Steady performance lifts Bush’s gloom

Postal workers union backs Sanders’ presidential bid

MILWAUKEE, Nov 12, (RTRS): A steady performance by Jeb Bush in Tuesday’s Republican debate has halted the sense of desperation around his US presidential campaign and may buy him time to counter the rise of chief rival Marco Rubio.

The fourth Republican debate in the search for a 2016 presidential nominee was characterized by a constant stream of attacks against front-runner Donald Trump and gaffe-free performances by Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas, two up-and-coming US senators in the race.

But the most relieved candidate after the two-hour encounter inside the Milwaukee Theatre was Bush, the former Florida governor who was outclassed in the three previous debates and has suffered an erosion of support from Republican voters and a drop-off in financial donations.

“I thought the debate went well, and I had a good debate because I got to talk about things with a little substance instead of the cute one-liners,” Bush said Wednesday morning on Fox News. In the same appearance, Bush announced he had received the endorsement of former Republican senator and one-time presidential nominee Bob Dole.

The performance sent waves of excitement through Bush’s donor base.

“He was much improved from the prior debate and just demonstrated that Jeb is a serious candidate with the leadership skills and the experience,” said Eric Cantor, the former Republican House Majority Leader who is raising funds for Bush. “I think coming out of that debate, Jeb is very well poised to really gain some momentum.”

Campaign

Bush supporters were encouraged that he now has a month until the next debate, giving him time to work the campaign trail.

“You’re getting away from the press narrative at a debate and instead focusing on reality on the ground,” Cantor, who was defeated in a primary in 2014 and now works for investment bank Moelis. “Jeb has put together one of his best teams there is in Iowa.”

Bush moved to quickly hit the campaign trail, holding three events in Iowa on Wednesday.

“This country can rise up,” Bush said at a town hall meeting in the Coca-Cola bottling facility in Atlantic, Iowa. “We have to apply conservative principles to simplify the code, fix how we regulate, embrace the energy revolution in our midst rather than think it’s a horrible thing.”

Trump, a billionaire businessman who has led opinion polls in the Republican race for months, gave Bush an opening when he said it was okay with him if Russian President Vladimir Putin “wants to go and knock the hell out of ISIS” in Syria and Iraq, a reference to Islamic State militants in the two Middle East countries.

Bush, who mostly steered clear of attacking his rivals after previous attempts had fallen flat, quickly interjected.

“We’re not going to be the world’s policemen, but we sure as heck better be the world’s leader,” Bush said, saying Trump’s views of Putin and his policies in Syria were “like a board game. That’s like playing Monopoly or something. That’s not how the real world works.”

That Bush was able to stop the bleeding may give him time to regain his footing in the unpredictable Republican race with the next debate on Dec 15 in Las Vegas. Bush is campaigning on Wednesday in Iowa, which on Feb 1 holds the first nominating contest of the November 2016 election.

“Jeb Bush was much improved. At a minimum, this buys him more time to reset and try to advance,” said Fergus Cullen, a former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party.

Bush campaign officials, including finance chief Woody Johnson, owner of the New York Jets, offered an upbeat message in a conference call to donors immediately after the debate.

“This is a performance you can sell and help keep the fundraising going,” Heather Larrison, a top aide to Bush’s campaign, told the donors, according to one participant on the call. The campaign has already planned a retreat for large-dollar donors and bundlers in Miami in early December.

It is a critical time in the race for the Republican nomination, with retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Trump fighting to hold their spots at the top of opinion polls and Rubio trying to build on the momentum of his last strong debate performance.

Also: NEW YORK/WASHINGTON:

The US postal workers union announced on Thursday it was endorsing Bernie Sanders for president in 2016, in a boost to the Vermont senator’s campaign against Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

The American Postal Workers Union, which represents more than 200,000 postal service workers and retirees, praised Sanders as a champion for workers. The endorsement comes days before the second Democratic presidential debate in which Sanders and Clinton will face off against one another.

Sanders is Clinton’s chief rival for the Democratic nomination and the two candidates are fighting for the support of organized labor, a key Democratic constituency.

The postal workers union endorsement marks the second union endorsement for Sanders at the national level. National Nurses United, which represents about 185,00 members, endorsed him in August.