Jeb 2.0: ‘I’ll turn Washington upside down’

His Monday morning speech intends to show how the governor would fix the federal government, but his supporters appear more interested in knowing how he plans to improve his struggling presidential campaign.

Bush is expected to double down on touting his record as governor over his vision for the future.

“The challenges we face as a nation are too great to roll the dice on another presidential experiment; to trust the rhetoric of reform over a record of reform,” Bush will say, according to his campaign. “I went to Tallahassee as an agent of change. I turned the political culture of Tallahassee upside down. I’m putting the Beltway on notice. I’ll turn Washington upside down, too.”

Bush made across-the-board financial cuts and lost the chief operating officer of his campaign in recent weeks. He plans instead to go “lean and mean” with the early nominating contests approaching. But Bush does not blame his middling poll numbers for his campaign setbacks, and told NBC that his supporters may find his candidacy lacking because “they watch the cable shows and read the political press.”

The governor will criticize the recent CNBC debate and talk about how “the campaign trail is littered with candidates disguised as television critics.”

“If you watched the debate, you probably came away thinking this election is about sound bites or fantasy football or which candidate can interrupt the loudest,” Bush will say. “I’m here to tell you it’s not. This election is not about a set of personalities. It’s about a set of principles. It is about leadership.”

“I will not compromise my principles, I will not trade in an optimistic outlook to put on the cloak of an angry agitator, and I will not make anyone feel small so I can feel big. Americans are looking for a president, not a pundit; a leader, and not a protester.”

Following his performance at last week’s debate, Bush dropped to seventh in the Washington Examiner‘s GOP presidential power rankings.