Trump has pinpointed Jeb!'s biggest weakness

[ttt]

www.vox.com/2015/10/18/9564267/donald-trump-jeb-bush-911


I don't know if Donald Trump will win the Republican nomination. But even if he doesn't, it's increasingly clear he's going to destroy Jeb Bush before he loses.

Over the past week, Trump and Bush have been in an argument that basically boils down to the question of was George W. Bush president on 9/11/2001?

Trump insists that Bush was president both prior to and during the 9/11 attacks, and he was therefore at least partly responsible for the security failures that permitted the tragedy. And to Trump's credit, there is considerable evidence that George W. Bush was president on 9/11/2001.

Jeb Bush's position is harder to parse: he argues that his brother was only responsible for what happened after 9/11, suggesting, perhaps, that someone else bore the responsibilities of the presidency on 9/11/2001. Or, to be a bit kinder to his position, he argues that the measure of as president isn't whether something like 9/11 happens, but whether it happens again.

The result is this absolutely brutal interview CNN's Jake Tapper conducted with Bush. "If your brother and his administration bear no responsibility at all," Tapper asks, "how do you then make the jump that President Obama and Secretary Clinton are responsible for what happened at Benghazi?"

Bush's response is almost physically painful to watch. (it's at about the 2:10 mark that this comes up...it is really painful)



Trump has a bully's instinct for finding someone else's true weaknesses. His continued crack that Bush is a "low-energy" candidate is devastating precisely because it identifies a weakness not just in Bush's campaign style, but in the nature of his campaign.

Now Trump has pulled Bush into an even more dangerous quagmire: his brother's presidency. Trump is reminding every Republican voter that nominating Jeb Bush will mean running a general election campaign with two disadvantages. First, Republicans will have to answer for George W. Bush's failures in a way they wouldn't if they nominated Marco Rubio or Carly Fiorina or Donald Trump, and second, they'll need to somehow explain why they're holding Hillary Clinton responsible for Obama's presidency even as they don't hold George W. Bush responsible for George W. Bush's presidency.

And Trump, having realized how weak Bush is on this issue, isn't stopping. He's moved from 9/11 to the Iraq War:

[jeaniebueller]

And this is really where the establishment candidates show their differences from the "outsiders."

[omgzombies]

I thought it was the exclamation point.

[heyjude]

It should be Jeb:(

[IIOY]

Trump's 9/11 argument with Jeb has put me in the awkward position of pumping my fist for The Donald for days now. I have always been irritated to hell and back by the Orwellian "he kept us safe" talking point.

[aurora]

It bothers me that he is attacking via Twitter. For some reason this feels even less professional that TV ad attacks.

[pixy0stix]

Mission accomplished.

[aurora]

And to Trump's credit, there is considerable evidence that George W. Bush was president on 9/11/2001.

LOL

[ESF]

I saw this interview yesterday, and I was cringing. Jeb looked so pathetic. I actually felt sorry for him in a way. He is so far in over his head. He needs to get out and stop humiliating himself.

Trump is right on one thing: Jeb is a loser.

[ESF]

And Rubio better be careful what he wishes for. If Jeb leaves the race, Trump will need a new punching bag.

[sporky]

I have never understood why Jeb! hasn't spent the years leading up to this campaign coming up with solid answers to the questions he had to know people would ask regarding his brother's presidency. Of all the questions a candidate could be asked, he had to know that those questions would be coming to him. I think it speaks volumes that he has consistently seemed underprepared in providing answers to these types of questions.

[ttt]

Oct 19, 2015 9:19:34 GMT -5 ESF said:

I saw this interview yesterday, and I was cringing. Jeb looked so pathetic. I actually felt sorry for him in a way. He is so far in over his head. He needs to get out and stop humiliating himself.

Trump is right on one thing: Jeb is a loser.

I have this inexplicable soft spot for him because he looks so much like my dad. I want to be like, come on, just go out and play golf and enjoy your tons of money. Don't do this to yourself. It's so embarrassing. 

[eclaires]

I am telling you - for years we have been told that W stole Jeb's position as the heir apparent, and I think this is a load of bullshit. Jeb! is clearly as derpy or derpier than W. I think maybe derpier. He's like a fossil. More of a fossil than Romney (who at times seemed a little stuck in the past when it came to campaigning compared to Obama).

Also, WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE PRESIDENT JEB!? Go do something else, ffs... you've been out of politics for awhile. Move on. Realize that your brother stole your dream or was surprisingly the better option after years of you being groomed to be THE ONE.

Slightly related, but I think this is something HRC learned from 2008 and it shows. She has been able to change with the election times. Jeb! is striking me as someone from circa 2003 (if I'm being generous).

[miniroller]

Like x 10 eclaires & ttt. I think a lot of us (liberals, not like we're actually going to vote for him) were waiting on the intelligent background-er to step forward & take center stage. Meanwhile, he continues to prove why he's been in the background, & people are realizing, perhaps, that is where he should stay

[summer]

I feel like Jeb! doesn't really want it

[heyjude]

Unless evidence to the contrary, I always thought it was lame to blame Bush for 9/11. This usually comes from the "truthers" on the left though. Not the Rs. So is Trump that rare person who is a birther and a truther?

But I totally agree that you can't intellectually accept the idea that HRC is responsible for Benghazi, w/out evidence to the contrary, and simultaneously accept that Bush was not responsible for 9/11. You have to pick one or the other Jeb:(

[downtoearth]

Oct 19, 2015 10:32:41 GMT -5 eclaires said:

I am telling you - for years we have been told that W stole Jeb's position as the heir apparent, and I think this is a load of bullshit. Jeb! is clearly as derpy or derpier than W. I think maybe derpier. He's like a fossil. More of a fossil than Romney (who at times seemed a little stuck in the past when it came to campaigning compared to Obama).

Also, WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE PRESIDENT JEB!? Go do something else, ffs... you've been out of politics for awhile. Move on. Realize that your brother stole your dream or was surprisingly the better option after years of you being groomed to be THE ONE.

Slightly related, but I think this is something HRC learned from 2008 and it shows. She has been able to change with the election times. Jeb! is striking me as someone from circa 2003 (if I'm being generous).

This - I agree with this.

I too don't feel like Jeb has surrounded himself with future-looking advisors/team members and he is out of touch with how to respond to these attacks.

He should be all - "I'm not my brother, I would likely have done something different." But he can't because I bet he hired all his brother's advisors to help and they are all defensive about 9/11 and attacking Iraq also.

[shauni27]

Oct 19, 2015 9:15:03 GMT -5 aurora said:

And to Trump's credit, there is considerable evidence that George W. Bush was president on 9/11/2001.

LOL

I was dying when I read that.

[meshaliuknits]

Oct 19, 2015 9:15:03 GMT -5 aurora said:

And to Trump's credit, there is considerable evidence that George W. Bush was president on 9/11/2001.

LOL

This was the BEST. Imma be LOLing that for days.

[josieposy]

Oct 19, 2015 9:14:33 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Mission accomplished.

They should put that on a banner and display it on a....

Wait...

[meshaliuknits]

Oct 19, 2015 10:32:41 GMT -5 eclaires said:

I am telling you - for years we have been told that W stole Jeb's position as the heir apparent, and I think this is a load of bullshit. Jeb! is clearly as derpy or derpier than W. I think maybe derpier. He's like a fossil. More of a fossil than Romney (who at times seemed a little stuck in the past when it came to campaigning compared to Obama).

And now I will be alternating those LOLs with this.

[StrawberryBlondie]

Oct 19, 2015 10:46:57 GMT -5 summer said:

I feel like Jeb! doesn't really want it

ITA. I feel like maybe he did, and then when he got campaigning was like "oh, wait."

[ESF]

Oct 19, 2015 10:32:41 GMT -5 eclaires said:

I am telling you - for years we have been told that W stole Jeb's position as the heir apparent, and I think this is a load of bullshit. Jeb! is clearly as derpy or derpier than W. I think maybe derpier. He's like a fossil. More of a fossil than Romney (who at times seemed a little stuck in the past when it came to campaigning compared to Obama).

Also, WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE PRESIDENT JEB!? Go do something else, ffs... you've been out of politics for awhile. Move on. Realize that your brother stole your dream or was surprisingly the better option after years of you being groomed to be THE ONE.

Slightly related, but I think this is something HRC learned from 2008 and it shows. She has been able to change with the election times. Jeb! is striking me as someone from circa 2003 (if I'm being generous).

To be fair, I think if W had been in a race like this, he would have gotten eaten alive.  Can you imagine all the moronic things W probably said that just were not captured because he did not have an audience recording and tweeting his every move?  2000 was a totally different time.  By 2004, we had 24-hour news cycle, but his handlers had him locked down by that point. And even then, a non-stop CNN is no match for non-stop CNN plus youtube plus twitter plus Buzzfeed plus 90000 other outlets.

I definitely agree that Jeb! is derpier, but I can buy the story that he was the smarter of the two.

I think one of the reasons Jeb! looks like Jeb:( is not that he's the dumb one, but because he has this whole, "but why don't you love me? I'm the smart one!" kind of entitlement to him.  It's just so, so sad.

[eclaires]

Oct 19, 2015 13:03:25 GMT -5 ESF said:

Oct 19, 2015 10:32:41 GMT -5 eclaires said:

I am telling you - for years we have been told that W stole Jeb's position as the heir apparent, and I think this is a load of bullshit. Jeb! is clearly as derpy or derpier than W. I think maybe derpier. He's like a fossil. More of a fossil than Romney (who at times seemed a little stuck in the past when it came to campaigning compared to Obama).

Also, WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE PRESIDENT JEB!? Go do something else, ffs... you've been out of politics for awhile. Move on. Realize that your brother stole your dream or was surprisingly the better option after years of you being groomed to be THE ONE.

Slightly related, but I think this is something HRC learned from 2008 and it shows. She has been able to change with the election times. Jeb! is striking me as someone from circa 2003 (if I'm being generous).

To be fair, I think if W had been in a race like this, he would have gotten eaten alive.  Can you imagine all the moronic things W probably said that just were not captured because he did not have an audience recording and tweeting his every move?  2000 was a totally different time.  By 2004, we had 24-hour news cycle, but his handlers had him locked down by that point. And even then, a non-stop CNN is no match for non-stop CNN plus youtube plus twitter plus Buzzfeed plus 90000 other outlets.

I definitely agree that Jeb! is derpier, but I can buy the story that he was the smarter of the two.

I think one of the reasons Jeb! looks like Jeb:( is not that he's the dumb one, but because he has this whole, "but why don't you love me? I'm the smart one!" kind of entitlement to him.  It's just so, so sad.

This is true.  I get the vibe Jeb! is basically running W 2.0, but thinks he's smarter/better so he's all sad wah wah wah why don't you like me and doesn't understand that it's no longer 2000.

[taratru]

All of this is so painful. What I hate most is that this: Trump has a bully's instinct for finding someone else's true weaknesses. is so true.  He is a bully, everything he does is to coerce and force others into action, he avoids constructive dialogue, he's already indicated he would essentially bully his way into the foreign relations world...this kind of behavior embarrasses and frightens me when I think about it on a national (and then global scale). 

[msmerymac]

Oct 19, 2015 9:01:25 GMT -5 IIOY said:

Trump's 9/11 argument with Jeb has put me in the awkward position of pumping my fist for The Donald for days now. I have always been irritated to hell and back by the Orwellian "he kept us safe" talking point.

There are many things the Donald says that make sense in a vacuum. Or a soundbite, I guess I should say. "Oh yeah, that makes sense." "Oh hey, this guy sounds like he knows what he's talking about." Pity I'm not less intelligent, or else he could be vying for my vote. Which is a scary thought.

[heyjude]

Oct 19, 2015 8:37:36 GMT -5 heyjude said:

It should be Jeb:(

Or maybe: Jeb?