Can George W. Bush save Jeb's campaign?
- 9 years ago
For a candidate with such a famous name, Jeb Bush has gone to great lengths to distance himself from his family. And for good reason. At a time when anti-establishment headwinds in the Republican party have lifted the likes of political outsiders like Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, and to some extent, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, reminding voters of his dynastic family, it has been thought, would be disastrous for Mr. Bush. But Bush's campaign has been something of a disaster, anyway, with a series of underwhelming debate performances, sagging poll numbers, and fundraising stumbles that have led to morbid, metaphor-laden murmurings about his campaign being "on a death spiral," "in life support," or worse, "in hospice," where it will undergo "a slow death." By and large, Jeb's comments mark a departure from the Bush campaign's strategy so far, which has relied on the family's fundraising network to raise large sums of campaign funds, while publicly and loudly distancing itself from the Bush name.