Odds are you didn’t donate to Jeb Bush’s campaign.
Unless you’re a multimillionaire, a former or wannabe ambassador or part of America’s affluent, moderate establishment, you’re still holding on to your hard earned money.
As for those wealthy folks who gave big to the campaign of Florida’s former governor . . . they’re getting hosed.
So far this election cycle, Jeb Bush and his Right to Rise SuperPac have doled out over $80,000,000 in election spending.
According to a report by Reuters, eleven out of sixteen donors to Bush question if their funds were spent wisely.
Bush’s political action committee, Right to Rise, has spent more on television commercials than all of the other candidates, nearly combined.
The result? A polling average of only 4.8% that, if correct, will land him a fifth place finish.
The Bush dynasty has lost its luster.
For Jeb Bush, his strategy of raising most of the funds needed for the race before he announced paid off.
Bush’s campaign has raised $24 million through September of 2015 (the last reported FEC filing) and the Right to Rise SuperPac has raised an astounding $103 million.
The political action committee is burning through money with television ads . . . an exceeding dumb move given that PAC’s pay ten times or more money for air time than candidates who get a preferred political rate.
The official Bush campaign is paying the tab on travel and other expenses to keep the trains running on time.
Given Jeb’s complete inability to improve his standing in this primary race for the Republican nomination, many have begun to wonder if Bush’s campaign is filled with incompetent strategists or if this is an orchestrated money grab.
The biggest beneficiaries of all of this spending has been various media companies, including Revolution Agency that, according to FEC reports, has received over $5 million in payments for media from Right to Rise.
Both Right to Rise and Revolution Agency are run by the same individual, Mike Murphy.
Self-interested dealings aside, Right to Rise has made head scratching decisions such as dropping a gargantuan $6 million on ads to oppose John Kasich.
Really? Kasich, the seventh place contender polling at a measly 2.6%? That John Kasich?
Actually, yes.
It appears that Bush’s organizations are just looking for reasons to drop a few million at whim.
The good news for the country is that the elite establishment players will be nearly exhausted with their giving by Super Tuesday and unable to wield influence over the GOP nominee.