Jeb Bush can no more believably perform righteous, fire-breathing fed-up-with-it-ness than he can tie his own shoes; tempering into gentility every privileged WASP boy’s impulse toward stooping to try either of those is the precise pedagogical specialty of Phillips Academy Andover in the first place.
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“It’s like the difference between a movie star that is handsome and flamboyant, and a really good actor who is – not”, Garry Phillips, the Republican chairman in Tennessee’s Henry County, said.
The debate, coming in the wake of campaign cutbacks and other stumbles, led to pundit speculation that Bush may not be able to survive the race much longer – speculation the former Florida governor quickly shot down. They tried, unconvincingly, to channel their resentment toward CNBC and the broader media, but Jeb’s who fucked things up for them. “We haven’t had a good one like him since”. “We’re going to be fine”, Bush said in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. So I think it’s premature to stay he’s done.
Alas. The plainspoken Southern man’s-man cosplay has worked out pretty well for the Bush men over the years, but down to their mayonnaise marrow they’re still effete New England aristocracy and always will be.
The campaign is trying to regroup with a swing through Florida, where Bush is talking up his record as governor, including his leadership during two devastating hurricane seasons. He’ll head to South Carolina, another early voting state, early next week.
Bush acknowledged he’s been getting a lot of advice in recent days, but said he is taking it with a grain of salt. He said he often thinks of the criticism another Republican presidential hopeful would have received if he ran today. You could read the displeasure on their faces: Aw, dammit, this means I have to keep campaigning, doesn’t it? “He is setting me up to the rich bitch, the girl with the pearls, Lady Di”, Gallagher told the Burlington Free Press at the time. “They’re not looking for a big personality on the stage”.
On Friday night, about 100 people attended the rally to see Bush. He shook hands, snapped pictures and chatted with supporters about his policies, his time in office and the high school football game. And on Friday night, Bush cheered on the teams – Charlotte High versus Port Charlotte High. But unmentioned is that the spending appears to have had little impact on Bush’s poll numbers, which remain in single digits in the early states.
“It’s a slow grinding process”, said Cox. Leimeux also pointed out that the most officials in Republican politics in Florida are supporting Bush over Rubio. He talked about reforming the US tax system and the Veteran’s Administration, among other proposals. Marco Rubio or Texas Sen.
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I’m tearing up, thinking that this guy’s the real compassionate conservative in the Bush clan.
