Jeb Bush’s campaign is taking a more aggressive and negative tone against Marco Rubio, his chief rival for the establishment mantle in the race for Republican presidential nomination. The next few polls before the next debate coming up the week before Thanksgiving is expected to critical as Bush is trailing Rubio in the majority of the surveys.
For months the Bush and Rubio campaigns have sparred behind the scenes or with veiled or soft criticisms of one another.
But with Wednesday’s debate highlighting Bush’s struggle and Rubio’s rise, the Bush campaign has begun to move beyond attacks on Rubio’s Senate voting record and relative inexperience into far more personal territory as it seeks to keep the up-and-comer at bay.
Bush’s attack against Rubio for abandoning his Senate work for the campaign trail backfired at Wednesday’s debate, as the junior senator came prepared to shut down Bush on the issue.
But it turns out, the Senate voting complaint was one of the Bush campaign’s milder attacks on Rubio.
Late Thursday, U.S. News & World Report obtained a PowerPoint file presented to Bush donors at a Houston get together on Monday. One slide dug up past controversies around Rubio and took some exceedingly personal digs.
According to The Hill reports the Bush campaign has begun to move beyond attacks on Rubio’s Senate voting record and relative inexperience into far more personal territory as it seeks to keep the up-and-comer at bay.
Bush’s attack against Rubio for abandoning his Senate work for the campaign trail backfired at Wednesday’s debate, as the junior senator came prepared to shut down Bush on the issue.
According to The Hill – A final bullet point reads, ominously: “Those who have looked into Marco’s background in the past have been concerned with what they have found.”
“Misuse of state part credit cards, taxpayer funds and ties to scandal-tarred former Congressman David Rivera takes away line of attack on Hillary Clinton,” says one bullet point. “Closeness with Norman Braman, who doubles as personal benefactor raises major ethical questions,” says another. Braman is a billionaire Florida auto-dealer and is one of Rubio’s most generous donors.
Look for the Bush team be far more aggressive on the junior senator from Florida.
