ORLANDO, Fla. — Jeb Bush’s efforts to breathe new life into his stagnant presidential campaign are getting lost among first-time Florida voters who are beguiled by his former mentee, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
“I honestly have never even heard of that,” Serena Fernandez told the Washington Examiner Friday when asked about Bush’s “Jeb Can Fix It” campaign reboot. The former Florida governor debuted the slogan in his home state earlier this month while kicking off a new phase of his floundering campaign.
“Me neither,” said Melany Hernandez.
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Both girls attend Florida Gulf Coast University and were among the many young voters present at the Florida GOP’s 2015 Sunshine Summit.
“I think he’s trying too hard,” added Sean Casey, another FGCU student.
“He’s got the money and he’s got the influence, but he’s losing,” Casey noted. “This whole “Jeb Can Fix It” thing sounds like one final stop before he gets out or not.”
Unlike Bush, Hernandez claims Rubio, who’s nearly two decades younger than the former governor, doesn’t have to worry about the state of his campaign because his appeal stretches across generational lines.
“I think he has a younger perspective. He’s for our generation and it’s good to have someone new with a fresh face, a young face, who’s working for the future not just settling for what’s going on right now,” she said.
High school senior Carolina Downey, who heard of Bush’s campaign relaunch, said she’s unlikely to pay much attention to it since she’s already committed to backing the other Floridian running for president.
“I think [Rubio’s] slogan, ‘A New American Century,’ embraces the fact that so many people today want to adhere to old principles that have worked, but also want to move forward with the changing times,” Downey said.
“He’s just really showing that he can do that,” she added.
Narrelle Gilchrist, a home-schooled high schooler who’s eager to vote in her first presidential election next November, said Bush “is not as articulate or as good as a campaigner as Rubio.”
“Maybe that’s not what we should be judging a president off of,” she added. “But that’s what’s happening.”
Max Ragno, a freshman at Tallahassee Community College who currently backs Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for president, said the title of Bush’s relaunch provided a good laugh, at the very least.
“It’s like a Jimmy Savile reference, it’s not a clever thing,” Ragno said, referring to the late British television personality whose death was followed by accusations of child sex abuse.
“I think Bush can make a comeback, but that quote “Jeb Can Fix It” makes you think of ‘Jim’ll Fix It’ and Jimmy Savile is not a person you want to be associated with,” he said.
Another gaggle of high school seniors noticed the #JebCanFixIt hashtag on social media, but didn’t pay much attention to the governor’s campaign in the days that followed.
“It was clearly an attempt to revive his campaign after his poll numbers have fallen, but I don’t think he’s been exciting people as much as he anticipated,” Alexandria Artiles, a member of the Florida Federation of Young Republicans, told the Examiner.
Bush fell to seventh in the Washington Examiner’s presidential power rankings following the fourth GOP debate Tuesday. He took the stage at the Sunshine Summit just hours after Rubio on Friday.
