Well, no, Jeb hasn't actually said out loud that he wants to quit the race. But look at that face. Read his body language and even his words. Here's what he told Jake Tapper on CNN:
“If this election is about how we’re going to fight to get nothing done, . . . I don’t want any part of it. . . . That is not my motivation. I’ve got a lot of really cool things I could do other than sit around, being miserable, listening to people demonize me and feeling compelled to demonize them. That is a joke. Elect Trump if you want that.”I agree 100% with a feeling of disgust with what the Republican campaign has become. But, even so, that is not the way a winner talks. The fact is that Jeb is not winning. Depending on the poll, he's running anywhere from 4th to 6th place.
This past weekend, there was a big confab in Houston with all the family, political strategists, and big donors to take stock of Jeb's campaign and try to stop the train wreck. It sounds like a desperate attempt to stave off desertion by the money guys.
But here's my theory: It isn't just a desertion by the money guys. They are at risk of having the candidate desert the campaign. Not actually -- but his heart is no longer in it, if it ever was. The fundamental problem isn't fund-raising. The problem is Jeb. First, he's neither as smart nor as good a politician as everyone thought. And he's got a political party that is out of control and being wooed by outsiders who appeal to the anti-establishment, angry opposition.
In my opinion, Jeb doesn't want to stay in and lose. I think he really wants out and that this meeting in Houston was an effort to pressure him to stay in. Blame it on donor disenchantment, if you want. I'll put my bets on Jeb's disenchantment.
You've got to want it. And Jeb obviously doesn't want it enough to risk the humiliation of being the Bush who lost.
Ralph
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