By: Staff Writer Elizabeth Ray
Picture Credit: Google Images
Jeb! has finally dropped out of the 2016 presidential race!
Following poor finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire, South Carolina was the breaking point for the former Florida governor.
It was a rough campaign for Bush, struggling throughout to establish himself as a candidate. Some criticized him for not claiming the Bush name more prominently. Others criticized him for not distancing himself far enough from his older brother’s controversial legacy and his father’s one term.
But beyond the troubles in the polls, Bush had an exceptionally hard time with the other candidates. Bush consistently sparred with Trump and Rubio, which ultimately distracted from the merits of his campaign. Bush and Trump’s spats were particularly nasty. The climax of the Trump-Bush fight was when Trump bought the www.jebbush.com domain name and redirected it to his own campaign website.
The highlights of Bush’s lackluster debate performances were his awkward jabs at other candidates, though often falling short by the end of the exchange.
Going after Rubio in one particularly spiteful attack in the October debate, Bush criticized his former mentee for missing senate votes while campaigning, likening his voting record to that of the “French work week.”
Unfazed, Rubio responded that the only reason Bush was attacking him now was “because we are running for the same position and someone has convinced you that attacking me is going to help you.” The crowd erupted into applause. Ouch.
Perhaps the saddest moment of Jeb’s campaign was at an interview with his mother after a rally. Jeb remarked to the cameras, “Well the best news of the day was that my mom finally told me that I was her favorite.”
Nervously laughing, Barbara Bush replies, “Oh no, I didn’t. You mean of all the children?
Bush replies, “Yeah.”
“No,” she reiterates, shaking her head.
“Oh, okay,” Bush stutters.
But for now, Bush will be free of any more media gaffes. He’s back to sunny Miami, no worse for the wear with his family’s political legacy still intact. Maybe in a few years he’ll write a bestseller and go on a book tour across the Midwest. Until then, Jeb!.