Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, coming off a poorly perceived debate performance last week and struggles in the polls, appeared in Tampa Monday morning to “reboot” his campaign. Bush will define this new campaign shakeup with a mantra that he wants to come to Washington to “fix it.”
“After seven years of incompetence, corruption and gridlock in Washington, we need a president who can fix it. I can fix it,” said Bush.
Since the two-term Republican first began exploring a presidential bid at the beginning of the year, the Bush campaign has seen five shakeups, resets, or shifts in course. The first came just before the campaign officially began in June, when Bush tapped Danny Diaz to run the forthcoming campaign operation over David Kochel, who was long expected to take on the top role. “Diaz’s promotion is a frank acknowledgment that Bush’s six-month ‘exploratory phase’ has not met expectations and that the former Florida governor needed a new consultant to take the reins ahead of his campaign kickoff in Miami on Monday,” wrote the Washington Post on June 8. Bush officially entered the race on June 15.
Just two months later, the campaign faced another change, this time financial. On August 24, the New York Times reported that Bush officials experienced cuts in pay and that staff were told to “tighten their belts” on spending. It was minor but significant shift for the campaign, which is being supported by a super PAC that had raised a large amount of money in that quarter. But the move may have presaged the third shakeup in the campaign, this time a few days later and concerning staff. On August 29, Politico reported that three of Bush’s fundraising consultants were leaving the campaign:
There are different versions of what transpired. The Florida-based fundraising consultants — Kris Money, Trey McCarley and Debbie Aleksander — have said that they voluntarily quit the campaign and were still working with Bush’s super PAC, Right to Rise Super PAC. Others said the three, who worked under the same contract, were let go because they were no longer needed for the current phase of the campaign.
And before this week’s reboot, Bush saw a fourth shakeup, this one in October. The campaign, Bloomberg reported, would be slashing staff and salaries significantly. “The campaign is removing some senior staff from the payroll, parting ways with some consultants, and downsizing its Miami headquarters to save more than $1 million per month and cut payroll by 40 percent this week, according to Bush campaign officials who requested anonymity to speak about internal changes,” wrote Bloomberg reporters Michael Bender and Mark Halperin. “Senior leadership positions remain unchanged.”
Now in November comes shakeup number five. This one is accompanied by a video emphasizing the former governor’s leadership skills that will play before appearances during Bush’s three-state tour this week:
