Bush... Crushing disappointment

Bush walks into Rubio's trap

For Jeb’s supporters, it was a night of crushing disappointment.

By Eli Stokols and Alex Isenstadt

Jeb Bush needed a big debate performance more than anyone on the stage. Instead, he faded away, and his campaign isn’t even bothering to argue otherwise.

Banging on the CNBC production team’s door halfway through the debate, campaign manager Danny Diaz reamed the debate host over how little time Bush was getting. In the end, the one-time front-runner scored less than seven minutes, worse than almost every other candidate.

When the debate ended, Diaz and campaign advisor Michael Steel faced relentless questioning in the spin room about how long Bush would remain in the race.

“I think we’re in for the long haul and we’re in to win, but I appreciate the question,” Diaz said to a reporter asking if Bush would still be in the race by the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 1.

But one week after seeing payroll slashed and consultants fired, some Bush staff wondered what the next round of recriminations would be – and if a blame game was about to begin. Many of Bush’s top donors found their already thin confidence further shaken.

“Horrible” is how one Florida-based Bush bundler summed up the night. “He got crushed.”

Bush’s bad night benefitted Marco Rubio most. Indeed, Bush donors were quick to complain about what they saw as a bad strategic decision to take on the junior Floridian.

“Marco is a [expletive] Jedi Master,” one distraught Florida donor said. “Hopefully these idiots learn not to [expletive] with him anymore. Not necessary.”

As multiple reporters peppered Diaz and Steel with questions about Bush’s rationale for staying in the race, there was little to do but pledge to carry on. “There’s another debate in 12 days,” said Steel.

As Bush’s aides spoke, two of Marco Rubio’s top staffers, Terry Sullivan and Todd Harris, walked over to listen, clearly energized by the show their boss put on.

“Hey Todd, how ya’ doing,” Diaz said.

Rubio's team was visibly elated after having gotten the better of Bush in a third straight GOP debate--and, by winning the first combative exchange between the two candidates, solidifying his position as the new establishment frontrunner.

Bush had aimed to seize his opportunity for a breakthrough moment early on, dressing down Rubio, his former protégé, for missing votes in the Senate.

“Marco, when you signed up for this, this was a six-year term, and you should be showing up to work,” Bush told Rubio, who stood at the podium just to his left. “The Senate, what is it? Like a French workweek? You get three days when you have to show up?”

Unfortunately for Bush, Rubio was sitting on the fastball. The first-term senator noted Bush’s recent comments describing himself as an underdog like John McCain, who carried his own bags in the months before the 2008 primaries when he went on to win the nomination.

“I don’t remember you ever complaining about John McCain’s vote record; the only reason you’re doing it now is because we’re running for the same position and someone has convinced you that it’s going to help you,” Rubio said, as applause rose from the audience. “My campaign is going to be about the future of America; it’s not going to be about attacking anyone else on the stage.”

Bush donors were furious about his debate tactics. “Going after Rubio that way was just a mistake,” said one of Bush’s donors. “No one cares about missed f--king votes in the Senate. Washington cares about that. The media cares about that. And losing candidates care about that. Jeb sounded like he was losing. And Marco made him pay.”

The feud with Rubio, years in the making, crystallized in the last several weeks as the former Florida governor’s stock began collapsing. After two weak debate performances, Bush’s team began pushing opposition research on the first-term senator’s spotty voting record, tangling over which campaign had more cash on hand after third-quarter financial reports, and, at a weekend campaign summit in Houston, labeling Rubio as the “GOP Obama” in a presentation to donors.

It was the spat over which campaign had more money in the bank that made Rubio’s inner circle step back and reconsider its strategy. Given Bush’s lackluster poll numbers, Terry Sullivan and Rich Beeson decided that it no longer made sense to tangle with or “punch down” at Bush. The new approach: shrug off the attacks and make Rubio’s former mentor look desperate and petty.

So last week, when Tim Miller, Bush’s communications director, floated a video of Rubio arguing in a speech that senators should be fined for missing votes and commented “Concur with Marco,” Rubio’s team ignored the post. On Tuesday, Bush’s super PAC launched a Twitter account, @IsMarcoWorking, along the same lines, again drawing no response.

Rubio stuck to the strategy Wednesday night.

“I will continue to have tremendous admiration and respect for Governor Bush,” Rubio said. “I'm not running against Governor Bush, I'm not running against anyone on this stage. I'm running for president because there is no way we can elect Hillary Clinton to continue the policies of Barack Obama.”

Following the debate, Bush’s team didn’t attempt to argue that he won the duel, only that Rubio’s record of missed votes is an issue that’s not going away.

“Sixty seconds on the debate stage doesn’t erase the worst voting record in the Senate,” Wisecup said.

Rubio’s increasingly confident team played it cool.

“We don’t want to pile on Governor Bush,” said Sullivan after the debate. “The exchange he had with Marco speaks for itself.”