Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush reiterated Sunday his desire to win the White House despite a poor showing at the CNBC Republican candidates debate and a rash of bad press for his faltering campaign.
“Look, I know that I got to get better at doing the debate. I’m a grinder,” Mr. Bush said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I mean, when I see that I’m not doing something well, then I reset and I get better.”
He acknowledged that his campaign is going through a rough patch.
“All of the tribulations of a campaign, and we’re having our share, there’s no doubt about it. I have enough self-awareness to know that this is the bumpy time of a campaign,” he said.
Mr. Bush is struggling to keep his campaign alive after a week of slashing its budget and cutting its staff in an effort to reorganize, while facing declining contributions and anxious donors reconsidering their support. He was called “the only adult in the room” after the first GOP debate in August, but his viability as the party’s nominee has been increasingly questioned.
Mr. Bush had a showdown with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio over missed Senate votes during Wednesday’s debate, and was widely considered to have lost the fight. Days later, a leaked campaign memo showed that the Bush campaign was trying to persuade donors to move away from Mr. Rubio — a missive the former governor said he had never seen before.
“I didn’t see it,” Mr. Bush said of the memo, which referred to Mr. Rubio as a “GOP Obama.”
But Mr. Bush said Sunday he is not interested in petty fights with the other candidates and wants to focus on broader issue-based debates.
“Comparing and contrasting is part of this. But the basis of my campaign is that we can fix these problems and people can be lifted out of poverty and the great middle can get rising income again,” he said. “That’s the purpose of my campaign. That’s what I focus on each and every day.”
He emphasized that his campaign is a “hopeful” one, not mired in doom and gloom as flamboyant businessman Donald Trump’s campaign has been. Mr. Trump has been the subject of backlash since announcing his presidential campaign, in which he has called Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals.
“I’m not going to prey on people’s fears. I’m not going to prey on their angst. I’m going to offer solutions,” Mr. Bush said.
“We have a lot of candidates that think the easy out is to say, you know, ’Follow me because I’m angry too.’ That’s not going to win the general election. It’s important to understand people’s frustrations, they’re legitimate. But the only way we win is to draw people towards our cause.”
Mr. Bush also addressed criticism that he lacks the energy to be president, and his tendency to be easily dispirited when he loses debates. He said he doesn’t lack fire, and he blamed the media for perpetuating the perception.
“If they followed me on the campaign train, like last week in New Hampshire, where we had 300 people totally connected, totally believing in me, I think they would see a different candidate. I’ve just got to be able to break through the clutter of all the punditry class,” he said.
Mr. Bush has faced backlash for a comment he made in South Carolina in which he said he had “plenty of cool things to do” other than deal with partisan politics and run for the presidency. He said his remarks were taken out of context.
“Don’t vote for me if you think that I’m going to be part of that system and because I’m president I’ll think that’s a really cool thing. That’s not what this is about,” he said. “It’s about leading. It’s about public service.”
• Anjali Shastry can be reached at ashastry@washingtontimes.com.
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