Bush Campaign Stays Focused
Although some voters may have been dismayed by Jeb Bush’s 6th-place finish in the Iowa caucus, the Bush campaign is not.
“Oh, I’m continuing on,” he told reporters. “I’m continuing on, yeah.”
Bush had around sixty-six million dollars to spend on his candidacy as of January 1st. Bush’s Super PAC, Right to Rise, has pushed out 22 different commercials to television and has outspent all other Super PACS in this year’s Presidential race — both Democratic and Republican. It has spent around twenty-two million in total and twenty million attacking Marco Rubio — rival and, of course, fellow Republican. Right to Rise has released several videos vilifying Rubio.
The attack ads criticize Rubio for missing votes in the Senate and changing his stance on immigration. In “Marco’s Flip-Flop Dance” (a modified version of Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made for Walkin,’” Right to Rise ridicules Marco’s flip-flopping — stances on Iran, immigration, Syria, and cap and trade. All of them help send the message that “Marco Rubio [is] just another Washington politician you can’t trust.”
With Cruz, Trump, and Rubio coming out on top in Iowa, they are Bush’s main competition.
“Bush can finish second, third, or fourth in New Hampshire and turn the race into a four-man contest,” said one senior Bush adviser to Mother Jones.
According to one poll from the New York Times, Bush is polling at 10% in New Hampshire, just behind Rubio at 11%, Cruz at 12%, and far behind Trump at 34%. New Hampshire will be a pivotal moment in determining the success of Bush’s run.
Senator Marco Rubio’s third-place finish in Iowa has created an unlikely alliance between the Bush and Christie campaigns. The New York Times commented on the relationship. “Members of the Bush and Christie campaigns have communicated about their mutual desire to halt Mr. Rubio’s rise in the polls…the contact among senior aides in the two campaigns has drifted toward musings about what can be done to stop or at least slow Mr. Rubio.”
And while Right to Rise concentrates on attacking Rubio, Jeb Bush has narrowed in on Donald Trump. “You want a president that thinks he’s got it all figured out all the time, just a big blowhard that says he’s going to do this or that?” he said in Iowa. On Fox News, he argued:
“[Trump] can’t insult his way to the presidency. I’m the only candidate who really takes him on this stuff.”
Jeb Bush has remained focused on winning the Republican candidacy, despite a tough finish in Iowa. In January, the Bush campaign outlined a six-point plan to win the candidacy: stay on the attack; avoid embarrassment in Iowa; do well in New Hampshire; woo Lindsey Graham; use the family network, and continue the ad blitz. Bush also plans for his brother George W. Bush to campaign for him in South Carolina. Although gaining only one delegate in Iowa was somewhat embarrassing, the Bush campaign has showed no signs of slowing down. Up next: New Hampshire.
