UK Guardian: One good thing about Donald Trump's campaign: it's ruining Jeb Bush's [View all]
Watching from across the pond:
Brian Snyder / Reuters
There are many, many reasons to abhor Donald Trumps presidential campaign, but theres at least one reason to appreciate it, for now: his constant and merciless trolling of Jeb Bush that is currently tanking Bushs shot at the presidency. In some sense, Trump is doing democracy a service by helping ensure we will not have to suffer the embarrassment of having a third Bush family member as president within two decades.
Trumps penchant for insulting anyone in his path is now well-known (and often deplorable and sexist), though most candidates usually have to deliberately poke the bear for Trump to engage in his usual charade. But just about every day, Trump will go after Jeb unprompted whether on Twitter or at campaign events or in interviews with journalists with a voracity virtually never seen in primary politics. Oftentimes its substantive and other times its not, but its almost always delightful to watch.
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But its repetition of his now infamous and nebulous phrase that Bush is a low-energy guy who could not handle the rigors of the presidency that has become a daily occurrence and clearly gotten under Bushs skin.
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As one anonymous Trump associate told the Post, Trump is driven and he has two goals: one, to be elected president, and two, to have Jeb not be president. The former remains a terrifying prospect, but the latter is something a lot people can get behind.
While Trump remains strongly disliked by the vast majority of Americans who are not members of the Republican party, Jeb is often pitched as the moderate candidate who can appeal to a large swath of voters. Yet in substance, he is far more dangerous than Trump.
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Thankfully, Trump has exposed Bush, not only on substance but as someone who is just not a good politician. Jebs campaign knows it. His donors know it. And the voters certainly have been paying attention: Bushs poll numbers have dropped so low, its hard to believe even the most conventional wisdom-spewing political pundits can still call him the front runner with a straight face. Hes dropped to fifth or sixth and to single digits in almost all the recent polls in the early primary states. He seems flustered on the trail, and no one can point to a path by which he recovers from this, despite remaining the DC elites odds-on favorite.
As embarrassing and terrifying as a Trump presidency would be, the virtual anointing of a Bush family monarchy could be far worse, and so at least for now, I hope Trump keeps swinging away.
This is
exactly how I see it as well.
Keep it up, Mr. Trump.