Yeah, I’d say he’s done at this point, though I’d guess he won’t throw in the towel until March. I have a little more sympathy for the guy than some of you do…I see him more as a policy wonk/geek than a privileged rich kid. He’s very intelligent, IMHO, and kind of like an IT geek/nerd. I see his inability to understand why it’s all going sour from that perspective…no one really is interested in a policy wonk in this election, especially one that obviously doesn’t have any fire in his belly…certainly Republican voters don’t seem interested in that at all when they feel so much else is wrong with the country and needs to be addressed. He basically doesn’t appeal to any large voting block inside or outside of the Republican party.
He’ll get the nomination after he announces Mittens is his VP choice. 
His Chief Operating Officer, Christine Ciccone, is now out of work:
Could this be the break … oh, I can’t say it.
This is just the break his neck has been waiting for?
“We are grateful to have had Christine on the team, we respect her immensely,” Bush spokesman Tim Miller said … before packing up all his personal belongings, turning in his keys, and following her out the door.
They may have higher approval numbers but that doesn’t mean the Bush name isn’t a hinderance for JEB!. And it is just one poll anyway.
Then again, maybe it has nothing to do with that and people just view him as a petulant, entitled ass.
I’ve met JEB! on three occasions. A fundraiser (during his first term, going into second), a fundraiser for someone else (forget who - during his second term), and at a charity event post-governor. The first time, he came across as a typical politician. The second time as the gracious statesman, but distant. Like he was doing everybody a favor by being there. The third time he was charming and human. I mentioned that we had a mutual acquaintance (guy who used to work for him) and he told a couple of funny stories that made him look somewhat foolish and my friend look like a conquering hero. I hope that was the real JEB! 'cause that guy was hella nice.
I still think he’s toast in this election.
Much as I would hate to see him go the distance, I think Jeb has a decent chance of being the last non crazy standing come March. Hope I’m wrong
I think the ‘privileged rich kid’ part is inherent in the fact that here we are, talking about him in the first place, let alone discussing his Presidential candidacy. He was able to run for Governor of Florida, and run a second time after losing once, because he was GHWB’s son. And nobody would have said, “here’s a guy whose last successful race was 13 years ago, why don’t we give him a hundred million bucks to run for President” if he wasn’t a Bush.
According to TPM, she was getting paid a whopping $12,000 per month. Which means that they saved a little over $50K by ditching her now, rather than waiting until after New Hampshire.
And the COO is, as I understand it, the top nuts-and-bolts person in the campaign. It’s not like they can just leave that role unfilled. If they needed the $50K more than they needed her, then either she was doing a pretty terrible job, or they’re really quite desperate to save money.
Exactly. And what he seems unable to understand that at this stage, you need to speak to people’s hearts, not their heads. His record would be a good tool when the field is winnowed down to 2 or 3 candidates. Now he’s trying to appeal to the wrong side of the brain.
And his comments on immigration are being hung around his neck like a millstone. Trump shifted the conversation dramatically in that regard.
Plutocracy in action indeed.
But I do think also that Rubio looks to be the most likely establishment candidate that will remain standing. However, it may just be that the yahoos will still win by decision after the primary fight is over.
But, if he is the nominee I expect Rubio to be torn to shreds as he is damaged goods for the yahoos among the republicans. He will either have to openly declare himself to be in favor of recent reforms like with immigration; Alienating a lot of those republican extremists that supported Trump and Carson, or he will openly be against the reforms making Rubio still a target because he was not pure enough on those issues in the past and then he will also alienate the Hispanic vote that is a reason why he is a candidate in the first place.
I’m thinking that the main reason Rubio looks so inviting a prospect to Republicans hoping to woo more Hispanic voters is because they are so utterly ignorant about those voters. If they were not so ignorant, they would be fretting about Rubio’s “Hispanic” cred being based on his Cuban derivation.
Most of the Hispanic people I know are also leftish but further they resent the privilege accorded to Cuban emigres in terms of the automatic acceptance of Cuban refugees by our immigration laws. They think that is grossly unfair, and I think they are right. They are likely to think that simply splashing a dash of salsa on a Republican does not make him full of crunchy goodness, and that Republicans must think they are stupid. They are half-right, Republicans do think that, but its because they are stupid, or, more to the point, tone-deaf.
So Rubio offers a double hit: he will be held suspicious by Republicans who are prejudiced against Hispanics, and held suspicious by those who are Hispanic.
From The Week:
Most of this seems to have been in the infamous PowerPoint presentation everyone’s talking about. I wasn’t able to find the most startling fact (that the Bush campaign has only been able to recruit four measly volunteers in Iowa!), but pretty much all the other stuff is.
Jeez oh man, this is correct.
My wife is Hispanic and views Cubans as having unearned privilege in the US.
That many Cuban-Americans, especially in South Florida, are also Republicans is no surprise to her. For my wife’s circle of acquaintances, finding a Cuban-American politician who is not a Republican is actually more of a shock.
Believing the average Hispanic-American would switch to the Republican party because a Cuban is its nominee is humorous and utterly ridiculous so naturally I hope the GOP continues to believe it.
… right up until Rubio loses badly with that demographic, at which point I hope they abandon all attempts to woo the Hispanic vote and double-down on their [del]dead[/del] old white male strategy, further dooming the party to accelerating cultural and political irrelevance.
I agree completely – I’ve lived in several Latin American countries, and this is spot on.
However, it’s interesting that Barack Obama’s situation was (and is) roughly analogous – sort of “African American,” yet having little in common with most African Americans (arguably).
See, this is what’s really weird. The hispanic and black populations in the U.S. contain social conservatives like you would not believe. Yet the Republicans running for office continue to revile them and paint them as an enemy of the nation.
Those people are the future of the Republican Party. I’m content that Republicans don’t realize it.
Dear God, you just gave me quite the image
“I remember when I invaded Iraq, and…”
“Oh yeah. I had that too. So I…”
“So then I called the Speaker and I told him he could…”
Meanwhile Jeb! pours himself a fourth glass of wine and calculates how many more hours until he can leave