Sunday, February 21, 2016

Jeb's Maginot Line

Jeb Bush is out of the race.
Unleash the flood of stories telling us why.
Politico has its piece on the blame game.
Let's go to the playbook.
On page after page kept safe in a binder, the playbook laid out a strategy for a race his advisers were certain would be played on Bush’s terms—an updated, if familiar version of previous Bush family campaigns where cash, organization and a Republican electorate ultimately committed to an electable center-right candidate would prevail.
Except the playbook had nothing to say about Trump.
Those pivotal days in late August were one of the most critical inflection points for Bush’s troubled presidential campaign—the moments when Bradshaw, Kochel and Diaz might have reconsidered the assumptions made months earlier and redirected their candidate. They didn’t, because that redirection wasn’t part of the playbook.
“You cannot run a political campaign and not have the ability to adapt, to pivot,” one longtime Bush donor who has supported all five of the family’s presidential campaigns. “To sit there and say, ‘We have a book,’ just shows the immaturity."
In 1940, the French had a plan for defending against Germany.
They weren't ready for the reality of Germany's plan.
Jeb's team wasn't ready for the reality of 2016.

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