NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. - Sen. Lindsey Graham on Friday endorsed Jeb Bush for president, a major get for the former Florida governor who has struggled to gain traction in the contest.That's Politico telling us that this is "a major get," an assertion that's preposterous.
I know, I know -- this is supposed to be strategic on Jeb's part, because Graham is from a state with a key early primary:
We are watching Jeb's goalposts being changed. NH was supposed to be his state but now looking for a "reset" after SC with Graham support
— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) January 15, 2016Um, have you seen Lindsey Graham's favorable ratings among Republicans?
... according to the most recent poll conducted by Public Policy Polling ... Graham received the highest unfavorables of any GOP candidate, with 50 percent of responders saying they had an “unfavorable opinion” of Graham, with only 22 percent deeming their feelings toward him “favorable.”Oh, but he must have a reservoir of goodwill in his home state of South Carolina ... right?
Apparently not In every primary poll conducted in South Carolina between mid-October and his withdrawal from the race last month, Graham came in at 3% or less. This is his home state!
Oh, and:
As I said previously, this could bring along the other "amigos" McCain & Ayotte https://t.co/tFdPQp92WF https://t.co/4sdXBcUEbW
— Bill Scher (@billscher) January 15, 2016McCain! The one Republican who's hated by RINO-loathing angry base voters almost as much as Graham!
Graham endorsed Bush but praised Marco Rubio during the announcement, although he said Rubio is too inexperienced right now:
“I think Marco Rubio will be president of the United States someday,” Graham said. “I like him. But I wasn’t ready to be president at 44.”If I'd been Jeb, I'd have begged Graham to endorse Rubio. At the very least, I'd have begged him not to endorse me.
Bush, Graham said, “is ready to be a commander-in-chief on Day One.”
But this is Jeb's problem: He's running his campaign in the way that everyone assumed would guarantee success ... until it slowly began to dawn on everyone but Jeb that all the rules have changed and it doesn't matter how effectively you've cornered the market on big-dollar donors, or how many establishment endorsements you can amass, because Republican voters are furious and want to burn the establishment to the ground.
Everyone gets that now. That's why Marco Rubio dropped the nice-guy act last night and ranted in the debate as if he were a corner-office hotshot who'd just come to a meeting after doing an eightball of blow. That's why Chris Christie kept answering questions as if he'd been possessed by the spirit of Travis Bickle trying out weapons. But Jeb still doesn't get it. He still won't change his approach.
Or maybe Jeb can't change his approach. He seems as if he's possessed by the sort of rigidity common to people on the autistic spectrum -- this is what he set out to do, this is how he set out to do it, and now he simply can't deviate because anything other than a rigid adherence to his original plan is unthinkable and terrifying. He's like Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man insisting that the underwear must be purchased at the Kmart in Cincinnati:
Jeb, you and the rest of your part are miles away from that Kmart in Cincinnati. In fact, angry mobs with pitchforks burned that Kmart to the ground. Go look somewhere else for your shorts-- er, votes.
8 comments:
Glad I didn't have a mouthful when I read about that corner-office guy and the 8-ball!
ROTFLMAO!
And GREAT video to make your Autism point!
GREAT POST!!!
Look, Jeb is Jeb. Had he born with any other last name, he would have found his calling as an optometrist or an elementary school principal and lived an uneventful, mildly contented life. Unfortunately for him, he decided that the only way to win his parents' love was to join a family business that he's comically unsuited for.
If he tried pretending to be Ted Cruz or Donald Trump, not only would no one be fooled, he would cut an even more pathetic figure than he does now. On the day that he quits the race and becomes the official family failure, he will at least have the consolation that he was, by GOP standards, the adult in the room - even when there was no reward in it.
NMNB would have the musicians on the Titanic smash their instruments on the deck and try to lash the shattered wood into a life raft. Sometimes it's nobler to gracefully accept one's fate.
I don't know, but I'll bet you a quarter that he'll still be standing at the end when none of the guys who make the decision will be going with The Donald or any of the "spanish" losers.
I know. I know. But we are talking about Republicans. And this is who they are.
And Diebold clones will still be counting the votes.
It's not over til it's over, friends.
Agree that electronic ballots altered and counted by the GOP Powers That Be. But that does not mean Jeb will be the GOP nominee. Too much ballot fraud would be noticed. We know what it looks like because it has been identified-ignored but noted. They want a winner (need a winner) and a Bush Dynasty is not essential to GOP ruining the country. Nor are the PTB afraid that Jeb will betray their election crimes. He's too implicated & too loyal.
The GOP will structure the "brokered" election to get who they want and it isn't anyone who has been in these debates. I bet it will be Speaker Ryan. On his part, boy, does he want it. He knows he can't succeed reining in the House republicans and he doesn't like 2nd term chances against a sitting president.
Scott Walker is going to place Wisconsin Favorite Son Ryan into the first roll call vote. It will all look like inspired unscripted unity on the 2nd floor vote. Nominee Paul Ryan and his sweet all-American white, white, white family is going to be standing on that stage in August.
Jeb's face hovers inches over the kitchen table, blinking owlishly through his frying pan glasses, aligning his tin toy soldiers "just so" as the demolition wrecking ball blows another hole through the living room wall.
If only he can wrap up the Santorum endorsement, he's as good as nominated. Well unless Gilmore goes for Fiorina, which would throw the whole thing wiiiiide open and probably lead to a brokered convention.
The Pataki nod will put him over the top.
J.E.B.! has no taste for campaigning, he doesn't have that need to bask in publicity that drives a lot of politicians. Say what you will about GWB, he had a political persona that was attractive to the Republican base. His lack of charisma and inability to connect with the base on anything dooms him to failure.
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