Jeb Bush's crisis after the Republican debate
- 9 years ago
Washington Jeb Bush's presidential campaign is facing a full-blown existential crisis.
The former Florida governor's attempt to revive his campaign during Wednesday's Republican debate by taking on his former protege, Sen. Marco Rubio, backfired badly.
Bush headed to New Hampshire Thursday on a trip that had been scheduled to build on hoped-for momentum after the debate in Boulder, Colorado, and to launch the kind of revivalist mojo that John McCain conjured up in the 2008 campaign.
Instead, the trip looks set to be overshadowed by a media post mortem not just of Bush's debate performance but his campaign in a broader sense, instead of the comeback narrative that his supporters had hoped would emerge.
While Bush has the financial muscle, organization and support from a super PAC to stay in the race, sooner of later he must demonstrate genuine lift in his poll numbers, with first nominating votes to be cast in just three months.
The former Florida governor's attempt to revive his campaign during Wednesday's Republican debate by taking on his former protege, Sen. Marco Rubio, backfired badly.
Bush headed to New Hampshire Thursday on a trip that had been scheduled to build on hoped-for momentum after the debate in Boulder, Colorado, and to launch the kind of revivalist mojo that John McCain conjured up in the 2008 campaign.
Instead, the trip looks set to be overshadowed by a media post mortem not just of Bush's debate performance but his campaign in a broader sense, instead of the comeback narrative that his supporters had hoped would emerge.
While Bush has the financial muscle, organization and support from a super PAC to stay in the race, sooner of later he must demonstrate genuine lift in his poll numbers, with first nominating votes to be cast in just three months.