just anther boring political with the same old tired platitudes.
Sorry he has about as much chance as Chris Christy. Which is less that 1/100 th of 1%.
I think Cruz or maybe Rubio
so if you were to predict....who would you predict?
Kasich?
Just curious.
Sure. post cards and tv adds in the age of internet news, netflix and the DVR are effective uses of campaign resources!
Trump is eating everyone else’s lunch except for Cruz who is using a specific targeted effort to entice the fifty million Evangelicals who do not vote to vote.
JEB! has already spent millions and effectively confirmed the fact that he is a boring and out of touch plutocrat.
He could spend a billion on TV and junk mail and still miss the actual voters he will need to close.
Meanwhile Trump has spent almost nothing on his self financed affair and the more they attack him the more free ink he gets and the higher his poll numbers go. He is a master of publicity and marketing.
Bush is stuck in the last century.
He is, if he thinks the conservative base will support him
I'd vote for a box of rocks before Jeb!
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