No one seems to be delighting more in the 2016 election than Donald Trump, who at every turn recounts his top status in every single GOP poll whilst dishing out slights to his competitors and Jeb!, in particular.
All of this has turned Jeb! into Jeb¡, reports Jonathan Martin.
“I’ll just give you a little taste of the ‘low energy’ candidate’s life this week,” said Mr. Bush, referring to the stinging taunt Mr. Trump has repeatedly used to describe him.
Mr. Bush then spent a minute and a half reeling off the cities he had visited since Monday — among them McAllen, Tex.; Salt Lake City; Denver; Pensacola, Fla.; Birmingham, Ala.; Greensboro, N.C. — and noted that, earlier in the week, he had risen at 6 a.m. to go running with former members of the Navy SEALs near the Virginia coast.
“The ‘low energy’ candidate this week has only been six days, 16 hours a day campaigning with joy in my heart,” he said.
Wow, nothing says winner like repeating your competitor's lowest blow back to your supporters and then refuting it. But Jeb¡'s frustration isn't just spilling out publicly, it's also surfacing privately with top donors and his advisers, who are finally admitting that Trump isn't the net positive for their candidate that they once declared.
Mr. Bush’s advisers say they believe that the relentless mockery by Mr. Trump is contributing to their candidate’s slide in the polls. In a new Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll, more Iowa Republicans view Mr. Bush unfavorably than favorably. Mr. Bush has also slipped in some national surveys, falling into single digits and well back in the Republican pack.
You just can't fake enthusiasm. And it doesn't help that nothing about Jeb¡'s performance so far has inspired confidence, much less suggested competence. Trump's not Jeb¡'s only problem, he's just the most enticing of them.