Say it ain't so, Jeb Bush. Say it won't end like this.
Donors, who poured millions into his campaign and super PAC, have stopped giving — one refusing a direct request to raise $1 million this week. Bush himself is hitting the phones, pleading for patience with his most influential supporters. And even some of his confidants are suddenly dejected after a dispiriting week capped off by South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley rejecting Bush in favor of Marco Rubio.
Of course, Jeb Bush has been Not Making Headway for a very long time now. What's different? Why is Jeb Bush calling his donors like a desperate man pleading with his bookie?
The Bush team had been banking on a strong week, believing their candidate’s first solid debate performance last weekend would move the numbers in South Carolina.
So he's been a wreck of a candidate for half a year now, but were hoping that one "solid" night would turn things around.
They thought bringing in George W. Bush on Monday night would generate more enthusiasm and positive earned media than it did.
They thought that bringing in George W. Bush, overseer of at least four separate national crises that will all appear in this nation's future history books, a conservative president whose name is still avoided in most polite conservative circles, would finally light a popular fire under the dumber brother's campaign.
They held out hope that the former president could convince Haley, who’d hedged on backing Rubio after his slip in New Hampshire, to support a fellow governor.
They were pinning a lot on surfing a Nikki Haley popularity wave. Yes, that Nikki Haley. But none of it panned out, and now Jeb campaigners are having to dodge questions on cable news about whether Jeb Bush will pull the plug if South Carolina doesn't go his way.
I never thought I'd say this, but: Jeb Bush? Please don't go. We need you in this race. In a primary full of belligerent, red-faced blowhards and very dedicated professional liars, we need just one goofy, inept guy who fills the news cycle not with outrageous comments, but sitcom pathos. Besides Ben Carson, I mean.