Jeb Bush started campaigning for the GOP ticket in 2016 with tremendous political capital only to drop out of the race in the first round of a brutal 12 round political slug-fest and $130 million later. He retired whimpering. His corner mercifully hurling the towel into the center of the ring, while their sullen fighter bloodied, mumbled his thanks to the fight crowd
... shaking my head, what a way to expend the political capital of a dynasty
Here is the financial anatomy of running for the Republican Presidential nomination With Nothing to Show for It
When Jeb Bush formally entered the presidential campaign in June, there was already more money behind him than every other Republican candidate combined. When he suspended his campaign
on Saturday night in South Carolina, Mr. Bush had burned through the
vast majority of that cash without winning a single state. It may go
down as one of the least successful campaign spending binges in history.
Here is Mr. Bush’s story, as told by his ledger:
Positive Advertising: $84 Million
When
Mr. Bush finally did get in the race, he needed to reintroduce himself
to the Republican electorate. After all, it had been eight years since
the end of his final term as Florida’s governor, and he had spent the
intervening period as a philanthropist, consultant and investment
banker. His campaign and a “super PAC” supporting him spent heavily on sunny advertising spots in the hopes of announcing Mr. Bush to the post-Tea Party Republican Party as a credentialed conservative.
Clubbing: $94,100
Instead
of spending last winter on the hustings of Iowa and New Hampshire, Mr.
Bush held off, using the first half of 2015 to raise money in places
like New York, Chicago, Texas and Florida. His goal: Raise enough money
for a super PAC
to scare other candidates — especially those with a similar political
profile — out of the race. Over the entire campaign, Mr. Bush’s team
racked up tens of thousands of dollars in dinner and event tabs at the
Yale Club, the Union League Club of Chicago, Nantucket’s Westmoor Club,
and more than two dozen other haunts of the well heeled and
racquetball-inclined.
... The bowing out
Photo: AP
Photo/Matt Rourke
Republican presidential candidate, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush speaks
at his South Carolina Republican presidential primary rally in Columbia,
S.C., Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. Bush ended his campaign for the
presidency Saturday after a disappointing finish in South Carolina.
Valets: $15,800
Donors’
cars don’t park themselves. With an aggressive fund-raising schedule
and several major donor gatherings, Mr. Bush and the super PAC, Right to
Rise, incurred a proportional parking tab.
People: $8.3 Million
As
Mr. Bush’s campaign matured, he and the group supporting him built one
of the largest organizations of any candidate in either party, banking
that his superior fund-raising would sustain his high overhead costs,
which in turn would yield him wins or near-wins in states like Iowa and
New Hampshire, where organizing is critical. But Mr. Bush’s message —
experience, civility and technocratic competence — did little to win
over voters mesmerized by the billionaire provocateur Donald J. Trump, who outshone his rivals with a bare-bones organization and millions in free media exposure.
Branding: $88,387
Right to Rise, the super PAC supporting Mr. Bush, and then his campaign directly, retained 30 Point Strategies,
a public relations company in Bethesda, Md., specializing in “thought
leadership” and “brand journalism,” according to the firm’s website. But
in the end, the most lasting label of Mr. Bush was supplied by Mr.
Trump: “low energy.”
Vegas, Baby: $48,544
Mr.
Bush and his staff racked up sizable travel bills, including $3.3
million in airfare and hundreds of thousands of dollars at hotels,
ranging from a Best Western in Phoenix to the Biltmore in Coral Gables,
Fla. But what stands out is the Bush team’s taste for the Vegas Strip,
where aides and allies patronized the Bellagio, the Wynn and the
Venetian, owned by Sheldon Adelson, the Republican megadonor.
The Consultants: $10 Million
A
well-funded candidate tends to attract hordes of consultants, and Mr.
Bush had plenty. All told, his team paid consulting fees to around 140
different companies or individuals, including senior campaign staff
members, opposition research firms, and get-out-the-vote operatives in
Iowa and South Carolina.
Pizza: $4,837
As
his fortunes declined this winter, Mr. Bush sharply pared back
employees’ salaries and consulting fees, even laying off some campaign
staff members to bring down costs. But let it never be said that Mr.
Bush allowed his team to go hungry. His campaign and super PAC were
particularly fond of the pizza, whether from Domino’s or from Pizza
Ranch, the Iowa chain.
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