Jeb Bush appeared on Meet The Press to speak with Chuck Todd about his low poll numbers, what some (including Todd) called a less-than-victorious debate performance and the candidate's plans for the future of his campaign. The former governor seemed to have difficulty answering questions regarding a leaked memo that detailed candidate Marco Rubio's perceived weaknesses. Although, to be fair, Todd didn't give him much chance to answer in between interruptions.
The interview focused largely on Bush's passion for the Presidency, affinity for his family, feelings that the Republican base have voiced about his candidacy and his opinions on other candidates. Bush, long seen as somewhat detailed in strategies and policies, often tried to bring the conversation back to his record on Florida or his moderate political positions.
According to NBC News, when asked why he thought some voters seemed to see him as "missing fire," Bush responded, "Probably because they watch the cable shows and they read the political press. But if they followed me on the campaign trail, like last week in New Hampshire where we had 300 people totally connected, totally believing in me, I think they would see a different candidate."
However, the most surprising bit of the interview came in a question regarding opposition research conducted by the Bush team regarding Senator Marco Rubio. According to the Washington Post, a 112-page memo by the Bush campaign went into lengthy detail about why it believes Marco Rubio would not fare well in the general election. This was the point in the interview when the situation seemed to get a bit combative on one side and dodgy on the other.
Todd asked Bush, "Your campaign, there was a leaked memo, 112-page memo, and there was a big chunk about why Marco Rubio wouldn't be a good nominee. And you went through sort of all of the opposition research on that. That's not a hopeful campaign tactic." Bush, looking taken-aback and somewhat confused, replied, "I didn't see it. I'm focused on a hopeful--" to which Todd interjected, "It's your campaign."
The transcript proceeded as follows:
JEB BUSH: I didn't see it. I didn't see it. I don't know--
CHUCK TODD: You don't know this memo? You don't know this PowerPoint?
JEB BUSH: No. Well, I read about it when it was leaked for sure. I didn't know about the PowerPoint. It wasn't presented--
CHUCK TODD: Is this something--
JEB BUSH: --to me.
CHUCK TODD: --you want your campaign involved with?
JEB BUSH: I want them to focus on winning New Hampshire, winning South Carolina, winning Iowa, winning Nevada. That's our first mission.
What do you think? Did Bush flub the questions or did Todd get too aggressive? Perhaps the answer is both?
