Watching the Republican presidential debate Thursday night, it would seem difficult to grade the performance of the former Florida governor and GOP presidential hopeful, Jeb Bush, compared to his other Republican rivals. Jeb Bush has been struggling to keep up in the polls, falling behind his rivals ahead of the 2016 presidential elections. At the last debate, he clearly wasn’t winning the debate, because he was largely a bystander in the dominant fight between Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz. Bush wasn’t losing though, as he made serious and nuanced points about immigration and foreign policy, and he demonstrated deep knowledge about almost every issue.
Graham endorse Jeb Bush ahead of elections
The 2016 election has witnessed rallies, donations and endorsement from within and outside the American shore. The political battles have also raged across the two parties, as each candidate is looking to discredit his or her biggest opponents. Senator Lindsey Graham recently endorsed Jeb Bush for president on Friday in Charleston, South Carolina. Mr. Graham, the South Carolina Republican who ended his own presidential bid after failing to gain traction, ran on a platform of national security, and has said he thinks Mr. Bush, the former Florida governor, is strong on the issue. Mr. Graham thinks Mr. Bush is best prepared to be commander in chief on Day 1 and also believes he (Bush) is most likely to beat Hillary Clinton, who leads the Democratic field in many national polls, in a general election.
Bush woos Graham supporters, to use his brother’s popularity
Mr. Bush made a point of wooing Mr. Graham, texting him weekly when the two were rivals for the Republican nomination. On the morning Mr. Graham dropped out, Mr. Bush texted him immediately and later made a hard pitch over the phone that he was best equipped on Mr. Graham’s top issue of national security. Mr. Graham’s endorsement comes after Mr. Bush picked up the support of dozens of Graham loyalists throughout the state.
According to the New York Times, the campaign is also likely to deploy Mr. Bush’s older brother, former President George W. Bush, who remains popular with the Republican base, to help in South Carolina. Jeb Bush needs a top finish in the New Hampshire primary on Feb. 9 to revive his stalled campaign.
Jeb Bush still hammering Trump
The former Florida governor’s confidence is not backed by polling data as he is off the pace in the two early voting states, Iowa and New Hampshire, polling at 4.5% in the first state and 8.4% in the second. Jeb Bush believes he will get the Republican party’s nomination ticket, even ahead of Donald Trump, who is still the party’s front runner.
