Jeb Bush fails to silence doubters

Jeb Bush needed a strong performance at the Republican presidential debate to silence the doubters. He did not get it.

Instead, his lacklustre showing is likely to spur even more questions about his viability as a top-tier candidate, with his campaign manager immediately after the debate insisting that Bush would remain in the race for the long haul.

The former Florida governor came into the debate after having dramatically downsized his campaign staff and huddling with nervous donors to calm their fears, the result of persistent single-digit showings in opinion polls.

Those donors are likely to be even more anxious following Wednesday night’s debate, after Bush seemed to come out on the losing end of exchanges with both US Senator Marco Rubio and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and disappeared from the screen for long stretches of time.

“You have all these donors invested in him,” said Craig Robinson, the former political director of the Iowa Republican Party. “At some point, they’re going to change horses.”

Bush hit fellow Floridian Rubio early with a jab at Rubio’s attendance record for votes on the Senate floor. But Rubio flipped the attack back at him, labelling Bush a craven opportunist.

The only reason Bush was making it an issue, Rubio said, was “because we’re running for the same position, and someone has convinced you that attacking me is going to help you.”

Startled, Bush had no response.

“This was their plan of attack on Rubio, and it was a spectacular failure,” Robinson said.