POLITICS

A Once-Sunny Jeb Bush, Bristling in the Long Shadow of Donald Trump

By 
Jeb Bush, who has been an object of scorn by Donald J. Trump, during a town-hall-style meeting at a school in Miami on Tuesday. Joe Raedle/Getty Images 
WESTHAMPTON BEACH, N.Y. — When Jeb Bush stopped by the Hampton Synagogue here on Saturday, he was expected to offer a critique of the Iran deal and a short version of his stump speech to the Orthodox congregation.
But something else was on his mind: the insults hurled at him by Donald J. Trump.
“I’ll just give you a little taste of the ‘low energy’ candidate’s life this week,” Mr. Bush said, referring to the stinging taunt Mr. Trump has repeatedly used to describe him.
Mr. Bush then spent a minute and a half reeling off the cities he had visited since Monday — among them McAllen, Tex.; Salt Lake City; Denver; Pensacola, Fla.; Birmingham, Ala.; Greensboro, N.C. — and noted that, earlier in the week, he had risen at 6 a.m. to go running with former members of the Navy SEALs near the Virginia coast.
“The ‘low energy’ candidate this week has only been six days, 16 hours a day campaigning with joy in my heart,” he said.
But Mr. Bush does not seem to be radiating much joy these days.

Graphic: Who’s Winning the G.O.P. Campaign? 

He said last year that he would run for president only if he could do so with a sunny spirit, but Mr. Trump, the surprise leader in the polls, has turned this summer into a miserable one for Mr. Bush, gleefully ignoring the traditional rules of political engagement.
There is the personal ridicule — continually questioning Mr. Bush’s vigor, invoking a since-retracted statement by his mother, Barbara Bush, that “we’ve had enough Bushes” in the White House, and on Wednesday suggesting that Mr. Bush should stop speaking Spanish.
But the torment goes deeper than that. Emphasizing bluster over ideas, Mr. Trump has turned the campaign into a tabloid-style clash of personalities, heavy on provocation and insults. What little policy that has been discussed mostly revolves around Mr. Trump’s appeals to anxious white conservatives: stoking fears about immigrants, gang members and foreign countries that, in his telling, are eclipsing the United States.
It is a race, in other words, that embodies what Mr. Bush likes least about politics.
Mr. Bush is at his most animated discussing policy. And the only thing he may be more passionate about than issues is his conviction that the Republicans must become an inclusive, big-hearted party that appeals to people’s hopes rather than their resentments.
“It’s got to be difficult,” said John McKager Stipanovich, a veteran Florida lobbyist who has known Mr. Bush for more than 30 years. “Donald Trump epitomizes everything that Jeb has spent his political career trying to prevent the Republican Party from becoming.”
Mr. Bush and his aides insist that they are not bothered by Mr. Trump and how he has upended the race. But moments of irritation keep spilling out in public.
“Just to state the obvious. Can’t wait for this summer reality TV show to be over,” Mr. Bush’s son Jeb Jr. said on Twitter on Tuesday, alongside a link to a new video his father released attacking Mr. Trump.
That same day, his father, after a campaign event in Miami, seemed irked when reporters asked him about Mr. Trump.
“He attacks me every day with nonsense, with things that aren’t true,” Mr. Bush said in Spanish, before saying much the same in English: “He tries to personalize everything. If you are not totally in agreement with him, you’re an idiot, or stupid, or you have no energy, or blah, blah, blah. That’s what he does.”
When a reporter proposed asking “a non-Trump question, if you don’t mind,” Mr. Bush replied, “I’d love it.”
More than annoyance is at stake. Mr. Bush’s advisers say they believe that the relentless mockery by Mr. Trump is contributing to their candidate’s slide in the polls. In a new Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll, more Iowa Republicans view Mr. Bush unfavorably than favorably. Mr. Bush has also slipped in some national surveys, falling into single digits and well back in the Republican pack.

First Draft Newsletter

Subscribe for updates on the 2016 presidential race, the White House and Congress, delivered to your inbox Monday - Friday.
The campaign does not want donors and up-for-grab Republican voters to see Mr. Bush as meekly absorbing Mr. Trump’s blows, so Mr. Bush, a former Florida governor, has begun to criticize Mr. Trump aggressively on the campaign trail. This week, he released a video highlighting the developer’s previous liberal views.
Still, seemingly powerless to pull Mr. Trump down, Mr. Bush and his advisers are expressing anger over what they see as the news media’s enabling of Mr. Trump by not scrutinizing his far-fetched plans, such as making Mexico pay for a wall along the United States’ southern border.
“Look, this guy’s the front-runner,” Mr. Bush said last week at a town-hall-style meeting in Norfolk, Va. “He should be treated like a front-runner, not like some kind of alternative universe to the political system.”
At a private fund-raiser the night before in Richmond, Va., Mr. Bush was even more direct when asked by a contributor what he would do about Mr. Trump. Mr. Bush said with a touch of wonder that Mr. Trump’s rise reminded him of reality TV, adding that he was the only candidate taking him on and that he hoped the news media would begin aggressively vetting Mr. Trump, according to an attendee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk candidly about a private event.
Mr. Bush’s aides have recently asked reporters why they will not say outright that Mr. Trump’s ideas on, to name two issues, mass deportations and trade tariffs, are fantasy.
“Our country faces serious challenges — we need a serious candidate who has real solutions,” said Sally Bradshaw, Mr. Bush’s strategist and closest adviser.
Mr. Bush’s backers note that the campaign has yet to broadcast any TV ads and that their candidate’s standing in the polls is likely to look different after they highlight Mr. Bush’s conservative record as Florida governor on the air.
As Mr. Bush himself said Tuesday, “The election is not tomorrow.”
Of course, Mr. Trump’s strength could ultimately be a political gift to Mr. Bush. If the real estate mogul remains atop the polls heading into next year and denies attention to other hard-line candidates, Republicans could flock to support Mr. Bush, the safe, well-credentialed and well-funded son and brother of presidents, to stop Mr. Trump.
But any long-term optimism is tempered by recognition that the race has become a grind, and that Mr. Trump has for now made the campaign about himself, his appeal and how far he can go.
“He has faith over time in the people and the power of his ideas,” said Mike Murphy, Mr. Bush’s longtime adviser and the head of his “super PAC.” “But he has to exist for a while in a world where every news clip is horse-race” reporting.
On Saturday, after remaining with the congregation for a singing of the hymn “Adon Olam,” set to the tune of “God Bless America,” Mr. Bush walked out of the synagogue toward his waiting sport utility vehicle. He was asked by a reporter if he was frustrated with Mr. Trump. Mr. Bush shot back, “I don’t think I mentioned his name.”
But he did not leave it there. After climbing into the passenger seat and closing the door, Mr. Bush lowered the window and, as the vehicle edged out of the parking lot, three more times demanded: “Did I mention his name?”