His Paleo diet isn't the only thing making Jeb! Bush tighten his belt. His campaign is also engaging in metaphorical belt-tightening as it
tries to cut costs to convince nervous donors that their money won't be wasted. Once upon a time, Bush flew on private planes.
Last week, Bush spent three days in Iowa, traveling again from Des Moines to the state’s eastern edge, campaigning in the Mississippi River towns of Bettendorf and Muscatine — but this time, he went by car. The campaign also cancelled its reservation at the tony Hotel Blackhawk in nearby Davenport, staying instead at a cheaper hotel. More and more, Bush is flying commercial.
Donors are well acquainted with Bush's weak polling numbers, and they're about to find out his campaign's
burn rate for the past quarter. The problem is, traveling by car rather than private plane will only get you so far in convincing donors that their money is well spent
when:
In New Hampshire, seen by many as a must-win for Bush, Bush and the Right to Rise super PAC backing him have spent at least $4.8 million on TV and radio to support him since early September. One ad-tracking firm produced an analysis for POLITICO that showed pro-Bush spots in the past three weeks have occupied about 60 percent of the political ad air-time in the state. Bush’s numbers have moved from 9 percent to 8.7 percent since the ad blitz began, according to the Real Clear Politics averages of polls in the GOP primary.
Bush still has a powerful organization behind him, but at a certain point he's going to need to show he can perform if donors—the people he relies on to let him outlast all the flavors of the week—are going to stick with him rather than redirecting their affection, and their cash, to competitors like Marco Rubio.
1:12 PM PT: Jeb's total is in: He raised $13.4 million and has around $10 million cash on hand. Better than a number of his Republican competitors, but the one-time Republican frontrunner was outraised by Bernie Sanders.