Jeb Bush campaign manager Danny Diaz got into a heated confrontation with a CNBC producer outside the debate as it was happening, according to two sources familiar with the incident.Jeb was the guy on stage. He was face-to-face with the moderators. Why didn't he say anything about this himself if he and the rest of Team Jeb were so steamed? Nothing plays better with GOP voters than an attack on the media, as other candidates recognized:
One of the sources said Diaz was complaining about speaking time allotments.
“It’s a poorly managed debate,” said a Bush campaign staffer.
Attack on Media for Bias Big Theme at CNBC Republican DebateIf Jeb had a complaint, he should have voiced it on the air. He should have mingled it with a broader attack on the moderators and the media in general. GOP voters eat that kind of thing up.
“The questions that have been asked so far in this debate illustrate why the American people don’t trust the media,” Sen. Ted Cruz said in answer to question about his opposition to the 2-year budget and fiscal cliff deal advancing in Congress.
“This is not a cage match. And, you look at the questions -- ’Donald Trump, are you a comic-book villain?’ ’Ben Carson, can you do math?’ ’John Kasich, will you insult two people over here?’ ’Marco Rubio, why don’t you resign?’ ’Jeb Bush, why have your numbers fallen?’ Cruz said
“How about talking about the substantive issues the people care about?"; crowd erupted in applause
Rubio issued several attacks on media, including: "The Democrats have the ultimate Super PAC: it’s called the mainstream media"
Referring to editorial in his homestate of Fla suggesting he resign from Senate, given key votes he has missed, Rubio said: ‘‘This is another example of the double standard that exists in this country between the mainstream media and the conservative movement”
But no. Jeb has people to do the complaining for him. He's not going to get into it with the moderators. He's not going to scrap. He's above that sort of thing.
And that's why he's losing so badly.