DES MOINES — Jeb Bush admitted Monday that after making a public vow to win over a New Hampshire voter who said he was leaning toward Donald Trump, Bush called that voter directly, but couldn’t reach him, and had to leave a message at the tone.
Bush engaged with the voter publicly during a town hall meeting last week. The voter asked Bush to tell him why he shouldn’t support Trump and should instead support the former Florida governor.
Bush replied that he was going to “get you to support me,” and said the man was on Bush’s list. But so far, Bush, said, the voter hasn’t called back.
“I called him up, couldn’t get him. Left a voicemail,” Bush conceded to MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.
“In a scale like New Hampshire, which is effectively a [Miami]-Dade County, it’s a small place. They have the chance to see everybody,” Bush told the hosts.
While Bush has struggled to compete with the GOP front-runners, he has finally broken back into double digits in the Granite State, with him sitting fourth with 10 percent support in the latest RealClearPolitics polling average. He currently lags behind Donald Trump, Sen. Marco Rubio and Sen. Ted Cruz.
