The former Florida governor is trailing badly in the polls (he’s at 5.5 percent nationally, putting him in fifth place), but he still has support where it counts: his mom. Barbara Bush, decked out with a triple pearl necklace that makes her look especially maternal, made the pitch for her son in an ad.
“Jeb has been a very good father,” the matriarch of the Bush clan assures us, although that’s not a trait required for the presidency. “A wonderful son. A hard worker; his heart is big.” Barbara Bush then throws in some subtextual shade directed at Donald Trump: “When push comes to shove people are going to realize Jeb has real solutions, rather than talking about how popular they are, how great they are. He’s doing it because he sees a huge need and it’s not being filled by anyone. Of all the people running, he seems to be the one who could solve the problems. I think he’ll be a great president.”
There have been many sad moments in Jeb Bush’s ill-fated campaign, but this is surely one of the most pathetic. Down on his luck, Bush is doing the equivalent of bringing his mother to a job interview to vouch for what a great guy he is. It’s a move unlikely to win over the voters in Iowa and New Hampshire.