Megyn Kelly’s question, “Are you too extreme?” gave Walker the opportunity to reveal a more nuanced, thoughtful, compassionate side. Such a self-revelation might have inspired party leaders to think, “Here’s our best back-up plan if Jeb Bush fizzles.” They now have to worry whether Walker might actually be a less-articulate and self-disciplined version of Ted Cruz.
.. Extremely disquieting: Doesn’t a Jeb Bush nomination inevitably reframe the 2016 election as a referendum on George W. Bush’s legacy, Iraq and all? (I should mention: I worked as a speechwriter in the administration of Jeb Bush’s brother; my wife has donated to Walker’s SuperPAC.)
Jeb Bush’s Camp Sees an Upside to Donald Trump’s Surge in the G.O.P.
Privately, Mr. Bush’s top strategists, who have become increasingly fixated on halting Mr. Walker, believe that Mr. Trump is nothing short of a godsend. That is because Mr. Trump is drawing support from voters — blue-collar, less-educated, more conservative — who are unlikely ever to support Mr. Bush but are essential to Mr. Walker’s candidacy.
.. But it is unclear what exactly can be done to tarnish Mr. Trump with voters who are drawn to him. His incendiary comments and his personal history have done little to diminish his appeal.
Jeb Bush Works to Recover From a Shaky Start
Mr. Bush’s new campaign manager, Danny Diaz, is widely known in Republican circles as a hard-edge operative who is driven by trying to dominate daily news coverage with his candidate’s message or his rivals’ weaknesses. (The previous manager, David Kochel, is known as more cerebral.)
Mr. Diaz, who seared John Kerry in 2004 and Mitt Romney in 2007 with charges of flip-flopping on issues, and other Bush aides are determined to develop new lines of attack against Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, the two Republicans who represent the greatest threats to Mr. Bush’s nomination, according to his advisers and allies.
.. By hiring Mr. Diaz, Mr. Bush wanted to send a clear signal that “the culture of the Bush operation will now be a Pickett’s Charge engagement campaign with his main opponents,” according to one Bush ally.
.. But it was worth doing, they argued, because so few voters are closely following the race and because Mr. Bush’s team is expected to announce a huge fund-raising sum in July that will far outstrip his rivals and, they hope, give him momentum. This money is intended partly to give him a big advantage on the airwaves in the weeks before and during the burst of primaries and caucuses in March.
.. By standing his ground — rather than opening himself up to the flip-flopping charges that his aides intend to aim at Mr. Walker
.. Florida is critical to Mr. Bush for another reason: He believes that whoever loses the shared home state primary — he or Mr. Rubio — is not likely to recover.
Iraq War Haunts Potential Bush Candidacy, as It Did Clinton in 2008
In his opening months as an all-but-declared candidate, Mr. Bush has seemed unsurprised, if irritated, by questions about how he is different from the previous presidents named Bush. He has explained that he loves his father and brother, but recognizes that he will have to make his own case to win the nomination. (Unmentioned is that much of his strength as a candidate owes to the fundraising network he largely inherited from his family.)
.. Mr. Paul may overstate the extent of Mr. Bush’s legacy problems with Republicans — a New York Times-CBS poll this month showed 7 in 10 Republicans viewed George W. Bush favorably.
.. A group of Republican senators meeting this week on Capitol Hill were nearly incredulous that Mr. Bush did not have a better answer and joked about how many press aides he needed to respond to such a basic matter, according to a party strategist who heard the conversation.
.. Mr. Bush’s overarching problem “is this eternal relitigation of every decision of George W. Bush,” she added.
“As much as he’s saying ‘I’m my own man,’ every time he says that, we’re reminded he’s not.”