Jeb Bush Fundraisers Leave Presidential Campaign
Jeb Bush's presidential campaign this week lost three of its top fundraisers, and Politico said the split was due to both "personality conflicts" and concerns about the strength of the former Florida governor's White House bid.
Kris Money, Trey McCarley and Debbie Aleksander -- all three fundraising consultants based in the Sunshine State -- said that they had voluntarily left the campaign but continued to support the nominally independent political action committee supporting Bush, called the "Right to Rise Super PAC."
But unidentified sources told the Washington publication that the trio was let go because the advisers were no longer needed. Campaign spokesman Tim Miller, meanwhile, limited his comments to insisting that Bush has the widest and deepest fundraising operation of any candidate in the field."
Ann Herberger, whom Miller called "a longtime aide with more than two decades of experience," would continue to head the Florida fundraising efforts for the son of former President George H.W. Bush and brother of former President George W. Bush, Politico noted.
The departure of the top fundraisers comes at an awkward time because it "sends a signal to supporters both that the campaign is in trouble and that the candidate understands that," Vox commented. The move also suggests "much bigger problems in the campaign," the publication argued.
In the meantime, Bush -- long expected to eventually emerge as one of the favorites for the GOP's 2016 White House nomination -- has upped the ante on Donald Trump, the unlikely Republican front-runner, Reuters noted. In a new campaign ad, the former governor ridiculed the real-estate tycoon as a "germophobe" and Democrat-in-disguise, and even harsher attacks may be in the works.
"The Apprentice" star had referred to Bush as a "low-energy" candidate, a description that apparently angered the Floridian, the newswire remarked. "(Trump) tries to personalize everything," Bush said about his rival. "If you're not totally in agreement with him, you're an idiot, or stupid, or don't have energy, or blah blah blah," he added at a Tuesday event in Miami.
In a Fox News interview, Bush further insisted that "Trump is more a Democrat than a Republican," according to the Chicago Tribune.
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