While top Republican contenders Ben Carson and Donald Trump are crying foul over press scrutiny of their presidential nomination campaigns, Jeb Bush is seemingly banking on media and planned attacks on Marco Rubio to resurrect his bid to the White House.
Last week, Bush asked reporters to join him on the “Jeb Can Fix This” bus sojourn for a campaign trail in New Hampshire to admit flaws that derailed his campaign, but, at the same time, reminding that he could get better.
On Tuesday, the former Florida governor will have another chance to repair the self-inflicted damage done with his disappointing performance during the Oct. 29 CNBC-hosted debate.
A report in The New York Times says Bush plans to launch attacks on Rubio – the upcoming Republican, who once received accolades from him for his talent and leadership potential. Citing Bush aides, the Times reported his campaign believes both Trump and Carson would phase out, leaving Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio as potential contenders for 2016 GOP presidential nomination.
The fourth Republican presidential debate, just about three months before the first primary ballot, will be a make-or-break event for the political scion of the Bush dynasty to keep alive any chances of staying in the contest for party nominee.
But if the latest poll is any indication, he may be fighting a lost battle, and would need more than just bus rides with media-persons, and even public debates, to make a comeback.
According to a latest McClatchy-Marist Republican poll, conducted between Oct. 29 and Nov. 4, 58 percent of Republican voters say the more they hear Bush, the less they like him. That compared with 32 percent who like him more when they hear him more.
Bush’ task is certainly not helped by a public display of discord within the Bush family which has until this week had the reputation of protecting one another from outside attacks. In his biography “Destiny and Power”, former President George H.W. Bush criticized his son George W. Bush for being unable to rein in extreme voices in his cabinet – Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld – who pushed America into the 2003 bloody Iraq war – a deeply divisive and controversial conflict that impacted America’s image and jolted the Middle Eastern region. The Iraq war legacy continues to be a potential drain on Jeb Bush’s hopes.
The main challenge for the youngest Bush, aspiring to be U.S.’ 45th President, at the moment is not to get the front-runner slot, but use different platform, including debates, to reinvigorate his campaign before heading to Feb.9 polls.
But even if he can hope Carson and Trump, being “outsiders”, do not get the party nod for GOP nominee, rising poll numbers for ranking Republicans such as Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz could be prove to be unsurmountable for him. Nevertheless the future months are full of political possibilities.
Carson still leads the Republican line-up with 67 percent of Republican voters in the McClatchy-Marist saying their liking for the neurosurgeon is growing as they hear him more, with 20 percent saying they become less favorable the more he exposed to them.
Rubio notched up the second place with 58 percent to 27 percent, followed by Cruz with 51 to 31 percent. Trump, who boasts being very rich and spending his own money on the campaign, claims he has been on the top and would remain so.
The Nov. 10 debate may well set the clear lines and direction for the Republican candidates.
For the far-less muddled Democratic field, Hillary Clinton is still in the lead and has even improved her rating as the front-runner for the nomination in new polls. A CNN/ORC poll last week showed Mrs. Clinton leading her closest rival Bernie Sanders with 18 points in Iowa, a state the later was hoping to win.
