Jeb Bush Campaign circles the drain…
No sooner than George W. Bush gets done with a fundraiser for Jeb that turns out to be a flop, and reveals his animosity for Ted Cruz, we find out that the Jeb campaign is on the ropes – maybe even on the mat and trying to struggle to its’ feet to beat the 10 count. A little boxing lingo there for you fight fans.
Anyway, it is being reported over at Breitbart and elsewhere, including the WSJ, that the Bush clan are getting together for a pow wow this weekend at the family compound in in Houston and at some meetings with what’s left of the donor base.
The Wall Street Journal notes – “As Jeb Bush heads to Texas on Sunday to rally top fundraisers along with his father and brother, former presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, the family’s vaunted financial network is mostly disengaged and splintered—and his campaign stock is falling,”
WSJ goes on to report,:
“About 170 donors who have each raised at least $50,000 are expected to attend social gatherings and strategy briefings over two days,” the WSJ’s Rebecca Ballhaus (editor’s note – not Bettie Ballhaus!) and Christopher Stewart wrote. “Those who have raised at least $175,000 will have the most access to the Bush family, including a reception with former President George H.W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush.”
Bush’s polling is in the root cellar, not the wine cellar. And that would not be, in and of itself a disaster – except for the fact that throwing more money at his campaign is not going to stanch the stench that makes GOP voters clench. He just has supported campaign themes such as “acts of love” and Common Whore – pardon me, Common Core – that have a high puke factor with all of the Republican base but ‘Bush botz’. And I have some Bush Botz friends and I say that with the utmost fondness.
Bloomberg News quotes campaign insiders that the Bush organization has instituted “across-the-board pay cuts” for all of its staff. Bloomberg’s Mark Halperin and Michael Bender reported:
“The campaign is removing some senior staff from the payroll, parting ways with some consultants, and downsizing its Miami headquarters to save more than $1 million per month and cut payroll by 40 percent this week, according to Bush campaign officials who requested anonymity to speak about internal changes.”
It is also coming to light that senior-level staff and consultants are going to be put on a volunteer basis. Look for an exodus of such individuals while they still have opportunities perhaps, to hook on to other campaigns, presidential or otherwise. Hired guns are hired guns. Stop paying them and they take their side irons somewhere else where they can get cash for brandishing. Simple stuff.
Don’t drink the Purple drank that says that there are more than a few true believers in the upper ranks of these campaigns. There aren’t.
No matter what you think of Trump – and you know what I think of him, he has served the purpose of busting off a cap into the Bush campaign run. Not that it took that much doing or that Bush needed much help.
Megyn Kelly (oh dear Lord how I love her – one of the few bright bulbs on FN) blindsided Bush last night with this:
KELLY: According to the latest ABC News poll he’s (Trump) at 32, you’re at seven, in seventh place. The Real Clear Politics average, he’s at 27, you’re at seven, in fifth place. He has said that if his poll numbers tank, he’ll get out of this race. But what would it take to make you get out?
Side note; Of course, Bush will be as myopic as his donors will allow him to be, and so Jeb came back with this neat little whistling in the graveyard ditty right before Halloween …
BUSH: I’m not getting out. My — I believe that we have a plan to be very competitive in the early states. We have the resources to stay with this. I’m campaigning hard, I’m campaigning with heart. I’m campaigning in a way that will draw people toward our cost. Herman Cain was the winner at this time when he was running. Hillary Clinton was up by 26 points in October against Barack Obama. Rudy Giuliani was the frontrunner, you know, eight years ago. So this is the beginning of hard race. I never thought it would be easy and it certainly hasn’t been and I believe that I’m going to win the nomination.
To which I would respond – as David Spade and Helen Hunt famously said in the SNL skit “Total Bastard Airlines” … “Buh-bye, let’s go … out!!!”
filthy bilge rats 