Guitar picks. I would have warned them if they had asked me. But they didn’t.
Jeb Exclamationmark should have consulted with failed candidates Judy Chlamydia, Harold Telemarketing, and Isis Deathtoamerica about the insurmountable hurdles he’d face as a candidate for national office in America.
So: 3% for Jeb tonight in Iowa. Any hints on when he’ll be “suspending his campaign”?
The Joyful Tortoise will not retreat so quickly.
Do the USAians here think Jebs! dismal numbers are a repudiation of Bush II’s Presidency or is just that Jeb! is woefully uncharismatic?
Both?
It’s both.
Certainly had Bush II been wildly popular then Jeb? would be more Jeb! Jeb certainly had the campaigning oomph to win the Florida governorship twice. That’s a large, populous, and diverse state, and not one reliably in the pocket of his party.
Beyond that, it’s the feeling that 2 presidents from one family are enough. There is a similar weariness (and wariness) about Hillary. We’re overdue for some fresh blood.
Last of all, the R electorate is in a mood that’s unsuited to Jeb’s natural positions. He’s no liberal, but he’s not nearly so far right as the center of the party. Hell, Goldwater, Nixon, and Saint Ronnie would all be polling back of the pack given where the popular (and elite) mood is these days. And they were each radicals in their time.
I’m not sure that Bush fatigue has that much to do with it. I haven’t really been watching the debates, but other than making him stake out a position on Iraq I can’t recall GWB really coming up that much.
I think your last paragraph has a lot more to do with it. The GOP is hankering for an ideologue, or at least someone who yells like one. It doesn’t matter if that guy or girl (okay, guy) is tilting at windmills or Muslims or what, just so long as he yells. Jeb is more of a technocrat; his claim to GOP fame is quietly rewriting most of Florida’s regulations while playing a centrist on the surface.
Never understood why Jeb was thought to be the favorite way back before Trump crashed the party. Sure, he had connections and ability to raise money, but you have to get people to vote for you! Even if he’s a great candidate, which he’s not quite, there is bound to be a great degree of Bush fatigue. I don’t dislike Jeb, seems like he might be a cool guy to have a beer with, but he does not inspire presidential confidence.
Bolding mine.
I agree with your thoughts, but you misspelled “gutting” there.
It would be sad if he wasn’t such a wiener. He’s looking more like the guy from Sixth Sense every day.
Many families have the situation where some or all of the kids go into the parent’s line of work. Some kids take to it well, and others are simply stuck with a bad fit. But they stagger on gamely trying to uphold the family role in the biz despite their limited aptitude.
Jeb? is that kid. Not hopeless, but not a natural star either.
Anyone who thought Jeb was an idea candidate was seriously fooling themselves.
Sure, they probably looked at the other clowns running and figured they needed more of an elder statesman, but there was never any serious chance that American was going to go for a third Bush, let alone Lumpy Bush.
I think we’ll see the smart money approaching Rubio and buying his loyalty.
Video of it here. The way he says it is a lot more self-aware and less pathetic than you’d expect.
There will be books written about the Jeb!ster’s campaign in the election of 2016. Many books. And I doubt they’ll come to any final decision either.
Look, he went in with every advantage, name recognition, a war-chest unmatched by his rivals, with a bunch of has-been’s and never-were’s running, his new ‘competition’ being a blowhard billionaire, a Senator even his colleagues abhor, a young punk governor of a state he once governed himself, and a black brain surgeon. I mean, how could he lose?
Yet apparently he has. Biggest crash since the Edsel hit the market, since John Carter of Mars premiered, since Black Tuesday in 1929.
Yep, lots of books coming. Wouldn’t surprise me if the first ones aren’t at the printers already.
JEB!. …now with 40% less pathos!
Stainless Steel Rat: Title contest! Who has a book title for us?
I promise to shop the best ten to the eventual publisher!
I’ll start it off with an old-school reference:
Jeb!: Why Not the B(oring)est?
JEB
Visual: Large capital letters across the top, at the bottom is the exclamation mark, bent and broken.