In Restart, This Is Who Jeb Bush Blames for His Campaign Fail

The Jeb Bush who snarked at Marco Rubio in last week’s Boulder debate and the Jeb Bush who attempted to restart his campaign with a new attitude in Tampa Monday were two different men. One jabbed at a friend-turned-rival — “What is it, like, a French work week?” — while the other pledged a higher road: “I will be true to myself — optimistic and inclusive.”

In Tampa, seeking to re-boot a deeply troubled campaign, Bush pledged to be himself. “I can’t be something I’m not,” Bush told the crowd, saying it was a lesson he had learned during his years as Florida’s governor.

Bush went on to suggest that he has been over-coached and over-advised in recent weeks — and to concede, without saying so, that perhaps he has listened to too much of that advice.

He did it in a roundabout way. Discussing Abraham Lincoln as a president who “held the nation’s highest office with humility,” Bush envisioned Lincoln running for office in today’s political circus.

“Imagine the foolishness he would have to suffer,” Bush said. “Think about it. Advisers telling him to shave his beard. Cable pundits telling him to lose the top hat. Opposition researchers calling him a five-time loser before he was 50.” (Read more from “In Restart, This Is Who Jeb Bush Blames for His Campaign Fail” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.