Faced with a bitter onslaught from rival Donald Trump and a precipitous drop in the polls, Jeb Bush announced campaign staffing cuts on Friday as he headed to Texas to meet with donors and score a few quick cash to keep his presidential hopes alive. Only about 25 percent of campaign staff will remain in Florida.
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The moves will reduce the campaign’s payroll by 40 percent while also cutting travel costs by 20 percent and eliminating extraneous overhead spending.
“This means lean and mean and that I have the ability to to adapt”, Bush explained before adding that “circumstances” have changed since he began his campaign -meaning the entrance of Trump into the field.
An internal campaign memo on the changes, obtained by Fox News, acknowledged the shifting dynamics in the race.
“It’s no secret that the contours of this race have changed from what was anticipated at the start”.
Bush is trying to underscore the seriousness of his campaign, as compared with Trump.
The changes come despite a combined fundraising haul of well over $100 million by his campaign and a pro-Bush super PAC. In another setback for Bush, fellow Florida politician Sen.
Publicly, Bush said he is “all in on the primary states including Virginia”, but behind the scenes the Bush team is preparing to place extra emphasis on one state in particular: New Hampshire. “We are moving our resources into the states to ensure that voters in primary and caucus states are introduced to his record and vision for the future”. The campaign is also downsizing at its campaign headquarters in Miami and offering officials positions elsewhere at a reduced salary. They include many names already associated with the Bushes in the Lone Star State: former state Rep. Dan Branch of Dallas, Tyler oil and gas attorney Gaylord Hughey, El Paso real estate developer Woody Hunt, Houston pipeline tycoon Rich Kinder and his wife, Nancy, Texas congressman-turned-lobbyist Tom Loeffler, Fort Worth philanthropist Kit Moncrief and Warren Tichenor, former USA ambassador to the United Nations. The event at Silver Eagle Distributors, the beer distribution company helmed by Jeb Bush bundler John Nau, costs $1,000 to co-chair, $500 to co-host and $75 to attend, according to an invitation.
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“We’re going to focus the argument of this campaign around the fact that after seven years of incompetence, corruption and gridlock in Washington, we need a president ‘Who Can Fix It.'” The memo states.
