Despite campaign changes, Jeb Bush remains confident in South Carolina
DANIEL ISLAND, S.C. -- If Friday's major campaign shakeup marked the low point in Jeb Bush's quest for the Republican presidential nomination, there weren't any signs of trouble during his campaign stop in South Carolina on Saturday.
The Republican presidential candidate appeared unworried and a bit defiant during a press conference right before he was to take the stage at a town hall at Bishop England High School in Daniel Island.
Flanked by Sen. Tim Scott and U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy, the chairman of the House Benghazi committee, Bush anticipated reporters' questions on the campaign restructuring that took place the day before involving layoffs, pay cuts, and moving staff from his Miami headquarters to early states.
"Before the first question comes about how my life has been in the last 24 hours," Bush started, "we've made an adjustment in our campaign. That's what leaders do."
Asked whether the campaign had started having problems raising money, Bush noted that he'd raised $500,000 in Michigan on Thursday. Possibly with lessons of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's failed campaign in mind, Bush explained how he came to the decision to make cuts.
"Look, I've had 32 years in business. And in business, when you anticipate how things are going to be, you anticipate them. You don't wait until they happen. That's what Washington does," Bush said. "In my world, what you do is you anticipate where you're going to be and move towards it."
In response to chatter that the moves marked the beginning of the end for his campaign, Bush replied, "Blah, blah, blah. That's my answer."
"Watch it, President Cain was winning the Republican primary in 2007," he continued, referring to 2012 GOP candidate Herman Cain. "October is not when you elect people, it's February, and then you move into March and we have a campaign that's designed to win. And I'm going to win."
From the very beginning of the town hall hosted by Scott, Bush found an enthusiastic crowd. As he began speaking one woman in the audience yelled "We love you Jeb!" adding, after a pause, "and your brother!" Bush quipped back, "And my mother," leading the audience to laugh with approval.
Before he even took the stage, Bush had help from Scott, who described the former governor as "one of the best candidates in the Republican field. Gowdy attested that Bush was just a "good, decent human being." Scott even wore colorful socks in honor of Jeb's father, President George H.W Bush, which the candidate only discovered halfway through the event.
The Floridian regularly calls his father the "greatest man alive" on the stump but he went much further than usual in Charleston, describing his father's exploits during World War II. He told the audience how the night before, he toured the U.S.S. Yorktown and climbed into a TBM Avenger torpedo bomber plane, the kind that George H.W. Bush piloted -- and was shot down in -- while serving in the Pacific Theater.
"My dad was the youngest Navy pilot in World War II history," Bush said. "I'm blessed with a family that I wish everybody could have had the upbringing I had. I mean, put aside the fact he's a hero. My dad is the greatest man alive. I would kill for him, violate laws and everything else. He's just been an incredible father and an inspiration for me in every way."
Throughout the town hall, Bush lobbed insults toward rival Donald Trump. "Wow that's going to leave a mark," Bush said mockingly of the billionaire's frequent Twitter attacks. In trying to draw a contrast to Trump, he also provided insight into his own motivation, stating that he didn't want to be elected only to preside over gridlock.
"If this election is about how we're going to fight to get nothing done, then I don't want anything, I don't want any part of it," Bush said. "I've got a lot of really cool things I could do other than sit around, being miserable, listening to people demonize me and me feeling compelled to demonize them. That is a joke. Elect Trump if you want that."
As Bush departs sunny South Carolina for a rain-battered Houston, it's clear Trump will be one of several things that weigh over him and the minds of the donors that are gathering for a retreat featuring both Bush presidents over the next two days.