Republican Voters Say the Clock Is Ticking on Jeb Bush's Would-Be Comeback
Standing in a small middle-school gymnasium on a snowy New Hampshire morning, Jeb Bush listened and nodded as a man decked out in New England Patriots gear listed four separate reasons that the son and brother of former presidents may fail to follow the family into the White House.
There was (1) Bush's support for Common Core, the education standards that have become anathema to the conservative base of the party, and (2) his call to legalize many of the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants at a time when the Republican front-runner, Donald Trump, says he'd deport them all. There's (3) the anxiety among voters about a third Bush president and (4) the “low energy” criticism from Trump that the former Florida governor has been unable to shake.
By now, Bush knows the list by heart, and even saw fit at the Hampstead rally to volunteer a fifth obstacle to his comeback bid: that he's widely considered a key member of the Republican establishment at at time when the party's voters are seeking change.
“People want me to walk on the hot coals.”
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush
“People want me to walk on the hot coals,” Bush said. “You have to go earn it, and that’s what I’m doing right here. I’m earning it.”
In an otherwise successful swing through New Hampshire this past weekend—Bush seemed to hit all his targets during a trio of town hall meetings, earning multiple standing ovations at an event in Hollis—one question kept surfacing: Despite a string of small victories in these intimate New Hampshire settings, part of the traditional formula to win the state, would it be it enough in such a chaotic political climate?
New Hampshire could either prove to be a miraculous springboard or the final trap door for Bush's political fortunes. With just three weeks remaining until the primary, the one-time front-runner who has plummeted in the polls is finding oddsmakers and even would-be supporters doubtful about his viability.
“I lived in New York on 9/11, and I have all the respect in the world for his brother,” Ella Reap, a real estate agent in Nashua, New Hampshire, said after Bush’s town hall on Friday. “After listening to him tonight, I think he’d keep us safe, too. But I don’t want to waste my vote.”
Bob Beckett, who carries a business card that identifies himself as a registered New Hampshire voter, told Bush on Friday that he'd attended at least five Bush campaign events.
“I’ve actually seen you grow pretty significantly as a candidate,” Beckett told him. “And I’m pretty happy to see that.”
But even Beckett couched the compliment with concern, asking whether Bush’s policy proposals could break through the outsized personalities dominating the race.
In Hampstead, one man pointed out that Bush was the front-runner just a year ago and asked, simply, “What happened?” In Amherst, a boy asked why Bush even wanted to be the head of a party that favored Trump.
Bush’s path back to the top of the polls depends almost exclusively on New Hampshire, where polls show him bunched up with four other candidates, fighting for second behind Trump. He said his two-day swing over the weekend was his 24th trip to the state.
Of course, there's an open question about whether second place even matters. If Trump wins the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 1 and New Hampshire’s primary on Feb. 9—something no Republican has ever done without the power of incumbency—the businessman and former reality TV show host’s momentum may be next to impossible to stop.
But Iowa at the moment looks like a jump ball between Trump and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz. And, in such an unusually crowded field, a strong second place finish in New Hampshire may provide momentum heading into South Carolina and Nevada before the calendar flips to March and the delegate race begins in earnest. In March, more than 30 states hold nominating contests, awarding 60 percent of the all the delegates in the five-month race.
Bush is banking that a breakout performance in New Hampshire will force Republican voters elsewhere to give his candidacy a second look. It's tough to say exactly how Bush is doing as recent polls in the state vary wildly: A poll from Reach Communications on Jan. 7 showed him with 12 percent, good enough for second. Three days later, a Monmouth University survey put Bush in seventh place with 4 percent.
Bush is still able to convert doubters during his freewheeling town halls. Men and women who voice low expectations for Bush when they arrive at his event, often leave reassured—if not in his corner—after Bush stands for an hour fielding questions about Iran sanctions, the latest books he read, and everything in between.
“I liked Jeb Bush in the beginning,” Linda Meehan, 68, said after Bush’s town-hall meeting Saturday in Hampstead. “And when he wasn’t doing as well in the polls I decided to look at all the other candidates.”
“Now, I’m coming back to Jeb Bush and hoping he will have a resurgence in the polls,” she said. “He is the true statesman. I just want people to wake up and see that the others—I call them performers—are not what the country needs.”
On Friday, in his first stop since picking up the endorsement of U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham—the only former presidential candidate so far this year to back another contender—Bush had one of his best performances on the campaign trail.
He made a passionate argument for a more robust military presence; successfully juxtaposed his conservative record as Florida’s former governor with the gridlock and failures in Washington; earned applause for urging a young man to curse; and connected with one woman about being a picky food shopper and another about 1980s pop singer Pat Benatar.
And Bush's latest strategy has been to directly attack Trump over the parade of insults he leveled in the race. It something few other Republicans have been willing to do.
“Stop disparaging women, POWs, Hispanics, Muslims—the list is so long now, it’s more than 50 percent of the voters,” Bush said Friday about Trump. “It makes me think that maybe its going to be hard to win the election if you just keep pushing people down to make yourself look like the strongman.
“So if I’m the anti-Trump,” Bush continued, “that tries to restore some level of decency and policy orientation and character and leadership—true leadership, servant leadership—I love that role, because that’s who I am,” Bush said.
Still, the challenges are many for Bush.
Jeff Wilson, a Nashua retiree, said he was excited to shake Bush's hand, but he's going to cast his vote on who he thinks can beat Trump in the primary and then Democrats in November. “Looking at the numbers, I’m thinking I have to go with someone like Rubio or Cruz,” he said. “It’s just numerical.”
“I’d rather have a governor be president,” Wilson continued. “But that doesn’t seem to be where the Republican electorate is this year. It’s a shame. That one fellow said he’s been to four or five outings, and he’d grown as a candidate? That may be, but the hour is getting late for that.”
Wilson’s wife, Ann, interrupted.
“I switched to Jeb after tonight,” she said. “He said he’s going to count on people like us in this state. He is so articulate, so smart, so well-meaning. You know what? I’ll get behind that. If we all did that?”
Jeff Wilson shrugged his shoulders.
“We saw Ben Carson in the same venue, too, and she said nice things about Ben Carson, too,” Wilson said about his wife. “He’s wise, quiet, principled man. But where is he now? You also have win, unfortunately.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-01-19/republican-voters-say-the-clock-is-ticking-on-jeb-bush-s-would-be-comeback
The one-time front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination is facing viability questions as he hits his stride in New Hampshire.
Standing in a small middle-school gymnasium on a snowy New Hampshire morning, Jeb Bush listened and nodded as a man decked out in New England Patriots gear listed four separate reasons that the son and brother of former presidents may fail to follow the family into the White House.
There was (1) Bush's support for Common Core, the education standards that have become anathema to the conservative base of the party, and (2) his call to legalize many of the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants at a time when the Republican front-runner, Donald Trump, says he'd deport them all. There's (3) the anxiety among voters about a third Bush president and (4) the “low energy” criticism from Trump that the former Florida governor has been unable to shake.
By now, Bush knows the list by heart, and even saw fit at the Hampstead rally to volunteer a fifth obstacle to his comeback bid: that he's widely considered a key member of the Republican establishment at at time when the party's voters are seeking change.
“People want me to walk on the hot coals.”
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush
“People want me to walk on the hot coals,” Bush said. “You have to go earn it, and that’s what I’m doing right here. I’m earning it.”
In an otherwise successful swing through New Hampshire this past weekend—Bush seemed to hit all his targets during a trio of town hall meetings, earning multiple standing ovations at an event in Hollis—one question kept surfacing: Despite a string of small victories in these intimate New Hampshire settings, part of the traditional formula to win the state, would it be it enough in such a chaotic political climate?
New Hampshire could either prove to be a miraculous springboard or the final trap door for Bush's political fortunes. With just three weeks remaining until the primary, the one-time front-runner who has plummeted in the polls is finding oddsmakers and even would-be supporters doubtful about his viability.
“I lived in New York on 9/11, and I have all the respect in the world for his brother,” Ella Reap, a real estate agent in Nashua, New Hampshire, said after Bush’s town hall on Friday. “After listening to him tonight, I think he’d keep us safe, too. But I don’t want to waste my vote.”
Bob Beckett, who carries a business card that identifies himself as a registered New Hampshire voter, told Bush on Friday that he'd attended at least five Bush campaign events.
“I’ve actually seen you grow pretty significantly as a candidate,” Beckett told him. “And I’m pretty happy to see that.”
But even Beckett couched the compliment with concern, asking whether Bush’s policy proposals could break through the outsized personalities dominating the race.
In Hampstead, one man pointed out that Bush was the front-runner just a year ago and asked, simply, “What happened?” In Amherst, a boy asked why Bush even wanted to be the head of a party that favored Trump.
Bush’s path back to the top of the polls depends almost exclusively on New Hampshire, where polls show him bunched up with four other candidates, fighting for second behind Trump. He said his two-day swing over the weekend was his 24th trip to the state.
Of course, there's an open question about whether second place even matters. If Trump wins the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 1 and New Hampshire’s primary on Feb. 9—something no Republican has ever done without the power of incumbency—the businessman and former reality TV show host’s momentum may be next to impossible to stop.
But Iowa at the moment looks like a jump ball between Trump and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz. And, in such an unusually crowded field, a strong second place finish in New Hampshire may provide momentum heading into South Carolina and Nevada before the calendar flips to March and the delegate race begins in earnest. In March, more than 30 states hold nominating contests, awarding 60 percent of the all the delegates in the five-month race.
Bush is banking that a breakout performance in New Hampshire will force Republican voters elsewhere to give his candidacy a second look. It's tough to say exactly how Bush is doing as recent polls in the state vary wildly: A poll from Reach Communications on Jan. 7 showed him with 12 percent, good enough for second. Three days later, a Monmouth University survey put Bush in seventh place with 4 percent.
Bush is still able to convert doubters during his freewheeling town halls. Men and women who voice low expectations for Bush when they arrive at his event, often leave reassured—if not in his corner—after Bush stands for an hour fielding questions about Iran sanctions, the latest books he read, and everything in between.
“I liked Jeb Bush in the beginning,” Linda Meehan, 68, said after Bush’s town-hall meeting Saturday in Hampstead. “And when he wasn’t doing as well in the polls I decided to look at all the other candidates.”
“Now, I’m coming back to Jeb Bush and hoping he will have a resurgence in the polls,” she said. “He is the true statesman. I just want people to wake up and see that the others—I call them performers—are not what the country needs.”
On Friday, in his first stop since picking up the endorsement of U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham—the only former presidential candidate so far this year to back another contender—Bush had one of his best performances on the campaign trail.
He made a passionate argument for a more robust military presence; successfully juxtaposed his conservative record as Florida’s former governor with the gridlock and failures in Washington; earned applause for urging a young man to curse; and connected with one woman about being a picky food shopper and another about 1980s pop singer Pat Benatar.
And Bush's latest strategy has been to directly attack Trump over the parade of insults he leveled in the race. It something few other Republicans have been willing to do.
“Stop disparaging women, POWs, Hispanics, Muslims—the list is so long now, it’s more than 50 percent of the voters,” Bush said Friday about Trump. “It makes me think that maybe its going to be hard to win the election if you just keep pushing people down to make yourself look like the strongman.
“So if I’m the anti-Trump,” Bush continued, “that tries to restore some level of decency and policy orientation and character and leadership—true leadership, servant leadership—I love that role, because that’s who I am,” Bush said.
Still, the challenges are many for Bush.
Jeff Wilson, a Nashua retiree, said he was excited to shake Bush's hand, but he's going to cast his vote on who he thinks can beat Trump in the primary and then Democrats in November. “Looking at the numbers, I’m thinking I have to go with someone like Rubio or Cruz,” he said. “It’s just numerical.”
“I’d rather have a governor be president,” Wilson continued. “But that doesn’t seem to be where the Republican electorate is this year. It’s a shame. That one fellow said he’s been to four or five outings, and he’d grown as a candidate? That may be, but the hour is getting late for that.”
Wilson’s wife, Ann, interrupted.
“I switched to Jeb after tonight,” she said. “He said he’s going to count on people like us in this state. He is so articulate, so smart, so well-meaning. You know what? I’ll get behind that. If we all did that?”
Jeff Wilson shrugged his shoulders.
“We saw Ben Carson in the same venue, too, and she said nice things about Ben Carson, too,” Wilson said about his wife. “He’s wise, quiet, principled man. But where is he now? You also have win, unfortunately.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-01-19/republican-voters-say-the-clock-is-ticking-on-jeb-bush-s-would-be-comeback
Today at 6:45 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Finance Committee discusses amending the three-year budget
Today at 6:40 am by Rocky
» utube 11/26/24 MM&C MM&C Iraq News-Central Bank Iraq-Monetary Stability Excellent-Budget Law 2023,
Today at 5:19 am by Rocky
» "Rich Iraq" seeks "money" to combat methane emissions: internal and external obstacles
Today at 5:13 am by Rocky
» Increase in foreign remittance sales at the Central Bank of Iraq auction
Today at 5:12 am by Rocky
» Its area is 2.5 million acres, and these are its details.. Work begins on a "large" residential city
Today at 5:09 am by Rocky
» Kurdistan Finance delivers employees' salary schedule to the federal government
Today at 5:08 am by Rocky
» Beggars are sweeping the streets of Iraq.. Their numbers are "large" and 90% of them receive welfare
Today at 5:07 am by Rocky
» Settling tax trust claims
Today at 5:05 am by Rocky
» Launching the National School Health Strategy
Today at 5:04 am by Rocky
» Approval to implement service projects in Babylon
Today at 5:02 am by Rocky
» New container handling berths at ports
Today at 5:02 am by Rocky
» Work: Demand for registration in social security
Today at 5:01 am by Rocky
» Reconstruction: Land Bank to be completed next year
Today at 4:59 am by Rocky
» Aiming to enhance services in schools and prevent diseases, the National School Health Strategy for
Today at 4:58 am by Rocky
» Karmian Festival witnesses the conclusion of commercial and industrial contracts
Today at 4:57 am by Rocky
» Focus on the banking sector
Today at 4:56 am by Rocky
» Minister of Trade: Studies Center is a turning point that serves the Iraqi economy
Today at 4:55 am by Rocky
» Economists: Census is a roadmap for development
Today at 4:54 am by Rocky
» Today's newspapers are interested in Al-Sudani's announcement that the population of Iraq exceeds 45
Today at 4:53 am by Rocky
» International Development Bank: Today's incident was an extortion attempt that did not affect our wo
Today at 4:48 am by Rocky
» thirty-sixth session, chaired by the Minister of Planning
Today at 4:47 am by Rocky
» Closed meeting of the Parliamentary Finance Committee to discuss seven files
Today at 4:46 am by Rocky
» The demographic boom in Iraq: an economic opportunity or a social burden?
Today at 4:44 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani confirms to Russian delegation Iraq's desire to establish a mechanism that brings mutual b
Today at 4:42 am by Rocky
» Parliament holds its session headed by Al-Mashhadani and attended by 168 MPs
Today at 4:41 am by Rocky
» The Iraqi government deducts 1% of the salaries of employees and retirees to donate to Gaza and Leba
Today at 4:38 am by Rocky
» Iran announces its commitment to continuing gas exports to Iraq
Today at 4:37 am by Rocky
» Iraq, Russia discuss energy cooperation
Today at 4:36 am by Rocky
» British Home Secretary to visit Iraq tomorrow
Today at 4:35 am by Rocky
» The next parliament will have 450 members.. Officially, Al-Sudani announces that the population of I
Today at 4:33 am by Rocky
» US Ambassador Warns of 'Frightening Actions': Iraq Does Not Want to Be Drawn into Regional Conflict
Today at 4:32 am by Rocky
» Planning: The announced census results are not preliminary and the number will increase
Today at 4:30 am by Rocky
» Election “hype” begins early.. Al-Maliki insists on holding it and Al-Sudani prepares
Today at 4:29 am by Rocky
» “No more delays”.. Parliament changes the mechanism of holding sessions: “Controversial” laws are re
Today at 4:28 am by Rocky
» Al-Mashhadani to the heads of the blocs: I prefer to vote on the general amnesty law before anything
Today at 4:27 am by Rocky
» Iraq ranks 8th in the Arab world in achieving work-life balance in 2025
Today at 4:26 am by Rocky
» Labor announces issuance of more than a quarter of a million national cards for social protection be
Today at 4:24 am by Rocky
» Iraqi-Chinese research on accelerating combined cycle power projects
Today at 4:23 am by Rocky
» Al-Maliki praises the decision of the International Criminal Court and demands the resolution of the
Today at 4:22 am by Rocky
» Al-Mashhadani calls for voting on the general amnesty law for the “oppressed” before other laws
Today at 4:21 am by Rocky
» Yazan Mishaan Al-Habouri revolts against his "leak": There are those who obstruct the government's e
Today at 4:19 am by Rocky
» US Ambassador: Ending the presence of the international coalition in Iraq is being implemented and w
Today at 4:18 am by Rocky
» Al-Mashhadani directs to raise the suspended laws to the Presidency of the House of Representatives
Today at 4:17 am by Rocky
» "His general situation is unbearable" .. Parliamentarian: Political consensus to keep Iraq away from
Today at 4:16 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani agrees to launch the “For Her” initiative to support Iraqi women
Today at 4:15 am by Rocky
» Development Bank condemns extortion attempts: It will not affect our workflow
Today at 4:13 am by Rocky
» Iraq-China oil-for-reconstruction deal faltering: A geopolitical shift in the Middle East
Today at 4:12 am by Rocky
» Planning reveals the next step of the census: We will visit these families
Today at 4:10 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Finance Committee calls on the government to expedite sending the budget tables
Today at 4:09 am by Rocky
» OPEC+ may extend oil cuts at its meeting next Sunday
Today at 4:06 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Integrity Committee discusses with the Director of Central Oil the file of contracts a
Today at 4:04 am by Rocky
» Government notice regarding the legal status of foreign workers
Today at 4:02 am by Rocky
» House of Representatives holds "important" session today.. Expectations of extending the legislative
Today at 4:00 am by Rocky
» Slight rise in dollar prices against the dinar in Iraqi stock exchanges
Today at 3:59 am by Rocky
» Baghdad "softens" and Kurdistan oil prepares to continue its global journey
Today at 3:58 am by Rocky
» "For 5 million dinars or in installments" .. Iraqi electric cars soon on the streets
Today at 3:57 am by Rocky
» Where did the Intelligence Bill get to in the House of Representatives?
Today at 3:55 am by Rocky
» "Contract Suspicions Series"... What are the loopholes in the Korean air defense system contract in
Today at 3:54 am by Rocky
» MP reveals latest developments in the formation of the new Kurdistan government
Today at 3:51 am by Rocky
» Personal status: imposing a vision or turning Iraq into a copy similar to the Iranian religious regi
Today at 3:50 am by Rocky
» Oral question to the governor.. Parliamentary movement regarding the “Basra, the Economic Capital of
Today at 3:48 am by Rocky
» MM&C 11/25/24 Parliamentarian: We need to extend the legislative chapter to 8 sessions and the bud
Yesterday at 10:04 am by Rocky
» Al-Alaq: The monetary situation in Iraq is excellent and our reserves support the stability of the e
Yesterday at 8:29 am by Rocky
» utube 11/25/24 MM&C MM&C Iraq News-CBI Building Final Touches-Oil Exports-Development Road-Turkey-B
Yesterday at 6:33 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary movement to include the salary scale in the next session
Yesterday at 5:11 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Finance Committee reveals the budget paragraphs included in the amendment
Yesterday at 5:10 am by Rocky
» Al-Maliki calls on the Bar Association to hold accountable members who violate professional conduct
Yesterday at 5:08 am by Rocky
» Politician: The security agreement with America has many aspects
Yesterday at 5:07 am by Rocky
» Kurdistan Planning: More than 6 million people live in the region, the oldest of them is 126 years o
Yesterday at 5:05 am by Rocky
» Al-Alaq: Arab consensus on the role of central bank programs in addressing challenges
Yesterday at 5:03 am by Rocky
» Economics saves from political drowning
Yesterday at 5:02 am by Rocky
» Agriculture calls for strict ban on import of "industrial fats" and warns of health risks
Yesterday at 5:01 am by Rocky
» Iraq is the fourth largest oil exporter to China
Yesterday at 5:00 am by Rocky
» Railways continue to maintain a number of its lines to ensure the smooth running of trains
Yesterday at 4:59 am by Rocky
» Parliament resumes its sessions tomorrow.. and these are the most important amendments in the budget
Yesterday at 4:58 am by Rocky
» Bitcoin Fails to Continue Rising as It Approaches $100,000
Yesterday at 4:57 am by Rocky
» Minister of Planning: There will be accurate figures for the population of each governorate
Yesterday at 4:56 am by Rocky
» Popular Mobilization Law is ready for voting
Yesterday at 4:54 am by Rocky
» Mechanisms for accepting people with disabilities into postgraduate studies
Yesterday at 4:52 am by Rocky
» Government coordination to create five thousand jobs
Yesterday at 4:51 am by Rocky
» Transport: Next month, a meeting with the international organization to resolve the European ban
Yesterday at 4:50 am by Rocky
» Census is a path to digital government
Yesterday at 4:49 am by Rocky
» Calls to facilitate loans and reduce interest rates for the private sector
Yesterday at 4:47 am by Rocky
» The launch of the third and final phase of the "population census"
Yesterday at 4:46 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: We have accomplished a step that is the most prominent in the framework of planning, deve
Yesterday at 4:44 am by Rocky
» Justice discusses modern mechanisms to develop investment in real estate and minors’ money
Yesterday at 4:43 am by Rocky
» Dubai to host Arabplast exhibition next month
Yesterday at 4:41 am by Rocky
» Al-Tamimi: Integrity plays a major role in establishing the foundations of laws that will uphold jus
Yesterday at 4:39 am by Rocky
» Reaching the most important people involved in the "theft of the century" in Diyala
Yesterday at 4:38 am by Rocky
» Transportation: Completion of excavation works and connection of the immersed tunnel manufacturing b
Yesterday at 4:36 am by Rocky
» Between internal and regional challenges... Formation of the Kurdistan government on a "slow fire" a
Yesterday at 4:35 am by Rocky
» Kurdistan Region Presidency: We will issue a regional order to determine the first session of parlia
Yesterday at 4:34 am by Rocky
» The Minister of Foreign Affairs announces the convening of the Ambassadors Conference tomorrow, Mond
Yesterday at 4:33 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: Iraq must always be at the forefront
Yesterday at 4:32 am by Rocky
» Al-Mashhadani: We support the Foreign Ministry in confronting any external interference that affects
Yesterday at 4:31 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani chairs meeting with Oliver Wyman delegation
Yesterday at 4:29 am by Rocky
» Half a million beggars in Iraq.. 90% of them receive welfare salaries
Yesterday at 4:27 am by Rocky
» Sudanese announces preliminary results of the general population and housing census in detail
Yesterday at 4:26 am by Rocky