Still many Bush allies have said in interviews that while they would like to see progress, they are dealing with a new and unfamiliar phenomenon in Trump. Bush’s $13.4 million haul didn’t impress a lot of observers, but he can claim that his total beat out Rubio’s $5.7 million (and Ted Cruz’s notable $12.2 million, by the way).
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But the Rubio campaign had already trumpeted, in its press release summarizing its filing, that it started the year’s final quarter with “more money in the bank than Jeb Bush for President and most other campaigns”, a line that made it into many media reports.
Not just negative, $1.8 million dollars negative. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, another establishment Republican, raised more than $25,000, while Texas Sen. “Sen. Marco Rubio revealed…that his campaign raised $6 million in the third quarter”, reported the Washington Examiner.
Like Clinton – a returning presidential contender and former first lady – Bush entered the race earlier this year with a ready-made fundraising operation from which he could build. The former Florida governor’s brother and father are ex-presidents. Only Ben Carson has drawn close behind Trump – getting 23% in the most recent Fox News poll to Trump’s 24%.
“Texans by nature love somebody who does what he says and fights for them”, said Cox, who lives near Cruz’s campaign headquarters in Houston. Three times as many Republicans as Democrats are vying for their nomination. He ended the campaign with $44,000 on hand – but no debt.
Quarterly presidential fundraising reports suggest that Wall Street in particular has taken a liking to the two “dynastic” rivals.
Bloomberg’s Stephanie Ruhle asked if Trump could reassure Americans in times of national emergencies, as the 43rd president did after September 11. Fiorina, who has leaned heavily on a super PAC, Carly for America, to staff her campaign events, spent just $2.2 million, leaving her with $5.5 million on hand. You’ve even got Jeb Bush Jr. stating publicly yesterday that Rubio should “drop out or do something” because he’s not doing the job he’s been paid to do. Oof.
The third quarter fundraising deadline was September 30 and campaigns had until October. 15 to file their numbers with the Federal Election Commission. The wife of Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, Laura Blankfein, gave Clinton the maximum donation of $2,700 last quarter, as did the chairman and CEO of Och-Ziff Capital Management Group, and billionaire Democratic power player George Soros, Politico noted.
The $13.4 million raised by Bush in the third quarter compared with $14.2 million raised in the same period in 2011 by the eventual 2012 Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, the Bush campaign said.
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Their use of Uber cars differs from the practices of Clinton’s campaign, which is known to frequently travel on private planes and has racked up other considerable expenses in the early months of her campaign.
