Jeb Bush invoked one of the most revered presidents in history on Friday to draw a comparison to what the former Florida governor sees as his own strength: authenticity.
Speaking at a tailgate event before a high school football game here, a fired-up Bush added a new line to his stump speech, this time emphasizing the importance of being himself.
“I get a lot of advice these days. Wow, do I get a lot of advice,” he said. “If Abraham Lincoln was president of the United States today, his handlers would say, ‘Get rid of the top hat.’ The opposition research guys would probably say, ‘Hey, he was a 10-time loser before he was 50.’ They would demonize this guy, and he was one of our greatest presidents.”
“The simple fact is,” Bush continued forcefully, “you got to be who you are, and I know who I am. My compass points north. I’m comfortable in my own skin. And I believe that what people are looking for is authenticity.”
His comments cap the end of a brutal week for Bush’s campaign, one in which he downsized his staff, slashed salaries and delivered a poorly reviewed showing at a Republican debate — just when he needed to bring his A game. His event on Friday drew fewer people than he normally attracts — about 175 people showed up and didn’t fill the space allotted for the audience.
Doris Barney, of Port Charlotte, attended Bush’s event, curious to see the candidate in person. She said she liked hearing Bush’s answers but was searching for more gusto. “He doesn’t sound quite as determined as other people, you know?”
The candidate himself acknowledged in a call with donors on Thursday that he needs to improve, but later that night, he expressed frustration with what he sees as an out-of-control debate format that rewards disorderliness and question dodging.
“Look we’ve got eight more debates. We’re going to have to do what other candidates do, which is rudely interrupt (and) not answer the questions that are asked,” he said with biting sarcasm before reporters in New Hampshire.
Defending Bush, his most ardent supporters acknowledge that debates are not his strength, that the rough-and-tumble style and jostling of 10 candidates on one stage leaves little room for him to shine.
Pat Bell, also of Port Charlotte, attended Friday’s event and is already committed to voting for the former governor. “He’s not a rude person and (the Bushes) weren’t raised to be rude. You have to be civil,” she said. “He’s a thinker and a doer. He doesn’t mouth off.”
“He’s very reticent to engage in any kind of vitriol with his fellow Republican candidates,” said Kenneth Satterlee, a donor from Austin, in a phone interview. “There’s a lot of recommendations to do so, but it’s not in his nature. He is statesman-like.”
Bush, a self-described introvert, appeared to rebuff such “recommendations” in his comments Friday night when he said he was “comfortable in his own skin” and vowed to showcase his “authenticity.”
The former governor, who indeed appeared looser on Friday than he has in recent days, also happened to be in his element. He was visiting a city that saw devastation from Hurricane Charley 11 years ago, and it was a chance to reiterate one of his proudest points on his resume: his acclaimed handling of two disastrous hurricane seasons in Florida.
As the political world reverberated this week with dire predictions about the future of Bush’s campaign — Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan wrote it’s “impossible” to imagine him winning the nomination — Bush displayed slightly more determined optimism on Friday, being more upbeat than when he told reporters on Thursday that his campaign was “not on life support.”
“We got a long way to go, a long way to go,” he said before reporters in Florida. “We got 100 days to February. Four months to March 15. I’m going to campaign hard … I feel really good about where we are.”
Evidence of Bush’s loosened-up style could be seen as he was leaving the event. Taking photos with supporters, he noticed a tracker from American Bridge, the Democratic opposition research group, standing nearby with her camera trained on him.
“Tell my friends at American Bridge I love them,” he told her, before walking over and taking her camera.
He playfully threw his arm around her shoulder, pointed the camera to the two of them, and posed for a video selfie.
“Here we are with my girlfriend from American Bridge,” he said. “This is Jeb Bush, saying sayonara.”