Free Republic

The sudden end to Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign this month appeared to bring another chapter to a close: his long and fruitful partnership with Republican admaker Mike Murphy, the brash strategist who has been at his side for nearly two decades. Since 1998, when Murphy helped Bush remake his image and win the Florida governor’s office after an earlier failed bid, the strategist’s firms have received nearly $36 million from Bush’s campaigns, allied political committees and educational foundation, according to campaign finance and tax records compiled by The Washington Post. While the vast majority of the money went to purchase...

Cruz or Trump? Hey let's all just be glad it ain't Jeb. I've seen all of them except for the very last one. That one is really a hoot. Peace. ¡Jeb!

Since Jeb Bush's withdrawal from the presidential race on Saturday, endorsements from prominent Republicans have been piling up for Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. Just in the last day, former Senator Bob Dole of Kansas, Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah and Gov. Asa Hutchison of Arkansas have signed on. But there is one endorsement that remains elusive: Mr. Bush's. Leaving Nevada on Tuesday for a day of campaigning in Minnesota and Michigan, Mr. Rubio told reporters that he had spoken on Monday with Mr. Bush, the former governor, who was his mentor in Florida politics. He said the two planned...

Ohio Gov. John Kasich has won the endorsement of Tom Ridge, a former director of homeland security and Pennsylvania governor. Ridge had been supporting former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush for president since early 2015 and joined him on the campaign trail in South Carolina. ...

Rep. Adam Kinzinger said on Friday that he was not sure if — "God forbid" — Donald Trump became the Republican presidential nominee and that he needed to surround himself with the best experts on foreign policy. (SNIP) The three-term congressman, who supports former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, said that Trump lacked solid leadership traits, including harnessing voter anger to effectively advance his agenda. (SNIP) "A leader doesn't have to be angry on behalf of himself. When [Trump] gets mad, it's because he's personally offended. That's not the traits of a leader."

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, once considered the Republican Party's most likely presidential nominee, is ending his campaign after a dismal showing in South Carolina's primary. "The people of Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina have spoken, and I really respect their decision, so tonight I am suspending my campaign," he told backers in the Palmetto State. Bush, who entered the race with great fanfare and trumpeted massive fundraising numbers early in his campaign, was ultimately weighed down by Republicans' concerns about continuing the political dynasty of his father and brother.

Donald Trump does not have a "consistent conservative view" and should not be placed in a position to nominate a successor to Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush told Newsmax TV on Friday. "Each time he's had a chance to be in a position where he would apply conservative principles in a way to help anybody other than himself," he hasn't, the former Florida governor told "Newsmax Now" hosts J.D. Hayworth and John Bachman. ...

The Jeb Bush presidential campaign people deny it in a high-energy way so unlike their famously even-tempered boss: Tonight's South Carolina primary is not a litmus test for the former Florida governor's so-far fizzling presidential campaign. If he does lousy here, expect him to trudge on, through Nevada and next into Super Tuesday on March 1.

Bracing for a finish toward the bottom of the pack in South Carolina, the campaign of Gov. John R. Kasich of Ohio argued on Saturday that the primary's outcome would be a victory no matter what because of Jeb Bush's struggles. Mr. Kasich's chief strategist, John Weaver, said the race would be down to four viable candidates after Saturday's primary: Donald J. Trump, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Mr. Kasich. "For all practical purposes, there's no path forward for Governor Bush," Mr. Weaver said on a conference call with reporters. Referring to Saturday's outcome...

As rumors swirl that Jeb Bush's presidential campaign is collapsing, he refused to say whether he would remain in the race if he placed poorly in Saturday's primary in South Carolina. "I'm going to work as hard as I can till 7 p.m. I'm not going to feed the speculation of people who have no clue about my campaign," Bush told reporters after greeting voters at a polling place at an elementary school in this tony island hamlet. Bush, accompanied by his son Jeb Jr., Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and other supporters, skittered around this state that political...

Jeb Bush's brother, the former president, his sister-in-law, the former first lady, his mother, his sister, another brother, and of course his wife and children have come to South Carolina, where George W. Bush's political fortunes were made, in hopes of vaulting Jeb back into the Republican presidential race. But with poll after poll showing Bush hovering around 10 percent - fighting with John Kasich for fourth place — that looks less and less likely every hour. So it wasn't surprising that there was a big media turnout at Bush's townhall here in Columbia Thursday. Yes, there's plenty of press...

A top Jeb Bush adviser on Friday morning repeatedly dodged the question of whether the former Florida governor will stay in the presidential race if he disappoints in South Carolina, instead saying the campaign is laser focused on Saturday's primary. At the outset of the interview on "New Day," host Chris Cuomo asked Michael Steel, Bush's adviser for policy and communications, whether his candidate is finished if he does not finish in second or third place in Saturday's South Carolina primary. The on-screen chyron: "IS SOUTH CAROLINA THE END OF THE ROAD FOR JEB BUSH?" "Look, we're excited about South...

A senior advisor to Jeb Bush seemed non-committal Friday when asked definitively if the former Florida governor's presidential campaign will move forward after Saturday's South Carolina primary. "I can say we're looking forward to a good result here in South Carolina and we'll move on from there," Michael Steele eventually said on CNN after first dodging the question. Bush is publicly scheduled to attend two events in Nevada ahead of that state's caucus: a town hall Sunday evening in Las Vegas and another Monday evening in Reno and the campaign insists they will move on regardless of the outcome Saturday....

The Bushes don't go down without a fight. With the family name and political fortunes on the line, former first lady Barbara Bush joined son Jeb on the stump today, doing her bit to keep his presidential bid viable. It's a long shot, even if he survives South Carolina's primary on Saturday. Speaking briefly, she called Jeb "one of my four favorite sons" -- two others, Neil and Marvin, were on hand. Jeb later protested that she had whispered moments earlier that really, he was the favorite. The fourth brother, former president George W. Bush, stumped with Jeb on Monday...

Jeb Bush has had a tough week on the campaign trail. And even he seems to admit it. The former Florida governor, who it was once predicted would be one of the strongest candidates in the 2016 GOP field, has been going at it with Donald Trump for months. But this week, his campaign took on a different tone, when a clearly frustrated Bush let his anger show at campaign events in South Carolina, sometimes even becoming testy with his own supporters. "I should stop campaigning, maybe, huh?" he said at a Wednesday rally. "Let's just - it's all done."...

Some of Jeb Bush's most steadfast allies think Saturday might be the end. Donors, who poured millions into his campaign and super PAC, have stopped giving – one refusing a direct request to raise $1 million this week. Bush himself is hitting the phones, pleading for patience with his most influential supporters. And even some of his confidants are suddenly dejected after a dispiriting week capped off by South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley rejecting Bush in favor of Marco Rubio. "What a kick in the balls," said one of Bush's closest supporters and one of the more than a dozen...

CNN's Anderson Cooper asked Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush about his ability to speak Spanish, and Bush responded by asking Cooper in Spanish if he wanted to conduct the rest of the interview in his second tongue. The exchange happened during CNN's town hall meeting Thursday night. -snip- The phrase, "Si quieres hacer esta entrevista en Espanol, los hemos," translates to "If you want to conduct this interview in Spanish, we can."

Erick Erickson is reporting at The Resurgent that the Bush campaign is broke. This is pretty remarkable. Sources close to the Bush campaign are beginning to leak about a call last night. I'm told the Bush team is out of money. Pay for campaign staff will end on Saturday. The campaign is all but over. Additionally, after having hundreds of millions of dollars on hand, the Bush Super PAC has less than $15 million from what I am being told. The Bush campaign is denying the rumor but it is coming from too many places take the denials seriously.

Campaign denies reports as evidence of implosion mounts. Jeb Bush's campaign insists that it is not imploding before primary voters' eyes despite mounting evidence to the contrary. The former Florida governor now finds himself in a situation where his own supporters say he isn't firing on all cylinders, his polls are sagging, Republican insiders claim he is running out of cash, and key endorsements are going to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. "Sources close to the Bush campaign are beginning to leak about a call last night. I'm told the Bush team is out of money. Pay for campaign staff will...

Jeb Bush finished sixth in Iowa, fourth in New Hampshire, and the latest RealClearPolitics average for Saturday's GOP primary has Trump at 34 percent, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio at 17 percent, Bush andJohn Kasich at 10 percent, and Ben Carson at 7 percent. New Hampshire breathed some life into the Bush campaign, because he finished narrowly ahead of Rubio. What does Bush need in South Carolina? "My hope for Jeb is that he solidifies that he's the governor choice, that he is competitive with Rubio," said South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Bush supporter. "I don't see South Carolina...