Jeb picking up Etch-A-Sketch tips from Mitt.
Jeb Bush is quickly carving out a space for himself as the frontrunner on mixed messaging—especially when it comes to pronouncements on destinations starting with the letter "I."
Not only did his answer on the Iraq invasion last week evolve from "I would have" done it, to "I would not have" done it, to "We need to re-engage," now he's doing the same on Iowa.
Last week, the campaign sent signals that Bush wouldn't play in Iowa, starting with him skipping its straw poll in August. On Saturday, he reinforced that perception, reports Eli Stokols.
When reporters asked Bush on Saturday about his reasons for skipping the Aug. 8 straw poll, he hinted at a broader strategy that doesn’t hinge on the Hawkeye State.
“It’s not relevant,” Bush said of the straw poll. “What’s relevant is running a campaign, creating a strategy, building a good team towards success, which is in the primaries, and doing it in a way that makes it possible to win the general, which is the whole point of this.”
But forget about all that, he spent the rest of the weekend making a desperate bid to convince Iowans that he was serious about competing in the Hawkeye State.
“I’m going to be here. I’m here right now!” Bush told reporters Saturday after appearing at a fundraiser in Iowa City for Sen. Chuck Grassley. “Why would I be here if I wasn’t going to compete in Iowa?”
From Dubuque to Iowa City to the state GOP’s Lincoln Dinner in Des Moines on Saturday night, Bush threw everything he had into the effort to convince Iowans that he doesn’t plan to blow off the state. His intensely private wife, Columba, and his son Jeb Jr., both accompanied him to Dubuque, where he held an hourlong town hall. He took 11 questions from the crowd there, and then a few dozen “selfies” with attendees before leaving. He met privately with several top donors, county chairs and elected officials — some of whom have been alarmed by Bush’s laissez-faire approach thus far to Iowa — prior to his speech at the Republican Party dinner; when it was over, he greeted a long receiving line of supporters in his hospitality suite.
Hey, more power to him. Jeb might give Mitt a run for his money as the ultimate Etch-A-Sketcher.