PrairiePundit

Washington Post: Trump accuses Jeb Bush of plotting against him At a rally in Las Vegas, he also appeared to take aim at Sen. Ted Cruz, who was effectively the runner-up to the real estate mogul in the GOP primary race. Who knew that a campaign of insults and vilification would impact Trump's ability to get former opponents to support him?  When you run as a jerk, you should be prepared to be treated as a jerk.

The Hill: Jeb Bush will not vote for either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump in the presidential election, he announced Friday, saying that he doesn’t think either one will “put us on a better course.” “In November, I will not vote for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, but I will support principled conservatives at the state and federal levels, just as I have done my entire life,” Bush wrote in a Facebook post. “For Republicans, there is no greater priority than ensuring we keep control of both chambers of Congress. I look forward to working hard for great conservatives in the Senate and House in the coming months.” Bush slammed both parties’ front-runners as unfit for the White House. “Donald Trump has not demonstrated that temperament or strength of character,” he said. “He has not displayed a respect for the Constitution. And, he is not a consistent conservative. These are all reasons why I cannot support his candidacy. “Hillary Clinton has proven to be an untrustworthy libe...

CNN: A reflective Jeb Bush said he had no regrets Thursday about his failed presidential bid, saying in his first interview since leaving the race that Donald Trump could still lose the nomination fight. "There's a possibility that he won't get 50% on the first ballot," Bush told CNN's Jamie Gangel, giving his first television interview exclusively to CNN after dropping out of the presidential race in February. "And if he doesn't do that, there are a whole lot of people who don't believe he's the proper guy." Bush, who has endorsed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for president but been largely invisible as a surrogate, wouldn't say whether he would support Trump as the nominee in November, though he added there's no way he would vote for Hillary Clinton. When asked repeatedly how he would vote if Trump became the nominee, Bush responded, "I'm hopeful he won't be." The former governor said only two people could win the no...

Washington Examiner: Jeb Bush endorsed Ted Cruz for president on Wednesday, in an effort to help Republicans unite against Donald Trump's campaign. "Today, I am endorsing Ted Cruz for President," the former Florida governor said in a statement. "Ted is a consistent, principled conservative who has demonstrated the ability to appeal to voters and win primary contests. Washington is broken, and the only way Republicans can hope to win back the White House and put our nation on a better path is to support a nominee who can articulate how conservative policies will help people rise up and reach their full potential." ... "For the sake of our party and country, we must move to overcome the divisiveness and vulgarity Donald Trump has brought into the political arena, or we will certainly lose our chance to defeat the Democratic nominee and reverse President Obama's failed policies," Bush added. "To win, Republicans need to make this election a...

NBC News: ... No word on whether or not the meetings will lead to an endorsement by the former governor who suspended his own White House bid after a disapointing finish in the South Carolina primary on February 20. Florida holds its Republican primary on Tuesday. He may be trying to talks some sense into Rubio and Kasich who have no path to the nomination at this point.

NY Times: Solidifies Lead Over G.O.P. Rivals Donald J. Trump’s victory puts him in a strong position heading into Southern state primaries on March 1. In head to head matchups with Cruz and Rubio, Trump loses in a landslide to either of them.  He also loses in head to head matchups with Democrats while Cruz and Rubio win.  So I think it can be argued that he is still the weakest candidate the Republicans could put up and his vulnerabilities have yet to be challenged on a consistent basis.  So far Cruz has done the best job of taking him on and he needs to do more of that. Rubio appears to be eeking out a second place finish at this point, but that is the best he could do with almost all of the state's political machine backing him.  Rubio also has weaknesses that can be exploited, particularly on his dishonest response to issues raised about how he and the Gang of Eight pushed an immigration bill through the Senate. Jeb Bush has bowed to reality ...

Right Scoop: According to Fox News media critic Howard Kurtz, the internal polls from the Bush campaign show a much tighter race, and a jump for Cruz…   Following HowardKurtz Verified account ‏ @ HowardKurtz Internal poll for Bush PAC shows much tighter SC race: Trump 26, Cruz 24, Jeb 12, Rubio 11--while public surveys give Trump a huge lead This would be very much like what happened in Iowa, where the public polling was WAY off. Either they were just inaccurate, or Cruz got a late surge, and a big one.   User Actions   Following HowardKurtz Verified account ‏ @ HowardKurtz Memo to Bush PAC says Cruz jump "based on significant support" in upstate S.C. "where evangelical Christians are heavily concentrated" ... This would suggest that Cruz benefited from the Trump national security meltdown during the debate and that the charges of Cruz "lying" are not selling.   It also shows Jeb making headway on the establishment fron...

Watching Donald Trump talk about national security has to be a scary thing.  He seems to think that yelling and insults will change people's attitude.  How does he think he will build a coalition to fight ISIL or anyone else? Jeb Bush is doing better again in this debate and even Kasich is not as annoying as he sometimes is. Ted Cruz continues to demonstrate knowledge that outpaces the moderators that try to try him.  When Donald Trump accuses him of lying he confronts him with the facts and Trump's own words. Rubio appears to have recovered his mojo for this debate.  Carson, not so much. While Trump has had his moments, particularly in the movement of jobs to Mexico and other countries.  Overall he has not looked presidential so much as look like a madman with an army.

Red States: New Gallup Poll Shows Ted Cruz With Highest GOP Favorable Rating Trump is viewed more favorably that Christie, Kasich, or Bush Cruz favorability rating is a full 20 points higher than Trump's.  Cruz is also 40 points higher than Kasich and 46 points higher than Jeb Bush.  This has to be disconcerting for the Washington cartel.

Erick Erickson: ... In New Hampshire last night, having spent less money than any other candidate, Ted Cruz came in third when the polling averages had Cruz in fourth place and some individual polls had him in a worse position. Cruz spent approximately $18.00 per vote for third place while Rubio spent $508.00 for fifth place in New Hampshire. Bush spent $1200.00 for fourth place. Even Ben Carson outspent Ted Cruz in New Hampshire. ... Cruz also has husbanded his resources leaving him with more money in his campaign fund than most of the other candidates combined.  It is going to be hard for Rubio and Bush to maintain the spending pace they set in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Leon Wolf: ... WINNERS 1. Ted Cruz - Cruz was nicked by Carson's strong opening on the Carsongate controversy, but I think Cruz's apology on that point came off as sincere and genuine. After that point, Cruz clearly had the strongest night of any of the candidates on stage. Cruz was the first recipient of Martha Raddatz' pointless and dishonest badgering, and handled it well. Cruz did well with the guns trained away from him once again, as everyone focused on Rubio. Cruz's answer on his family member who succumbed to heroin addiction was the most poignant moment of the night and really humanized Cruz in a way that no one has yet seen in this campaign. Cruz was one of the two likeable people on stage tonight. 2. Jeb Bush - Surprisingly strong performance from Bush tonight. He absolutely kneecapped Trump in the exchange on eminent domain. He avoided any meaningful verbal flubs. He appeared wonky but likeable. He was in command of the facts. His story about the gu...

Washington Post: Why do so many Republicans dislike Jeb Bush? From concerns about his "low energy" to weariness with dynasties, most Republicans want someone new. "I think the country has had enough of them," one said. I don't think his problem is personal dislike so much as he got off on the wrong foot by pushing two issues the base opposes--immigration reform and common core.  That was a lot to overcome and his lacklustre campaign style just added to his problems.

Washington Times: After starting 2015 as the presumptive front-runner with a huge bankroll, Jeb Bush has to be ending the year wondering what went wrong with his presidential campaign, what happened to his Republican Party and where all his money went. Mr. Bush and his super PAC burned through more than half of the $133 million they raised in the first three quarters this year. The return on that investment has been a drop in polls from about 15 percent when he entered the race in June to about 4 percent in recent surveys. “He has not been a great candidate and the campaign never seemed to hit its strides despite all the money he had,” said Aubrey Jewett , a political science professor at the University of Jacksonville. ... Other candidates who have spent heavily on advertising have gotten little return on their investment this cycle.  Trump has spend relatively little and Ted Cruz has been conserving cash and building a ground team rather than doing ad blitzes.  Those tw...

NY Times: Donald Trump Steals From His Attacks on Jeb Bush to Hit Hillary Clinton’s ‘Stamina’ After using that line of argument to great effect throughout the year against Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida, Donald J. Trump has begun to question whether Hillary Rodham Clinton has the “stamina” to be president. Trump has a knack for hitting an opponents weakness in unpredictable ways.  What is brilliant about this line of attack on Hillary is that he has already used it on Jeb Bush so Clinton has a harder time calling the attack sexist as much as she might like to.

Carson exceeded expectations on several fronts from his terrific answer on the question of raising the minimum wage which he said would put people out of work to a interesting strategic response to ISIL with the recognition that we need to destroy the caliphate. Ted Cruz articulated the reason why we should enforce the immigration laws and he also scored points with his defense of a strong military. Bush seems a little livelier this evening, but he is still pushing an immigration policy that has no real deterrent to illegal immigration.  The open borders contingent probably cheered his answer on that issue, but Cruz had a better argument. The moderators are doing a much better job with questions that focus on policy. Kasich  is more annoying than informative.

Jen Kuznicki: The Real Reason G.W. Bush Hates Ted Cruz This is an interesting theory.  The case in question was one that highlighted Cruz's obvious legal talents.  It could be one of the reasons Bush does not like him since the ruling defied a Bush executive order and probably embarrassed the President in his dealings with Mexico. But, I suspect the answer to the animosity maybe as simple as Cruz is another threat to a Jeb term as President.  That appears to be one of the reasons they are going after Rubio.

Erick Erickson: Team Jeb Bush Prepares to Hand Ted Cruz the Republican Nomination I do not know how much dragging down Rubio's numbers will help Cruz, but I doubt that it will help Jeb Bush.  Negative attacks on Rubio only raise his visibility  and give him free media when he is asked to respond. The fact is that Bush's problem is more about his own campaign than Rubio's.  While Rubio's biggest weakness is his past support for amnesty, bush can't really focus on that because he supported the unpopular immigration reform too.  Add Bush's support for "common core" and his lackluster campaign style and you get a better understanding of why he is trailing so badly.

Red States: The out of touch GOP establishment What worked for 41 and 43 is not working for Jeb.  The nomination is not about scaring off the competition by blowing them away with fund raising and playing to the center.  The Republican establishment seems as puzzled by this as the media is.  They think Trump is saying things that would disqualify him with the Tea Party and much of the base of the party, yet he is still doing better than the establishment candidates. The piece suggest the reason for this is that Trump is getting his support from the Ross Perot wing that is angry with the status quo.  But there is also anger with the establishment's caving to Obama's big spending ways on programs they absolutely detest such as Obamacare and amnesty.

Erick Erickson: I continue to think Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) 100% is on trajectory to be the next President of the United States in a nomination fight against Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) 92% and George W. Bush may have just handed the whole race to Cruz. Multiple people have told the Politico that at a fundraiser in Colorado for Jeb Bush, President George W. Bush lit into Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) 100%. Cruz could not have paid for such a sterling moment for his campaign. A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows that more Republicans, upwards of 40%, say they would never, ever vote for Jeb Bush for President, which is more than those who say that about Donald Trump. Along comes the former President in a season of “we’ve already had two Bushes” to promote his brother by bashing Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) 100% as “opportunistic” and self-interested. The GOP is still wrestling with immigration reforms started by the Bush administration, TARP, the GM bailout, John Roberts, and more. Conservatives hav...

Guy Benson: Poll: Hillary Now Trails Trump, Jeb, Carly in New Hampshire and Iowa In Iowa, " She's down ten to Jeb, down seven to Trump, and trails Fiorina by 14 points in hypothetical match-ups.     In New Hampshire , Hillary holds a modest three-point lead over Donald Trump, but has fallen behind Bush and Fiorina by seven and eight-point margins, respectively." She is in trouble and it will be hard for her to recover.  Sanders actually outperforms her against the Republican candidates.