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But bizarrely offers no proof or explanation On MSNBC today, Washington Post reporter Janell Ross hinted that Jeb Bush was covering up a major family scandal -- but she offered no proof or explanation for her comments. Even the MSNBC host made an effort to distance herself and her network from the Post reporter's comments. "I guess I was rather stunned, I guess, to hear that these things had been written in a book at a time when the governor probably had his own issues that he was struggling with in his personal life," Ross said. "It seems like a...

If you got the impression from former Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign rollout that he appeared to believe his party’s nomination was quite simply his due, you weren’t alone. Bush’s decision to reveal his intention to explore a presidential bid in mid-December of last year indicated that he knew the 2016 field would be a crowded one and that he would have to make his case to the Republican electorate early and often. But his actions betrayed a sense of self-assuredness that indicated he did not really believe the contest would be a close one. The pathway to the...

There’s an interesting piece up over at The Washington Post on “How Jeb Bush’s campaign ran off course before it even began.” Meanwhile, Chris Bedford argues that Team Bush is in “a lot more trouble than they’re letting on.” These are fascinating examples of “process” reporting, but I can’t help but think it creates the wrong impression — which is that Jeb Bush might be in better shape had he run a better campaign. The truth is that campaigns do matter. And, for some candidates, the advisers and staffers they hire — and the strategy and messaging they employ (all...

Washington Post’s Robert Costa and Ed O’Keefe have a good rundown of how presumptive GOP frontrunner Jeb Bush suddenly found himself atop a staggering campaign. Aside from organizational and message woes, they pinpoint Bush’s still inexplicable failure to answer Fox News host Megyn Kelly’s question about the Iraq War as the moment when Bush’s luck began to turn. In particular, one source told the reporters that Bush’s inability to answer what should have been an expected question, which “crystallize[d] some of the key concerns about Bush,” spooked donors: “We should have had that answer nailed down,” one donor said. “There...

Jeb Bush is doing damage control days before he officially launches his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. Bush was seen as the GOP front-runner late last year, when he said he was exploring the possibility of a run. Since then, he’s stumbled over questions about the Iraq War, and his poll numbers have dropped him to fifth place among Republicans in Iowa. The former Florida governor’s message to reporters in Germany on Wednesday is that it is far too early to be worried about the polls. He expressed frustration with reporters for asking too many questions about the horse...

Former Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn had a blunt assessment of Jeb Bush's chances of capturing the White House: "I don't think another Bush can get elected." In an interview with the Washington Examiner Coburn said, "I think there's Bush fatigue and I think you automatically lose a large percentage of the electorate." He explained, "I like Jeb Bush. But the fact is his last name will kill 47 percent of the votes for him — potential votes in this country. That's a big deal to get over."

Former Gov. Jeb Bush’s campaign is in trouble. This week alone, it has sustained a top-level campaign shake-up and reports have circulated that it may fall short of its fundraising goal. But a review of the public record shows it already fell way short of its fundraising goal, and has been behind predictions for months. Not by a few million dollars, either, but by as much as $400 million — or 80 percent as the most optimistic predictions Bush loyalists have circulated. All of this — campaign shuffles and fundraising shortfalls — before Mr. Bush has even declared his candidacy....

When asked to pinpoint where Jeb Bush’s presidential effort began running into trouble, many confidants utter a single word: Dallas. Mike Murphy, Bush’s political alter ego, decided early on to hold regular senior staff meetings at an unusual location: a Hyatt hotel inside the terminal at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The idea was that it was a central and relatively inexpensive gathering place for a team scattered from Los Angeles, where Murphy lives, to Miami, where the would-be candidate resides. It went fine at first but quickly became an awkward routine. Donors and other Republicans found the setup ungainly for...

Jeb Bush will announce for president in five days' time. But not before a significantly less-than-ideal run-up to this long (long, long, long) awaited announcement. Consider: * The decision to install Danny Diaz as campaign manager was largely painted as a shakeup -- with Diaz stepping in after Bush boss Sally Bradshaw decided things weren't working optimally. (This Politico behind-the-scenes account of the moves and the motivations behind them is fascinating.) Campaign reorganizations are the sort of process-heavy stories that campaign work like hell to avoid. To have one before the campaign is even a real thing is remarkable --...

Jeb Bush played down talk of turmoil inside his campaign, telling reporters in Berlin that he is confident in his team and that polls this early don't matter. "This is an adjustment based on the skills of people that I got to know during the last three months. ... It’s June, for crying out loud, so we’ve got a long way to go." “I just urge everybody to be a little more patient about this," Bush told reporters. -snip- Bush will enter the race on Monday. The following day he'll appear on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. He's also...

In interviews with reporters outside his Berlin hotel Wednesday, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) said that he's restructuring his campaign team, including naming Danny Diaz as his campaign manager, because of "the magnitude of the journey" — not because he's lagging behind other candidates in the polls. Bush went on to brush off the notion that he was less popular than other Republican contenders in the 2016 presidential race: You start wherever you start, and you end a long way away from where we are today, so I just urge everybody to be a little more patient about this....

Days before his presidential launch, Jeb Bush told reporters on Wednesday that his decision to replace his campaign-manager-in-waiting was a strategic move rather than a response to his tepid position in the polls. "I don't read the polls," he told reporters outside the Pestana Hotel in Berlin, where he is on the first leg of a trip through Germany, Poland and Estonia. "It's fun to see them when you're winning, not so fun when you're not. Doesn't really matter, though, its June for crying out loud, so we got a long way to go."

Jeb Bush on Wednesday played down personnel changes his presumptive presidential campaign made this week, turning aside suggestions that it had shifted personnel to compensate for a failure to catch fire in some of the early nominating states. “It’s June, for crying out loud, so we’ve got a long way to go,” Mr. Bush told reporters here. “I just urge everybody to be a little more patient about this.”

On Monday, news broke that Danny Diaz will be the campaign manager when former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) launches his expected White House bid next Monday. As The Wall Street Journal reported, the position was originally "expected" to go to David Kochel, another operative who will instead serve as Bush's chief strategist. Business Insider had several conversations with aides to other Republican 2016 presidential campaigns who said they believe this staff switchup is evidence the Bush campaign is changing its strategy amid disappointing poll numbers and failed efforts to eliminate opponents. "The strategy they were previewing with everybody is...

Jeb Bush said on Wednesday that he felt compelled to reorganize his political team — and pick a new, unexpected campaign manager — “based on the skills of people that I got to know” and the “magnitude of the journey” he faces as candidate. In his first remarks about the reshuffling, Mr. Bush, a former governor of Florida, pleaded for patience and played down the idea that he was displeased with his standing in a crowded Republican field. He is expected to formally enter the race next week. “It’s June, for crying out loud, so we’ve got a long way...

He's got the deepest pockets, the best organization and everyone already knows his name. But Jeb Bush isn't so formidable that he's scaring away the competition. When the former Florida governor formally announces his presidential campaign on Monday, he will join a field of 10 GOP contenders -- and there are still a handful of others who may soon jump in the race. Meanwhile, the latest Iowa polls show him trapped in a cluster of candidates vying for second behind Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, and he has only a slight edge in New Hampshire. National polls show Bush a touch...

A super PAC backing Jeb Bush is likely to fall short of collecting $100 million by the end of this month. The Washington Post writes the exact size of the war chest is closely held, but two individuals familiar with internal discussions believe the total that the Right to Rise super PAC will report in mid-July could be much lower than the nine figures senior Republicans have anticipated. That would be a major blow for Bush’s operation, whose fundraising prowess has raised expectations about how much cash it has been amassing, the Post writes. Bush, a former Florida governor, is...

A super PAC backing former Florida governor Jeb Bush is likely to fall short of collecting $100 million by the end of this month, despite widespread expectations that the group would hit that record-breaking sum, according to people close to the operation. The exact size of the war chest is closely held, but two individuals familiar with internal discussions believe the total that the Right to Rise super PAC will report in mid-July could be substantially lower than the nine figures that senior Republicans have anticipated. That would be a major psychological blow for Bush’s operation, whose fundraising prowess has...

In my July-issue Editor's Note column released earlier today, I expressed some skepticism about National Review writer Charles C.W. Cooke's conservatarian project, partly on grounds that libertarians should be wary of a political party that keeps on coughing up government-growing Republicans with the last name "Bush." So it's only fair to point out that, according to the shrewd political Washington Examiner political columnist Byron York, Jeb Bush is floundering to the point of shaking up his campaign staff. The remedying began Monday with word that Bush has shaken up his campaign before the campaign has even been formally announced. The...

Jeb's new campaign manager signals that the last few months haven't gone well It's not extraordinary in presidential politics when a campaign manager gets replaced; it frequently happens, especially during tough times. But what IS extraordinary is bringing in a new manager before the campaign officially begins. And that's why yesterday's news that Jeb Bush hired GOP communications strategist Danny Diaz to be his new campaign manager -- after previously tapping David Kochel (who was Mitt Romney's chief Iowa strategist in 2012) to fill the position -- is a big deal. It's a tacit acknowledgement that the last few months...