Phil Ammann
As Jeb Bush fights off accusations of weakness over Common Core, his brother’s legacy and other issues, Bill Day shows the Republican presidential candidate planning a serious left hook.
The heavily funded super PAC supporting the former Florida governor is ready to spend at least $10 million on television time in some of the early primary states, in the first round of what is sure to be an immense TV ad blitz.
The Associated Press reports that the Bush-associated Right to Rise USA PAC is preparing to buy time on TV and cable television markets in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. First ads should begin appearing on Iowa and New Hampshire TV screens Sept. 15, with South Carolina coming a week later.
Like a champion boxer, there will be no letting up on viewers; the ads will run continuously through the end of the year.
This $10 million punch is only the first in the fight, and could pack a wallop; one strategy of Right to Rise to burn through the $100 million Right to rise has bankrolled as of the past month.
Naturally, many of Bush’s blows will aim towards Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic front-runner.
But many others – especially in the first salvo of ads – will be more positive, advancing Bush and his conservative bona fides earned as Florida governor from 1999 to 2007. Another clip will show Bush during his Aug. 6 Republican debate appearance in Cleveland.
It is part of an ambitious goal: distinguish Bush in a crowded field of 16 other major Republican candidates.
It is sure to be an effort unparalleled in American presidential campaigns. Beyond his family pedigree, Bush is already making waves – despite any perceived “weaknesses” – as a candidate with the largest early-campaign war chest in modern history.
And holding a bankroll that big, that is true political muscle.
