In the late spring of 2015, there hadn’t been many polls or any primaries, and Trump hadn’t even come down the escalator. “Predictions” made at that point were bound to be wrong. Had Jeb even raised much money then, or was Krauthammer counting the money that he thought Jeb would get in the future?
Did anyone seriously predict that Rudy Giuliani or Scott Walker or Rick Perry would be president? A few people might have hoped so. I’m put in mind of 2012 when people were talking up Pawlenty and Daniels before anyone knew much about them. A year and a half before the election anything seems possible. In any case, Cruz and Rubio turned out to be Trump’s main competition in 2016.
Okay, I just saw this from June 2015, right before Trump entered the race”: “Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush raised $114.4 million in the first six months of the year to fuel his White House ambitions.” So Jeb was already rolling in dough. That was a lot of money back in 2015.