Pro-Rand Paul PAC attacks Jeb Bush as ‘Bailout Bush’

A pro-Rand Paul Super PAC is out with a new “Bailout Bush” digital advertisement Monday that criticizes former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush for his position on the 2008 Wall Street bailout and accuses him of taking a bailout of his own when his father was president.

The ad from America’s Liberty PAC comes on the heels of a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll that found Mr. Paul, Kentucky Republican, has lost some ground since mid-June among the 2016 candidates and that Mr. Bush continues to run near the front of the pack with Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida.

The 60-second spot features a fake sleazy salesman, dubbed Max Power, who is trying to sell “Bailout Bush” dolls.

“If you love bailouts, you are going to love Bailout Bush,” he says. “No only does he come with his own personal $4 million bailout check that he got while his dad was president. … Crazy! But true! And there is more: Bailout Bush loves TARP.”

The ad features a clip from 2012 testimony that Mr. Bush gave before a House Budget Committee in which he voiced his opposition to the auto bailout, but said the Wall Street bailout, known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, was probably the right thing to do.

The Super PAC also set up a www.BailoutBush.com website was part of the five-figure ad buy targeting voters in early primary states.

The New York Times reported in 1990 that Mr. Bush and a partner used money from a local savings and loan institution to buy a building, and the federal government ended up picking up most of the tab as part of the federal bailout of the savings industry.

“Several of Gov. Bush’s conflicts with the Republican base have been well-documented, but no one seems to be talking about perhaps the most damaging issue: Jeb’s long history of support for bailouts,” said John Tate, president of the Super PAC.

“Opposition to bailouts launched the tea party movement and is a key issue uniting and defining the modern Republican Party. Jeb Bush, however, supported TARP, took his own bailout and has long and troubling relationship with big Wall Street bailout recipients,” he said. “This issue alone leaves Jeb unable to lead the GOP to victory in 2016.”