What happend to Jeb?

[hopper]

In an anti establishment year; in which the GOP congress failed to deliver on its promises of 2014; tax reform and repeal of Obama; Jeb is tied the the DC establishment.z

How was the GOP gonna repeal "ObamaCare: when Obama is still President? True they failed on Tax Reform I will give you that.

Everybody is writing Jeb off. Personally I am a supporter because I think he is the right person for the job. I think if Jeb can have  good back to back  debate performances or even a great debate performance next time out he will be right there in the running for the Republican Nomination. I do think if Jeb's candidacy fails for the Republican Nomination maybe Rubio will be the beneficiary and Republican Voters will give him a second look.

[hopper]

God if Trump is far left what is Corbyn?

Is Corbyn to the left of Sanders even? Its not like Sanders is calling for Nationalizion of Businesses.

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

His last name is Bush.....that is all..

[Cory]

Anyone who would describe Donald Trump as anything other than a socialist or progressive has a fundamental misunderstanding of conservatism.

But at least a basic understanding of Socialism and the Progressive movement.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Trump happened.

I still think Bush will get the nomination in the end though.

[Intell]

Governor Bush is no longer the front-runner, there is no doubt. It's now up to him to make the case that he was a success in both business and as a Governor and that he has the vision to lead while Mr. Trump is unfit to be President based on his radical left-wing views and his lack of judgement.

Oh come on, he's definetly not radical left wing views, he's more in line with the populist right in Europe, though he's not far right.

Other than on illegal immigration, he is very far left and a radical.

I'm sorry but you're f*king dumb, learn what socialism is, and radical left. Trump's views are in line of the danish people's party and Swedish democrats, now you're gonna tell me that they're radical left.

[exopolitician]

Trump happened.

I still think Bush will get the nomination in the end though.

Agreed on the first part, not the second.

[dudeabides]

Governor Bush is no longer the front-runner, there is no doubt. It's now up to him to make the case that he was a success in both business and as a Governor and that he has the vision to lead while Mr. Trump is unfit to be President based on his radical left-wing views and his lack of judgement straight-up corporate pimping.

Oh come on, he's definetly not radical left wing views, he's more in line with the populist right in Europe, though he's not far right.

Other than on illegal immigration, he is very far left and a radical.

The truth is, is that Trump has no ideology.  His views at any given point in time, are opportunistic ones, formed with but one thing in mind - what he thinks will benefit himself personally. You should write that down, is my suggestion, for future reference.  JMO, but I find your characterizing Trump as some sort of radical leftist to be just ludicrous. It sort of makes me cringe really.

Very true.  I don't think Trump is a liberal, but he's certainly not a "movement conservative".  

If you want to label Trump, he's close to a "paleoconservative".  That's, at least, the ideology he's running on in this election.  And it's a good move; the Perot and Pat Buchanan voters are natural Republicans, but they've sort of been shoved out of the GOP, probably because they're less organized and don't bring the boots on the ground and money like religious conservatives do.  But these were the voters that delivered the GOP FOUR, count 'em, FOUR landslides between 1972 and 1988.  I really didn't think they had enough extra voters to just run these folks off.

There is an argument to be made that Trump has no ideology, I can't disagree with that but if I have to say he's something, it's socialist some negative label designed to make Jeb! look good, whether it's accurate or not.

Anyone who would describe Donald Trump as anything other than a socialist or progressive has a fundamental misunderstanding of conservatism reality. Conservatives are right of center; we believe in free markets, a strong national defense, and a majority of us believe in socially conservative principles. What separates conservatives and libertarians is libertarians are generally less willing to support the basic safety net conservatives support (social security, medicare, medicaid etc), are more about getting the government out of social issues, and are less likely to support an aggressive foreign policy. But conservatives and libertarians are both for greater freedom, especially in economic matters. Personally, I am probably 60% conservative and 40% libertarian, I identify as conservative.

Those who supported Pat Buchanan and now Donald Trump consider themselves ARE, in fact, Republicans because their views on immigration are closer to conservatives - while most conservatives are fine with legal immigration, they are tough against illegal immigration. The fact is, Republicans have traditionally been more supportive of the policies Buchanan/Trump advocate against more than the Democrats. Buchanan/Trump hate free trade unfair trade agreements, the majority of Republicans support free trade the trade agreements that have resulted in the exporting of jobs, because they benefit the corporate types than fill Bush campaign coffers. Now, to be fair to the unfairly attach the anti-Semite label to Pat Buchanan, he is very pro-life along with the vast majority of conservatives. Mr. Trump's support for public funding of planned parenthood shows his should show a disconnect with GOP voters. The problem is, Trump's opponents have been ineffective effective in painting him Jeb! as liberal an anti-middle class scumbag; Rand Paul has tried but there should be television ads everyday in early states questioning Trump's conservatism along with his business dealings the GOP base has been lied to an betrayed so many times by the establishment that even Rand Paul has no credibility with them.

Fixed it for you.

Everything I said about Donald Trump is 100% accurate. Look it up, and I didn't get it from some blog, I got it from credible organizations such as the Club for Growth, as well as things Trump has actually said on CNN and other places.

I'm sorry to break it to you, but a new survey out shows exactly what I have been saying for months: Trump supporters are less informed and less engaged than the average GOP primary voter.

If a majority or even plurality of Republicans opposed free trade, how come Bob Dole defeated Pat Buchanan? How come free trade supporter Mitt Romney beat Rick Santorum? How come Duncan Hunter gained no traction in 2008? The answer is because a plurality or majority of Republicans support free trade because they support capitalism, competition, more jobs, and higher wages for American workers.

You can keep denying that free trade creates jobs and that Republicans do not identify with Donald Trump and Pat Buchanan, or you can recognize that you are in the minority of Republicans on this and that's fine, nothing wrong with that. But at least be intellectually honest. 

[sg0508]

Jeb is far from dead.  Timing is crucial and it's still very early. He'll get it going.  You'll see.

[Republican Michigander]

His last name is Bush.....that is all..

That's a big part of it combined with the fact that Jeb and W agree on most matters. Jeb also sounded like Romney did when he spoke - regurgitating what his consultants told him to say.

The other part of it is that a lot of conservatives have hard feelings over W's second term. W overestimated his "mandate" like most executives did and forgot that he won because his opponent was John Kerry. Record spending is not conservative. Nation building isn't traditionally conservative. W's 2nd term allowed a radical like Obama to win, and there are a lot of hard feelings there. Some still like him, but many just do not want to see this again.

I think he's the 2nd least electable running behind Trump.

[Del Tachi]

The true essence of the GOP primary vote is finally manifesting itself...

Seriously, though, most moderates (who are more likely to support Bush than Trump or Carson) are politically apathetic, meaning they don't really care enough to vote in the primaries. The fundamentalists, however, are extremely politically active and will do whatever it takes to assure a Trump victory nationwide.

Stats to back this up?  If anything, the more involved parts of the GOP tend to gravitate towards the Chamber of Commerce side of the ideological spectrum.  Otherwise, how do people like Thad Cochran and Pat Roberts win GOP nominating contests?  Those who vote the most indiscriminately tend to be high-information voters, and high-information voters gravitate towards the political center.

Donald Trump looks good right now compared to Jeb Bush because the polls, as of this moment, are not controlling for the fact that very little of his support will be translated into actual votes unless he has some sort of top-secret, never-conceived-before GOTV plan. 

Thad Cochran (A) is solidly conservative by national standards, (B) was running in the most conservative state in the South, and (C) was elected with help from black Democrats who were eligible to cross over and vote in Mississippi's runoff.

Pat Roberts (A) is a conservative by national standards, and (B) was in trouble not because of ideology, but because he really doesn't have a home in Kansas anymore.

Jeb Bush (A) is solidly conservative by national standards