Rubio campaign manager on Jeb Bush allies: You call that ‘joyful’?
Source: Wash post
Presidential candidate Jeb Bush (2nd L) speaks while Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Donald Trump, and Mike Huckabee (L) look on during the CNBC Republican Presidential Debate at University of Colorados Coors Events Center October 28, 2015 in Boulder, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
If there was any doubt that one of the storylines to watch in Tuesday night’s Republican presidential debate will be the intensifying battle between Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, it should be gone after a sequence of events that entangled the two campaigns Monday night.
After the New York Times reported that the pro-Bush super PAC Right to Rise USA has filmed an attack video claiming Rubio’s hard-line stance on abortion makes him unelectable and its top strategist has shown a willingness to unleash as much as $20 million worth of ads targeting the Florida senator, Rubio’s campaign tried to turn the group’s plans to its advantage by raising money off of them.
“And they’re bragging about that? How is that the kind of ‘joyful’ campaign that Jeb claimed he wanted to run?!?!” writes Rubio campaign manager Terry Sullivan in the e-mailed solicitation for campaign contributions. Sullivan’s reference is to Bush’s well-documented desire to campaign “joyfully.”
On Twitter, Rubio campaign aides sought to defend their candidate and pointed out that before the campaign, Bush was Rubio booster.
Who knew you could be attacked in a GOP primary for being pro-life https://t.co/eLxTURJRBc
— Joe Pounder (@PounderFile) November 10, 2015
False. Jeb supported Marco for Veep in 2012 and said he was ready to be POTUS. https://t.co/6zN8QG1CTL
— Todd Harris (@dtoddharris) November 10, 2015
The super PAC can’t coordinate its paid media strategy with Bush or his campaign. But by watching each other, each side can craft a strategy that complements the other one. While the Bush campaign has not released any ads attacking Rubio on TV, it’s already signaled some lines of attack it might try, should it choose to do so. At a donor summit last month, top Bush aides disparagingly labeled Rubio a “GOP Obama.”
A Rubio spokesman did not immediately respond to a question about how much money the campaign has raised off of the Times story. But the campaign did release this video Tuesday morning, featuring all the nice things Bush had to say about the Florida senator “before the phony attacks”:
