Free Republic

When Jeb Bush is “on” — as he was at Liberty University, his kickoff speech and at the RedState Gathering on Saturday — he stands head and shoulders above the field. His command of policy, record of accomplishment in a purple state, inclusive message and refusal to pander make other contenders seem small and shallow. Bush’s biggest problem, however, is that he is not always “on.” Bush’s debate performance was solid on substance but lacked Sen. Marco Rubio’s eloquence and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s pugnaciousness. He made no errors and ably defended himself on immigration reform and Common Core...

Jeb Bush’s most famous, or infamous, remark of the campaign season was that a Republican candidate must be willing to “lose the primary” in order to win the general election. For the most part, Bush has campaigned like he meant what he said: He’s defended his positions on immigration reform and Common Core, though they’re unpopular with much of the Republican base, and he angered conservatives on Capitol Hill by pushing for a confirmation vote on Attorney General Loretta Lynch, which some were trying to hold up at the time. But in the week leading up to the first Republican...

GOPe 2016 Road Map To Victory – Tree House Challenge… In December of 2013 we found clues to the GOPe roadmap and began watching carefully. In a very general sense the broad construct begins around a very specific premise: The GOPe knew they would need to devise a strategy to elect Jeb Bush with around 15 – 25% of the primary vote, depending on the state – through the first nine calendar primary races. [Dixie states at the low end, and New England states at higher thresholds.] [snip] This approach makes winning a matter of math, not ideology. The...

<p>Eric Erickson (@ewerickson), Editor-in-Chief of RedState didn't just toss off that gem. He wrote it, then deleted it, then re-wrote and re-sent it adding the proper hashtags ("LMRM" = Let Me Repeat Myself, "TCOT" = Top Conservatives on Twitter, "RS" = RedState). Made sure he got it just right. See for yourself.</p>

Republicans across the party’s wide political spectrum, increasingly worried about the GOP’s ability to appeal to women voters, pointedly criticized Donald Trump on Saturday for comments that appeared to suggest Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly questioned him forcefully during Thursday’s debate because she was menstruating. Even in today’s rough and tumble politics, where a premium is placed on extreme language and biting discourse, some saw Trump’s latest rhetorical fusillade as vaulting past tolerable limits, even for a candidate who says he doesn’t have the time or inclination to be politically correct. Rivals for the Republican presidential nomination and other party...

Fox News is facing a backlash from conservatives after critics felt the network was biased and unfair in the manner it approached the forum for the Republican presidential candidates' debate Thursday, and namely, Donald Trump. According to Media Equalizer, tens of thousands of observers swamped social media with criticism of Fox and the moderators, with some comments attracting more than 2,000 "likes." "This was shameful. You and Fox News did not treat the candidates fairly. You tried to make Donald J. Trump look foolish. All you did was make Fox News look foolish." "Donald J. Trump still has my vote,"...

Back during the government shutdown of 2013, Carly Fiorina told CNN’s The Lead that she felt badly for Boehner and blamed the shutdown on Ted Cruz and Obama: "Everybody could see this train wreck coming. I actually feel badly for John Boehner. I think this is Ted Cruz and President Obama’s shutdown. I think Ted Cruz’s tactics were wrong. There’s no honor in charging a hill that you know you can’t take, only casualties, although Ted Cruz maybe got name recognition and money along the way. But President Obama wanted this shutdown. And Ted Cruz played right into his hands."...

A day after going toe-to-toe with his fellow GOP hopefuls, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is back in the Granite State. Bush held a town hall meeting for supporters in Barrington Friday night. Dozens of people packed the Turbocam International Hall.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush sought to separate himself from the sound and fury of Donald Trump last night, portraying himself as the level-headed man of reason in a race so far dominated by the real estate mogul’s insults and outrage. “If you watched the debate last night, you noticed I’m not angry,” Bush told a crowd of about 200 people during a town hall here last night. -snip- “He actually did a fundraiser for me,” Bush said of Trump. “But just for the record, he never asked for anything because apparently you’re supposed to give him your money and...

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has been disinvited from a conservative conference following comments critical of Fox News host Megyn Kelly. Trump’s invitation to this weekend’s RedState Gathering has been revoked, tweeted Erick Erickson, the conservative website’s editor. Trump has been scheduled to appear at a tailgate at the College Football Hall of Fame with the conservative group on Saturday.

Top political strategist for George W. Bush, Karl Rove was unimpressed with a couple of debate performances from Thursday night, critiquing the style and tone of Donald Trump and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. -snip- "If you like Trump, that's not going to necessarily turn you off but the issue is that 80% of the people are supporting somebody else," Rove said. "Language like that, attack on Megyn (Kelly, the Fox News debate moderator), his refusal to say I'm a team player -- all of those things create a ceiling on how far he could go, and I think we may...

Trump has no need for spokespeople. He strode into the spin room himself to declare victory and force the GOP into an existential crisis. Donald Trump won the Republican debate, according to Donald Trump. “It’s the story of my life, I guess,” Trump told reporters after his performance. By that he meant: People are needlessly hard on him, but he is so great and so fabulous that he always prevails in the end. -snip- Before Trump even made it out to the “spin room,” (so titled because its purpose, established in 1984 by the Reagan campaign, is to give candidates...

Donald Trump’s first presidential debate was a disaster. That’s the assessment of Republican insiders in this week’s POLITICO Caucus, our weekly bipartisan survey of the top strategists, activists and operatives in Iowa and New Hampshire. They offered their reactions immediately after watching Thursday’s 9 p.m. prime-time debate in Cleveland. Story Continued Below Forty-four percent called the controversial real estate mogul the biggest loser of the evening, critiquing everything from his refusal to rule out a third party run, to perceived misogynistic comments to his acceptance of single-payer health care in other countries. ---- While Rubio and Bush were both perceived...

CLEVELAND —Jeb Bush, who has described himself as a joyful campaigner, may have accidentally laid bare his campaign’s planned attacks against his top GOP rivals. In the hours before the 2nd prime-time GOP debate featuring Bush and the other top 9 Republican contenders, Bush’s campaign inadvertently posted pages featuring bullet points contrasting his own record with that of Scott Walker and Marco Rubio. Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/08/gop-debate-2015-jeb-bush-attack-plan-121120.html#ixzz3i8gitAl5

The only big news from last night’s debate is that we can confirm that we should not trust the news media to run a Presidential debate. To begin with, this was a question and answer period, not a debate. A debate would have been more substantive and would have given people some idea about a candidate’s position on issues rather than their ability to produce a sound bite on command. The questions were controlled in a way that demonstrated the bias of the media personalities asking them, and there was no effort to even pretend to give each candidate an...

Jeb Bush was uneven and tepid in his first debate as a presidential candidate. The former Florida governor struggled to find a comfort zone in the debate setting, looking at times like he was trying to process a multitude of thoughts simultaneously, very unlike his more confident self on the campaign trail in less formal settings. If Bush is workmanlike in a speech, but animated and inspired in a question-and-answer session or a town hall setting, then in his first time on the debate stage he looked uncertain. “He’s got to look the part,” one of his advisers said before...

Two debates tonight helped clarify the cluttered GOP presidential race. And the audience should have cheered Republicans looking to find someone capable of beating Hillary Clinton. -snip- Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was polished and error free, defending his immigration views and support for school standards, reiterating his opposition to federally-imposed curriculum reminding the audience of his considerable conservative achievements. His best moment came with a defense of a pro-growth agenda with a goal of 4 percent growth. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) patted himself on the back for not getting along with others, speaking with excessive deliberation as if he...

Ahead of tonight's debate, Jeb Bush's team is circulating some suggested talking points in hopes that supporters and donors in Cleveland will keep singing from the same song sheet. Clearly, there's a big focus on Bush's maturity, experience and preparation for a long campaign. "Jeb is in this for the long haul — not to score cheap political points at the expense of opponents, but to talk about why he has the leadership skills and record to be president," the document says. Later, the team adds: "Jeb is focused on delivering a message that will resonate with voters over the...

It’s been a rough week for Jeb Bush — and it’s not even half over. On Monday night, he stumbled over a question about his father — a reminder that the son and brother of former presidents still struggles to give polished answers about his family’s legacy. He also struggled to explain how he would combat Islamic State forces in Syria. And on Tuesday, Democrats quickly attacked him for suggesting that he was “not sure we need half a billion dollars for women’s health issues” — a comment he then retracted and sought to clarify. As he prepares to face...

After stumbling this week, Jeb Bush heads into Thursday's debate facing a key question: Is he ready to run for president in an era when every gaffe can go viral? Bush's latest challenge came Tuesday when the former Florida governor attempted to slam Planned Parenthood. But he appeared to veer off track when he said, "I'm not sure we need half a billion dollars for women's health issues," referring to the amount of money the federal government pays largely for low-income women's health services. Bush later said he "misspoke," but the line gave an easy opening to Democratic presidential front-runner...