Jeb!'s flush super PAC is finally going to start burnishing his image by dropping $10 million in ads on early voting states. He's gonna need it—he's pretty much failed to take control of this race or distinguish himself on anything other than gaffes about Iraq. Thomas Beaumont has
the details:
Officials with Right to Rise USA say they will buy time in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina TV markets and on cable television in the three states. Ads are scheduled to begin in Iowa and New Hampshire on Sept. 15, in South Carolina a week later and then run continuously through the end of the year.
The plan, shared by the group with The Associated Press prior to Monday's buy, is the first evidence of Right to Rise USA's major strategic spending of the roughly $100 million it had on hand last month. It's also the first major move by the group, which was developed by longtime Bush adviser and California ad maker Mike Murphy, to run alongside Bush's own campaign organization, which is bound by federal fundraising limits.
"We believe Jeb Bush has the strongest record of conservative accomplishments in the race, and we plan to tell that story," Paul Lindsay, communication director for Right to Rise USA, told the AP.
Jeb! definitely has a record of government overreach and intrusion into people's personal lives to highlight—like with
Terri Schiavo and the
Scarlett Letter law and
defunding Planned Parenthood. So there's plenty to work with.
Seriously, though, the only advantage Bush has in this race so far is in the money game. We'll soon get a taste of what that does for him in the polls. Or whether he'll have to start tearing down other candidates in order to gain ground.