Last week, Iowa conducted the first primaries of the 2016 presidential race, with Ted Cruz securing the lead with 27.6% of the vote. It looks like the $28 million he has spent on his campaign so far is paying off.
Jeb Bush has spent $24 million on his campaign, but with unsuccessful results. The Florida Governor was only able to secure 2.8% of the vote in Iowa, thus coming in 6th for the Republicans.
If Jeb has spent a comparable amount of money to Cruz, then why hasn't he been nearly as successful?
Some argue that Jeb's money is not being well spent. 11 of his 16 major donors expressed concern over money being spent on luxury hotels and excessively extravagant fundraisers and events.
Right to Rise, the Super PAC supporting Jeb's campaign, has spent together with Jeb $82 million on advertising. "'There is no return on investment on the Bush ad buys, zero,'” said one high-dollar donor who asked not to be named, pointing to how the ads have done little, at least so far, to lift Bush in the polls or dent his opponents."
So this would explain why Jeb has spent so much money. But why hasn't spending been successful? What is it about Jeb Bush that people aren't connecting to?
Well, there's the obvious association of his family name with the invasion of Iraq and the overwhelming national debt. Plenty of people cringe at the thought of another Bush in the White House.
Perhaps Jeb's introverted demeanor and moderate stances give off an impression of weakness to the public. His shyness definitely doesn't advantage him during speeches and debates. He got trampled on by Trump during the Las Vegas Republican debate on December 15th.
Furthermore, he is struggling to form a connection with voters. David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, commented, "If he's not exciting them with speeches and rhetoric the way Barack Obama did, he's got to do that personally and spend time with caucus-goers and primary voters and really work to overcome some of the problems he has as a result of being the third Bush to run."
It seems that Jeb's campaign managers have recognized this flaw and are attempting to compensate, which would explain punctuation in the campaign's spunky logo.
I would argue that the biggest reason for Jeb's lack of support is his identification as a moderate conservative. The figures with the biggest followings, such as Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, hold more extreme stances and call for major change in the political system. The public's strong opinions on policy change, equality, and fairness signify a progressive movement that simply doesn't align with Jeb's platform, which contains some questionable views.
Jeb has declared his belief that abortions should only be performed in emergency circumstances and does not plan to fund abortion clinics, which is a detrimental view during a time of prominent feminism in this country.
On the topic of global warming, Jeb has commented, "It is not unanimous among scientists that it is disproportionately manmade. What I get a little tired of on the left is this idea that somehow science has decided all this so you can't have a view." This is an opinion that many would describe as outdated and backward.
Jeb has also been vocal about his support for traditional marriage over same-sex marriage, which, again, is problematic in today's progressive society- especially since the Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage back in June.
Despite all of this, I wouldn't count Jeb Bush out of the race quite yet. A recent poll found that Jeb Bush received 14% of the pre-primary Republican vote for New Hampshire, whose primary will take place on Tuesday, February 9th. His standing is second place, with Trump in the lead. New Hampshire's primaries historically have been able to make or break a presidential candidate, so this could be Jeb's chance to make a huge comeback.
Considering where he is right now, anything would be an improvement.
