Former Florida governor Jeb Bush announced to supporters in South Carolina that he was suspending his presidential campaign after a disappointing performance in the state's GOP primary. (AP) 
 
 Former Florida governor Jeb Bush announced to supporters in South Carolina that he was suspending his presidential campaign after a disappointing performance in the state's GOP primary. (AP) 
 
 For Jeb Bush’s campaign, August was a cruel month. Donald Trump’s attacks on the former Florida governor as a ­“low-energy” politician were beginning to stick, and the two were bickering over immigration. The issue before the Bush team was what to do about it. 
 
 Some advisers argued for an aggressive response, even to the point of challenging Trump to some kind of one-on-one confrontation. Others resisted, believing Trump’s candidacy was unsustainable, while some cautioned against getting “into a pigpen with a pig,” as one adviser recalled. Others described it as “trying to wrestle with a stump.” 
 
 Those summer days crystallized the plight of a campaign that had begun with enormous expectations and extraordinary resources, as the scion of one of America’s dynastic political families sought to follow his father and brother to the presidency. 
 
 At what would become a crucial moment, Bush’s team had no clear strategy for a rival who was beginning to hijack the Republican Party that the Bush family had helped to build, other than to stay the course set months earlier of telling Bush’s story to voters. 
 
 “There was no consensus,” senior strategist David Kochel said of the discussions about how to combat the threat of Trump’s candidacy. Other campaigns were wrestling with the same problems, but as the front-runner in the polls at the time, Bush would suffer more than the others. 
 
 Jeb Bush suspended his campaign for president on Feb. 20. The Fix's Chris Cillizza breaks down why he was never going to be president. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post) 
 
 On Saturday night, the candidacy that had begun with such promise ended quietly after a disappointingly weak fourth-place finish in South Carolina. 
 
 Ever the gracious realist, Bush announced in his concession speech that he would end his campaign as Trump continued to soar as the GOP front-runner. “I have stood my ground, refusing to bend to the political winds,” he said. 
 
 Whether Jeb Bush ever had a chance to win the Republican nomination in a campaign year that proved so ill fitting for a rusty politician who preferred policy papers to political combat is a question that will be debated long after the 2016 race has ended. 
 
 “Donald Trump channeled the worst fears, frustrations and anxiety of voters, but he also magnified those same feelings,” Sally Bradshaw, Bush’s chief strategist and confidant, said Sunday in an email. “It would be difficult for any solutions-oriented conservative to tackle Trump in this environment, much less one who was seen as having been so much a part of the establishment. He was never going to be an angry guy — and voters wanted angry.” 
 
 Mike Murphy, the chief strategist for Bush’s super PAC, Right to Rise, explained what had happened this way on Sunday. “Our theory was to dominate the establishment lane into the actual voting primaries,” he said. “That was the strategy, and it did not work. I think it was the right strategy for Jeb. The problem was there was a huge anti-establishment wave. The establishment lane was smaller than we thought it would be. The marketplace was looking for something different, and we’ll find out how that ends when we have a nominee.” 
 
 The result is one of the most startling failures in the modern history of American politics: the fall of the House of Bush. It is a human story about the struggles of one of the most successful former governors in America in his bid to become president, like his father and brother, set against the backdrop of one of the strangest political cycles the country has seen in years. 
 
 Beyond underestimating the anger in the electorate, three other problems led to Bush’s downfall. First, the candidate and his team misjudged the degree of Bush fatigue among Republicans. 
 
 1 of 19 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Candidates who have dropped out of the 2016 race so far, and why View Photos With the primary season in full swing, several have dropped out in recent days. Caption With the primary season in full swing, several have dropped out in recent days. John Kasich Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), who ran as a sunny, center-right “prince of light and hope” but won only his home-state primary, bowed out of the presidential race on Wednesday with a reflective speech in Columbus. Read the story Kyle Grillot/For the Washington Post Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. 
 
 Aides said an internal poll conducted last fall showed discouraging news: Roughly two-thirds of voters had issues with Bush’s family ties. “Bush stuff was holding him back,” said one aide who saw the polling data. “We obviously knew it was an issue, but even still, the gap between it and other issues — I don’t think we thought it would be that big.” 
 
 [For Jeb Bush, the challenge remains making it about ‘Jeb,’ not ‘Bush’] 
 
 Second, Bush and his team miscalculated the role and power of money and traditional television commercials in the 2016 race. During the first six months of 2015, Bush raised more than $100 million, most of it stockpiled in Right to Rise, a strategy that seemed right at the time but came at the cost of not dealing with other pressing needs. 
 
 “We didn’t use that time to introduce him as a unique brand,” said Vin Weber, an outside adviser. “We used it to raise money. I don’t want to say they made an obvious and clear mistake, but in retrospect, it was a mistake.” 
 
 The aggressive fundraising came to be known as “shock and awe,” an echo of the initial bombing of Iraq by U.S.-led forces before the 2003 invasion. In the campaign context, it could be read as code to other potential candidates to get out of the way. But the prodigious fundraising of Bush’s broad network scared off no one. As the Bush campaign would learn, every credible candidate today has a few billionaire friends who can enrich a super PAC. In the end, all that money came to symbolize frustration rather than power. 
 
 Third, Bush ran a campaign that, whether deliberate or not, was rooted in the past, managed by loyalists who admired Bush and enjoyed his confidence but who, like the candidate, found themselves in unfamiliar political terrain. 
 
 His advisers were convinced from the start that the more voters learned about what Bush had done as governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007, they would flock to him as their presidential candidate. Bush stubbornly held to that approach — even as evidence mounted that it was out of step with voters. 
 
 Doug Gross, a prominent Iowa Republican, recalled meeting with Bush in July 2014 in Kennebunkport, Maine, to talk about the impending campaign. “He definitely wanted to run. He’s always had it in him and knew this was his last chance,” Gross said. “He was trying to figure out how to do it his own way. I was struck by his obstinate avoidance of any political discussion. . . . He wanted to do it his way or no way.” 
 
 Skirmish, then turning away 
 
 In contrast to the doldrums of August 2015, July seemed a glorious time for the Bush team. Early that month, Team Jeb gathered in Kennebunkport to celebrate that the campaign and two allied political committees had together raised nearly an unprecedented $120 million. The numbers were made public as nearly 300 major Bush fundraisers assembled to mingle with the Bush family and campaign advisers. 
 
 Guests were transported in black-and-red trolleys to Walker’s Point, the Bush family compound. The group gathered for a photo with former president George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush. 
 
 That evening, Bush touted the team’s record fundraising as guests dined on lobster rolls and hamburgers at a luxury resort tucked among a forest of birch groves and balsam fir. “It was incredibly memorable to be there with several generations,” said Jay Zeidman, a Houston-based investor who helped raise money from young professionals. 
 
 The next day, the donors got briefings from senior Bush aides including Bradshaw, campaign manager Danny Diaz and finance director Heather Larrison. They laid out how the campaign planned to take on contenders such as Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Throughout, there was little mention of Donald Trump. 
 
 [That time Jeb Bush invited 300 top donors to his parents’ house] 
 
 “None of us thought he would last the summer,” said one person who was in attendance. 
 
 At that moment, however, Trump was already in the process of undermining Bush’s candidacy. If Bush had ever gone up against someone like Trump, it didn’t show. Trump was a new and different kind of rival, one given to personal insults rather than policy debates, who monopolized media coverage and got away with provocative statements that would have sunk normal politicians. 
 
 After marching in two July 4 parades on a rainy Saturday in New Hampshire, reporters asked Bush about Trump’s claim that Mexico was allowing immigrants to illegally cross into the United States. It was one of the hundreds of times he would face such questions. 
 
 Bush said “absolutely” he was offended by Trump’s rhetoric. “We’re going to win when we’re hopeful and optimistic and big and broad rather than ‘grrrrrr’ ” he said — literally, growling – “just angry all the time.” 
 
 That very night, Trump attacked Bush as soft on immigration and took aim as well at Bush’s wife, Columba, who was born in Mexico and entered the country legally — retweeting and then deleting a disparaging comment about her. 
 
 Nothing, however, cut as close to the bone as Trump’s claim that Bush was too “low-energy” to serve as president. 
 
 The accusation was laughable — until it began to stick. Trump’s charge was in fact a proxy for a different and more difficult argument to combat: that Bush was neither strong nor edgy enough for a party seething with anger at the grass roots. 
 
 [Inside the Bush-Trump melodrama: Decades of tension and discomfort] 
 
 “Nobody tapped into it, for all the polling, all the focus groups,” said Theresa Kostrzewa, a North Carolina lobbyist who raised money for the campaign. “The biggest thing they did was miss was just how angry the American electorate was and that Trump would be their Captain Ahab.” 
 
 Bush’s advisers would contest that claim. They could see the anger, they said. The issue was what to do about it. “Donors, political operatives and big thinkers from around the country urged us to ignore Trump for months,” Bradshaw said. “There was no one in the news media or the operative class at the time who felt Trump would ultimately be a serious contender for the nomination.” 
 
 At the same time, others feared that engaging Trump was almost beneath Bush and would thrust the candidate into a never-ending game of charge-countercharge. “Jeb should be bigger than this,” another aide recalled thinking. 
 
 Over at Right to Rise, Murphy sent a clear signal: Trump is not our fight right now. 
 
 “If other campaigns wish that we’re going to uncork money on Donald Trump, they’ll be disappointed,” Murphy told The Washington Post in late August. “Trump is, frankly, other people’s problem.” 
 
 At that moment, the Bush team’s analysis showed that no Trump voters were likely to shift their support to Bush. On Sunday, Murphy said that attacking Trump would only have benefited other candidates. Bush’s campaign needed to consolidate the establishment lane while hoping that Trump and Cruz would sort out the competition among the anti-establishment candidates. 
 
 Bradshaw also dismissed complaints from some donors that she cut the candidate off from advice. Noting that Bush long has been active on email, Bradshaw responded in a message by saying: “Donors constantly gave conflicting advice — attack Trump, don’t attack Trump; smile more; smile less — you look like you are smirking. I didn’t tell people they were wrong — not my style — I did a lot of listening, and I’m sure there were things we could have done better — but withholding info from the Governor simply did not happen in our campaign.” 
 
 For much of the autumn, Bush’s engagement with Trump was on-again, off-again — skirmish, then turning away. Not until late last year did he truly start a concerted and sustained series of attacks. Aides said Bush was particularly affected by the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., and felt, as one adviser put it, that it was “time to stand up to the bully.” 
 
 “Jeb was the only candidate with the political courage at the time and frankly throughout the last six months to take on Trump directly for doing something that the governor felt was very harmful to the Party and to the country,” Bradshaw wrote. “There was no hesitation at that point given his comments about women, about Hispanics, his lack of knowledge on issues of national security and on and on.” 
 
 A flat-footed image 
 
 Bush’s failure to come to terms with one of the downsides of his family name came to a head over a four-day period in May, when he stumbled over the decision by his brother, former president George W. Bush, to go to war in Iraq. 
 
 [Jeb Bush faces hostile questions about Iraq war] 
 
 Changing his answer on a daily basis, Bush came across as a flat-footed campaigner clearly uncomfortable articulating his views on the most critical moment of his brother’s presidency. But it also highlighted the ­double-edged nature of being a candidate named Bush. 
 
 In a January Washington Post-ABC News poll, nearly 6 in 10 Americans held an unfavorable view of Bush. He was the only Republican with a negative favorability rating: 44 percent said they had a favorable impression of the former governor while 50 percent rated him negatively. His rankings grew worse as the campaign progressed. 
 
 A fundamental weakness, supporters said, was the lack of a coherent rationale for Bush’s candidacy and the failure to make inroads with activists on the right. “At the end of the day, it wasn’t clear the name was ever surmountable,” said a Bush donor. “If the name was going to be surmounted, it would have to be because there was a fresh set of ideas.” 
 
 Bush offered ideas, but in a campaign dominated by Trump, they were ignored or lost to most voters. 
 
 ‘The timing was not right’ 
 
 One of the biggest tactical advantages Bush appeared to have early on — a richly endowed super PAC — was not the invincible weapon his team thought it would be. It cut off his access to a key adviser, Murphy, whom he installed at the group’s helm. 
 
 It also meant that during the first six months of last year, nearly all of the coverage about Bush focused on how he was socking away millions into the super PAC, all while maintaining that he had not decided whether to run. In an election brimming with anger toward the wealthy elite, Bush seemed almost flippant about his pursuit of big dollars. 
 
 Murphy was convinced that much of what was taking place was noise and that when the voters began to check in, the super PAC’s financial might would be overpowering. 
 
 First, the committee would use it to lay out Bush’s biography. Then, as necessary, the group would turn its arsenal on his rivals. “Our job is just to amplify his story and what he’s saying and we banked enough cash that nobody’s turning our speaker off,” Murphy told Bloomberg Politics in October. 
 
 Back at campaign headquarters, the team hewed to that timetable and sensibility. Once the Bush record was burned into voters’ minds, attitudes would shift, Bradshaw said at the time. A Bush donor complained, “Murphy had a timetable, and nothing mattered until December and January.” 
 
 By the end of January, Right to Rise had raced through at least $95.7 million out of the $118.6 million it had collected, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Almost $87 million went into a barrage of television ads, online videos, slick mailers and voter phone calls—to no avail. 
 
 Mel Sembler, a former Bush ambassador who helped raise money for the super PAC and served on its governance board, said he believes the group’s strategy was sound. 
 
 “We had confidence in Mike, and I think we did the best we could in deploying of resources,” Sembler said. “That’s not where the problem is. . . . The timing was not right for Jeb. Our candidate was just not connecting with the electorate.” 
 
 Retaining his good humor 
 
 The final months were difficult for Bush. After a particularly weak performance during a debate in Boulder, Colo., in October in which Rubio appeared to get the better of him, there were suggestions that he might quit the campaign right then. 
 
 Reporters who made inquiries about the possibility were brushed off. In the middle of it all, Bush spotted a reporter who was a regular on the trail with him. “Hey — I didn’t drop out, did I?” he shouted. “You know, that kind of stuff really gets my juices going. I’m going to win this thing, and when I do — you’re going to give me a big hug.” 
 
 Through it all, Bush attempted to keep both good humor and determination in the face of the inevitable. 
 
 “I was stunned by how well he handled the last month of this campaign when the writing was on the wall,” said Tim Miller, Bush’s communications director. “It is hard to go out there every day and put on a fake smiley face. He was in really high spirits and didn’t lash out at people in private throughout the last two months.” 
 
 The final indignity in a campaign that had suffered through many came three days before Saturday’s primary, when South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley endorsed Rubio rather than a man she described as a friend and mentor. 
 
 When it ended Saturday night, Bush told saddened supporters: “We put forward details, innovative, conservative plans to address the mounting challenges that we face. Because despite what you might have heard, ideas matter, policy matters.” 
 
 His final remarks as a presidential candidate were a reflection of the campaign he had constructed from the start, one he had built to his unique specifications, which nonetheless proved to be a mismatch for a political environment that caught him by surprise — and for which he paid a hefty price. ||||| From the beginning of his candidacy last June, he pledged to run with "joy" and adopted a tortoise-and-the-hare strategy, earnestly believing that he would prevail in the end despite a crowded field of candidates. 
 
 Even as his chances became grim over the past eight months, he started handing out tiny toy turtles from his pockets to children, telling them that "slow and steady wins the race." 
 
 But in 2016, "slow and steady" was the opposite of what the country wanted. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Jeb Bush suspends campaign: What went wrong? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Jeb Bush suspends campaign: What went wrong? 01:51 
 
 There's plenty of blame to go around for Bush's fall, but the central theme is the failure to read the mood of the GOP electorate that was angry and wanted change. Voters responded to Donald Trump, who Bush both underestimated and whose appeal he didn't understand. 
 
 Photos: Who's running for president? Photos: Who's running for president? Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, John Kasich, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, Hide Caption 1 of 6 Photos: Who's running for president? 
 
 
 
 "So, ladies and gentlemen, I am officially running for president of the United States, and we are going to make our country great again," Trump told the crowd at his announcement. Businessman Donald Trump announced June 16 at his Trump Tower in New York City that he is seeking the Republican presidential nomination. This ends more than two decades of flirting with the idea of running for the White House."So, ladies and gentlemen, I am officially running for president of the United States, and we are going to make our country great again," Trump told the crowd at his announcement. Hide Caption 2 of 6 Photos: Who's running for president? 
 
 
 
 "These are all of our stories," Cruz told the audience at Liberty University in Virginia. "These are who we are as Americans. And yet for so many Americans, the promise of America seems more and more distant." Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has made a name for himself in the Senate, solidifying his brand as a conservative firebrand willing to take on the GOP's establishment. He announced he was seeking the Republican presidential nomination in a speech on March 23."These are all of our stories," Cruz told the audience at Liberty University in Virginia. "These are who we are as Americans. And yet for so many Americans, the promise of America seems more and more distant." Hide Caption 3 of 6 Photos: Who's running for president? Ohio Gov. John Kasich joined the Republican field July 21 as he formally announced his White House bid. 
 
 
 
 "I am here to ask you for your prayers, for your support ... because I have decided to run for president of the United States," Kasich told his kickoff rally at the Ohio State University. Hide Caption 4 of 6 Photos: Who's running for president? 
 
 
 
 "Everyday Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion -- so you can do more than just get by -- you can get ahead. And stay ahead," she said in her announcement video. "Because when families are strong, America is strong. So I'm hitting the road to earn your vote, because it's your time. And I hope you'll join me on this journey." Hillary Clinton launched her presidential bid on April 12 through a video message on social media. The former first lady, senator and secretary of state is considered the front-runner among possible Democratic candidates."Everyday Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion -- so you can do more than just get by -- you can get ahead. And stay ahead," she said in her announcement video. "Because when families are strong, America is strong. So I'm hitting the road to earn your vote, because it's your time. And I hope you'll join me on this journey." Hide Caption 5 of 6 Photos: Who's running for president? 
 
 
 
 "This great nation and its government belong to all of the people and not to a handful of billionaires, their super PACs and their lobbyists," Sanders said at a rally in Vermont on May 26. Sen. Bernie Sanders , an independent from Vermont who caucuses with Democrats, announced his run in an email to supporters on April 30. He has said the United States needs a "political revolution" of working-class Americans to take back control of the government from billionaires."This great nation and its government belong to all of the people and not to a handful of billionaires, their super PACs and their lobbyists," Sanders said at a rally in Vermont on May 26. Hide Caption 6 of 6 
 
 Bush was out of practice on the campaign trail, something evidenced by his early stumbles answering questions on his stance on the war in Iraq -- a question that should have been anticipated with an answer ready. He declared early he was his "own man," but also highlighted his connection to his father and brother, presidents both. And he raised over $100 million between his campaign and super PAC, but it didn't scare anyone out of the race. 
 
 In the final few days before the South Carolina primary, Bush started to realize that his White House bid might be coming to an end. He talked with less certitude about moving on to other states and appeared almost wistful at times. 
 
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 But it wasn't until late Saturday afternoon that he knew that he likely wouldn't be moving forward, according to campaign aides. Many staffers were told of his final decision just five minutes before he took the stage at the Hilton in Columbia. 
 
 "In this campaign I've stood my ground refusing to bend to the political winds," Bush said Saturday night. "We put forward detailed, innovative conservative plans to address the mounting challenges that we face. Because despite what you might have heard, ideas matter ... policy matters." 
 
 Bush spent much of his campaign focusing on his experience as governor of Florida and policy, consistently rolling out new initiatives and plans. But 2016 was simply a different era from the last time he ran for office -- in 2002. 
 
 Bush adviser Sally Bradshaw told CNN Saturday night that 2016 simply "was not his year." 
 
 "Look, this was a year that was bigger than a lot of the candidates in this race," Bradshaw said. Bush "didn't equivocate, and he took on Donald Trump and he showed us what is best about our party and what is best about our country." 
 
 As CNN's embedded reporter with the Bush campaign, I followed the former Florida governor from the lofty moments, early in 2015 when he was preparing for his presidential run, to the final days when he acknowledged that he would not be the third Bush to work in the Oval Office. I covered him at more than 100 events in 14 states over 11 months and this story is based on that experience. 
 
 On paper, an ideal candidate 
 
 Bush, who turned 63 last week, never placed above 18% as a candidate in the polls, but he remained the front-runner in the GOP field for the first month of his campaign. 
 
 He was a candidate who fulfilled what Republicans thought they needed after the 2012 election loss: an experienced governor from a swing state who could help expand the Republican base by appealing to Latinos and craft a narrative of a more compassionate party. 
 
 By the middle of the year, his campaign and allies at the super PAC Right to Rise USA, had raised more than $100 million, far more than any other candidate. The haul was meant to send the message that Bush could dominate the field and be a formidable general election candidate. 
 
 But instead, 2016 appeared to be the election no one said no to running. From Bush's one-time protégé from Florida Marco Rubio to Govs. Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal and Scott Walker and former Govs. Mike Huckabee and Rick Perry, Bush's cash scared no one. And it turned out to be for good reason. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Jeb Bush impersonates Donald Trump Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Jeb Bush impersonates Donald Trump 00:41 
 
 Then, a perceived sideshow candidate named Donald Trump -- who labeled undocumented immigrants as "rapists" in his announcement speech -- stole the show. He started to gain traction and within weeks became not only the front-runner, but took the lead and ran away with it. 
 
 The surge revealed a Republican electorate that was more angry than joyful, surprising the Washington political class and upending the Republican primary narrative. With every insult hurled, Trump's anti-establishment, verbose persona became more popular. It was clear that Bush would face an uphill battle. 
 
 And Trump had his sights set on the former governor. He quickly began mocking Bush as an "unhappy person" with "low energy." Like many of the other candidates, Bush's campaign tried to stay above the fray and not engage with the reality TV star. 
 
 In Henderson, Nevada, in late July -- one of the first times Bush was asked to respond to Trump's "rapists" comment -- the candidate simply said: "I disagree with him." Pressed for more, he replied curtly: "I think he's wrong. 
 
 A couple of weeks later, in Carson City, Nevada, when Bush was asked if he wanted to respond to Trump accusing him of promising favors to his donors, Bush looked this reporter in the eye and said: "No." 
 
 Bush didn't start hitting back at Trump's accusations that Bush was "low energy" until mid-September, but by then it was too late. The label had stuck. 
 
 Aides, advisers and even Bush, himself, have quietly acknowledged that the popularity and influence of Trump was underestimated at the beginning. 
 
 "People probably thought they could just let (Trump's) comments go into the ether, not take the bait," one adviser said. "This campaign probably felt for some time that it was best to let Trump hang out there and make a fool of himself." 
 
 Messages didn't stick 
 
 Bush, from the start, had high name recognition, but the campaign felt that people didn't know his conservative record as the two-term governor of Florida. 
 
 But those messages couldn't drown out the barrage of attacks coming his way from Trump, especially the "low energy" brand that quickly became the meme of Bush's candidacy. 
 
 "I believe it hurt a lot," the adviser said. 
 
 It was especially frustrating for the campaign because, Bush, in fact, was anything but low energy. He campaigned tirelessly from the start of his bid and voters were routinely impressed and surprised by his passion when they saw him at his town halls. 
 
 But, having been out of campaign politics for more than a decade, Bush struggled early on to command the stage at debates and appeared awkward on TV, versus the looser, comfortable-in-his-own skin Bush that voters saw in person. 
 
 Over that time, Bush gradually stepped up his attacks against Trump, and at a debate in December, Bush tore into the front-runner repeatedly, solidifying himself as the "anti-Trump" candidate. Trump's locker-room language irritated Bush so much that the former governor started calling Trump a "loser" and a "jerk," and painted him as a disparager of Hispanics, women, people with disabilities and prisoners of war. 
 
 Photos: The week in politics Photos: The week in politics Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton arrives gives a victory speech at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on Saturday, February 20, after edging out Bernie Sanders in Nevada's Democratic caucuses. Hide Caption 1 of 14 Photos: The week in politics 
 
 Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush announces that he is suspending his campaign in Columbia, South Carolina, on Saturday, February 20. Bush struggled for months to make inroads against Donald Trump, who constantly mocked the former Florida governor's "low energy" and for spending tens of millions of dollars on his campaign. Hide Caption 2 of 14 Photos: The week in politics Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump celebrates winning the South Carolina primary in Spartanburg on Saturday, February 20. Hide Caption 3 of 14 Photos: The week in politics U.S. Supreme Court justices attend a private ceremony in the court's Great Hall as the body of Justice Antonin Scalia lies in repose on Friday, February 19. Facing the camera, from right, are justices Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan. Hide Caption 4 of 14 Photos: The week in politics A woman wears a campaign sticker for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican presidential candidate, ahead of a campaign rally in Aiken, South Carolina, on Monday, February 15. Hide Caption 5 of 14 Photos: The week in politics U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders meets a 3-month-old dressed like him at a campaign rally in Las Vegas on Sunday, February 14. Sanders is seeking the Democratic Party's nomination for President. Hide Caption 6 of 14 Photos: The week in politics People in Livonia, Michigan, wait for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican presidential candidate, to arrive at a town-hall meeting on Tuesday, February 16. Hide Caption 7 of 14 Photos: The week in politics Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson has makeup applied during a commercial break of the CNN town-hall event held Wednesday, February 17, in Greenville, South Carolina. Hide Caption 8 of 14 Photos: The week in politics South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley campaigns with U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, whom she endorsed Thursday, February 18, in Chapin, South Carolina. Hide Caption 9 of 14 Photos: The week in politics A Donald Trump supporter holds up a sign as former U.S. President Bill Clinton stumps for his wife in Riviera Beach, Florida, on Monday, February 15. The Trump supporter yelled to Clinton, "You took his money!" meaning Trump. "I certainly did," Clinton responded. "I took his money for my foundation, where I used it better than he's using it now." Hide Caption 10 of 14 Photos: The week in politics U.S. President Barack Obama shows off the lifetime parking pass he received as gift from Chicago Blackhawks owner John McDonough on Thursday, February 18. McDonough and the Blackhawks were being honored at the White House for winning the NHL's Stanley Cup last season. Hide Caption 11 of 14 Photos: The week in politics New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie gestures as he delivers his budget at the Statehouse in Trenton, New Jersey, on Tuesday, February 16. Christie recently suspended his campaign for the presidency. Hide Caption 12 of 14 Photos: The week in politics John Mew photographs his wife Amy, and daughters Ireland, 6, left, and Sailor, 4, after voting in the South Carolina Republican presidential primary Saturday, February 20 at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in West Columbia, South Carolina. Hide Caption 13 of 14 Photos: The week in politics Philanthropist David Rubenstein tours the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on Monday, February 15. The National Park Service announced that Rubenstein, who has already donated tens of millions of dollars to refurbish the Washington Monument and other icons, is giving $18.5 million to fix up the Lincoln Memorial. The money will go to repairing damaged masonry, cleaning the memorial and conserving murals inside. Hide Caption 14 of 14 
 
 Even though Bush had fallen so far behind in the national polls -- he's been in the single digits since October -- Trump continued to pillory Bush, and their feud manifested itself in daily attacks in stump speeches and over Twitter. 
 
 Meanwhile, fingers started pointing. As Bush's campaign continued to struggle before the primary season started, donors and supporters were already starting to blame the super PAC and its chief, Bush confidant Mike Murphy, for not focusing hard enough on Trump and targeting other rivals like Rubio, instead. 
 
 Bush himself never denounced the ads put out by the super PAC but tried to keep as much distance possible from the group that he spent the first half of 2015 raising money for. During his campaign, he expressed frustration over the super PAC process and blamed the Citizens United ruling for making campaign finance so complicated -- not because too much money was being spent, but because it meant so much was out of the control of the actual candidates. 
 
 Bush eventually saw more and more support for his offensive against Trump. At his last event in South Carolina, he received a standing ovation when Sen. Lindsey Graham, who campaigned for Bush in the final month, thanked Bush for "standing up for just being decent." 
 
 Early stumbles on Iraq 
 
 Advisers, donors and Republican strategists say Trump wasn't the only factor that led to Bush's decline. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Jeb Bush flip-flops on Iraq war opinion Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Jeb Bush flip-flops on Iraq war opinion 02:21 
 
 He stumbled even before he was a candidate when he failed to answer a question about the Iraq war last May -- a blunder that took Bush a week and multiple attempts to get right. 
 
 The episode alarmed donors and highlighted a level of Bush fatigue that the country was still feeling. While the campaign earnestly believed that Bush would have plenty of time to define himself and distinguish his candidacy from that of his brother or father, that never fully happened. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Wolfowitz: Jeb Bush "is his own man" Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Wolfowitz: Jeb Bush "is his own man" 03:39 
 
 But he then went the other way, bringing himself closer to his family and started using his "front row seat" to the presidencies of his brother and father as "unique" foreign policy credential. Nothing seemed to quell the concerns of a third Bush presidency, which voters continued to raise at town halls even until the end. 
 
 "What we're seeing right now on both sides of the aisle is the country is not rushing to have a repeat of Bush vs. Clinton," said Leslie Sanchez, who served in the George W. Bush administration but is not affiliated with any candidate. "There's nothing he could have done to overcome that national sentiment." 
 
 After Rubio attack, a return to wonkishness 
 
 JUST WATCHED Bush jabs Rubio over leadership experience Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Bush jabs Rubio over leadership experience 00:59 
 
 Another pivotal moment came in October when Bush tried to attack Rubio on the debate stage for abandoning his day job and missing votes in the Senate to campaign. But the carefully planned attack -- which Bush had been telegraphing for days -- backfired when Rubio skillfully deflected, saying Bush never took issue with Sen. John McCain missing votes when he was running for president. 
 
 "The only reason you're doing it now is because we're running for the same position," Rubio said. "Someone has convinced you that attacking me is going to help you." 
 
 The awkward encounter was embarrassing for Bush and the governor failed to mount a counterpunch. One day later, Bush was already facing questions about whether his campaign was over. 
 
 "It's not on life support," he insisted, facing a massive scrum of reporters and cameras in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Jeb Bush: 'People need to show up for work' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Jeb Bush: 'People need to show up for work' 01:35 
 
 In the following months, Bush would lighten his attacks against Rubio, training his fire more on Trump instead. All the while, Bush kept a heavy commitment to rolling out policy plans nearly every week on a range of issues -- from entitlements to managing western public lands. 
 
 While Bush's wonkish side impressed voters at his town halls, it never broke through as a winning profile in an election year where bluster, bombast and soaring rhetoric was more appealing to an angry and frustrated electorate. 
 
 Bush regularly bristled at the idea that he needed to change stylistically or put on a "performance" at the all-important debates. But after the Rubio flap, his team hired a debate coach in November and tried to reset his campaign with a "Jeb Can Fix It" bus tour that zeroed in on his experience as governor. It coincided with the launch of his e-book, "Reply All," that used his emails to tell the story of what he calls his "servant leader's heart" when he was governor. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Bush's debate performance panned as Rubio rises Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Bush's debate performance panned as Rubio rises 03:51 
 
 His stump speech became more compelling and he spoke with more alluring cadence. As he did before, Bush continued to woo voters at his town hall by his seeming ability to answer any question thrown his way. And he showed charm, compassion and accessibility as he took selfies and talked to any voter who wanted to meet him after his town halls. 
 
 "Every time he spoke at an event, he won hearts and minds," said David Oman, a senior adviser who worked on Bush's Iowa campaign. "I wish we could have had more." 
 
 South Carolina: One last family run 
 
 JUST WATCHED Jeb Bush supporter: 'South Carolina is Bush country' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Jeb Bush supporter: 'South Carolina is Bush country' 02:45 
 
 In New Hampshire and South Carolina, Bush dramatically shook up his stump speech and directly tried to take on Rubio and Cruz for being first-term senators, comparing them to then-Sen. Barack Obama in 2008 and calling them a "risky bet." 
 
 It appeared Bush was on the verge of a mild comeback after the New Hampshire primary where he placed fourth, ahead of Rubio. It gave Bush enough to keep him afloat heading into South Carolina, but it still wasn't the resounding victory he was hoping for. 
 
 When Bush landed in Hilton Head, South Carolina, the next morning after the primary, he was greeted to hundreds of voters in a retirement community in Bluffton, and a strategy to further embrace his family name kicked off immediately. 
 
 "South Carolina has been good to the Bushes in the past, and I'm hoping and praying it will be good again," he said. Indeed the state catapulted the 2000 presidential bid of his brother, George W. Bush, and handed George H.W. Bush a victory in 1988. 
 
 Bush told reporters that morning that the New Hampshire primary "pushed the pause button" on the race and erased Rubio's "coronation." 
 
 His campaign had two main strategies as he prepared to barnstorm the state of South Carolina: focus on the military and capitalize on the Bush name fanfare. 
 
 JUST WATCHED George W. Bush: 'Strongest is not the loudest' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH George W. Bush: 'Strongest is not the loudest' 02:09 
 
 Graham, the state's senior senator and an expert on the military and foreign policy issues, campaigned for Bush at nearly every event in South Carolina the past 10 days, warming up the crowds with his Southern wit and playing the role of attack dog by lambasting Trump and Rubio. 
 
 The senator became so passionate that he grabbed the microphone from Bush again at the end of a town hall in Columbia last week to deliver yet another speech --- this time a fiery closing argument that angrily ripped into Trump for attacking Bush's brother in the most recent debate. 
 
 "I will never vote for a man who says that George W. Bush is a liar. You're not a Republican if you're asking Nancy Pelosi to impeach President Bush," he said. "Any man who says what Donald Trump said about George W. Bush is not a Republican worthy of your support. That's crazy talk." 
 
 For the first time, the campaign trotted out the 43rd President on the trail, where he headlined a rally with his brother in North Charleston on Monday. The event drew hundreds more voters than a normal Jeb Bush event, and it provided the campaign a full day of positive headlines. His brother offered veiled swipes at Bush's more dramatic opponents and tried to underwrite his brother's credentials to be commander-in-chief. 
 
 JUST WATCHED The Bush family and Iraq Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH The Bush family and Iraq 01:44 
 
 "Strength is not empty rhetoric. It is not bluster. It is not theatrics. Real strength, strength of purpose, comes from integrity and character. And in my experience, the strongest person usually isn't the loudest one in the room," the former President said to applause. "I've seen in my brother a quiet conviction and a core of conscience that cannot be shaken. And my hope is that the people of South Carolina will see this as well. This is a serious election for a serious job." 
 
 But two days later came a devastating blow. The state's popular governor, Nikki Haley, who Bush campaigned for in 2010 and helped advise her on policy, announced she was endorsing Rubio. 
 
 The news came just as Bush was about to hold yet another town hall in Summerville, one of 22 cities in South Carolina that the candidate publicly campaigned in during the past week and a half. 
 
 "I'm disappointed," Bush told reporters at the time, but still took the high road. "She's a very good governor and should I win the nomination there will be a role for her in the campaign, trust me, she's a great person." 
 
 JUST WATCHED George W. Bush: 9/11 made me a 'wartime' president Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH George W. Bush: 9/11 made me a 'wartime' president 02:12 
 
 The positive coverage quickly dwindled and poll numbers showed no noticeable improvement after George W. Bush's appearance. Bush's campaign continued with the family name strategy and brought former first lady Barbara Bush, 90, back on the campaign trail Thursday through Saturday. She helped generate buzz for her son in New Hampshire, and it was assumed she would be met with even more fanfare in South Carolina, where she attended high school at Ashley Hall in Charleston. 
 
 "He's done the most amazing things as governor. He's a great son. He's a great father. He's a great husband. He's a great friend. He's loyal," she said, while introducing her son at his final South Carolina town hall in the town of Central on Friday night. "And ladies and gentlemen, my boy, Jeb." 
 
 Also in attendance were his two brothers, Marvin and Neil, his wife Columba, and his son, Jeb, Jr., as well as a hoard of campaign staffers and volunteers -- some of whom appeared reflective in the wake of uncertainty surrounding Bush's campaign. 
 
 And in a moment that raised eyebrows, Bush thanked his audience at the end of his stump speech, saying, "Thank you very much for allowing us to close out our campaign here at your high school." 
 
 JUST WATCHED Donald Trump: Ted Cruz a liar, Bush lied about Iraq Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Donald Trump: Ted Cruz a liar, Bush lied about Iraq 03:50 
 
 His staff quickly assured reporters he was only talking about his South Carolina campaign, but the quote nonetheless underscored a sense of finality that was previously lacking in Bush's rhetoric. 
 
 Yet it would only be 24 hours later when Bush would give his actual closing speech. 
 
 "I'm proud of the campaign that we have run to unify the country. And to advocate for conservative solutions that would give more Americans the opportunity to rise up and reach their God-given potential. But the people of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina have spoken," he said. "I respect their decision." 
 
 After his brief speech, he shook hands with supporters for a few minutes before immediately leaving the hotel to go back to Miami with his wife, making some emotional goodbyes as he got in his car. ||||| Jeb Bush, the Republican establishment’s last, best hope, began his 2016 campaign rationally enough, with a painstakingly collated operational blueprint his team called, with NFL swagger, “The Playbook.” 
 
 On page after page kept safe in a binder, the playbook laid out a strategy for a race his advisers were certain would be played on Bush’s terms — an updated, if familiar version of previous Bush family campaigns where cash, organization and a Republican electorate ultimately committed to an electable center-right candidate would prevail. 
 
 Story Continued Below 
 
 The playbook, hatched by Sally Bradshaw, Mike Murphy and a handful of other Bush confidants in dozens of meetings during the first half of 2015 and described to POLITICO by some of Bush’s closest and most influential supporters, appealed to the Bush family penchant for shock-and-awe strategy. The campaign would commence with six months of fundraising for the Right to Rise super PAC and enough muscle to push aside Mitt Romney. There would be a massive, broad-based organizational effort to plant roots in March states at a time when other campaigns were mired in Iowa and New Hampshire. The plan outlined Bush’s positive, future-focused message with an emphasis on his decade-old record of accomplishment as Florida governor. 
 
 And it included several pages about Bush’s case to prosecute against top rivals — dire political threats such as Wisconsin’s Scott Walker. 
 
 The plan roundly underestimated threats: Bradshaw, his closest adviser and longtime defender, for example, told at least one campaign aide that Marco Rubio wouldn’t challenge Bush. Besides, Bradshaw and other top advisers believed, it would be next to impossible for someone with so little experience to beat him. “They thought there was going to be much more reverence and respect for the fact that Jeb Bush, a Bush, was getting into the race,” said one Florida-based supporter, an alumnus of Bush’s gubernatorial campaigns and former staffer. “When they got Romney to step aside, they figured everyone else would too.” 
 
 Most critically, the playbook, people who have read it tell POLITICO, contained nothing about Donald Trump, who would spend the next excruciating year turning Bush into his personal patrician piñata. 
 
 “The rules all changed this year. It was all about taking on the establishment,” said a Republican operative close to the Bush family. “When you’re the son and brother of former presidents, the grandson of a U.S. senator, how do you run in a year like this? It is just a year of personality, not message. All of a sudden, there was no path for him. They just kept falling back on his record as governor, which is all he has — and no one gives a shit.” 
 
 Bush suspended his campaign Saturday night after a fourth-place finish in the South Carolina primary. 
 
 Interviews with more than two dozen Bush insiders, donors and staff members illuminate the plight of an earnest and smart candidate who was tragicomically mismatched to the electorate of his own party and an unforgiving, mean media environment that broadcast his flaws. The entire premise of Bush’s candidacy, these insiders tell POLITICO, was an epic misread of a GOP base hostile to any establishment candidate, especially one with his baggage-weighted last name. 
 
 And Bush, known for toughness and hard-work ethic in Tallahassee, just couldn’t project the kind of Reagan-on-’roids strength demanded by Trump. 
 
 “They were just captive to it,” one Washington-based Bush donor said. “And they didn’t adjust very nimbly.” 
 
 *** 
 
 By August, just six weeks after officially launching his campaign, the only thing Bush’s staff could agree on was the problem: Donald J. Trump. 
 
 They’d paid no attention to the New York celebrity’s launch in June, just a day after their own. In early August, well after Trump began to dominate news coverage of the race, they still believed he was a blessing in disguise who would deprive Bush’s lesser-known rivals of the media oxygen needed to break through. But as Labor Day neared, Bush found himself on the defensive, peppered daily with questions from reporters asking him to react to Trump’s hard-line positions and seemingly outrageous statements on immigration. 
 
 But almost immediately, Trump baited Bush into a fight, staking out a position to the far right of the Floridian by calling for an end to automatic citizenship to any baby born in America. He ridiculed Bush’s earlier comment that immigrants who come to the United States illegally do it as an “act of love” for family, and called him unelectable. 
 
 Bush fired back, poorly. He went on conservative radio and used the derogatory term “anchor babies” when making the case that he would be a tough enforcer of immigration laws — opening the floodgates of criticism. 
 
 The following week, inside a Mexican restaurant in McAllen, Texas, just a few miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, Bush compounded the problem he was trying to clean up when he explained rather didactically that he was referring to Asians, not Mexicans, whom he argued were more guilty of taking advantage of the country’s birthright citizenship provision. 
 
 Inside his Miami headquarters, Bush’s senior staffers were coming to the collective realization that the race was veering out of their control. 
 
 But that’s where the consensus ended. 
 
 David Kochel, the early-state strategist initially hired to serve as campaign manager, and senior adviser Trent Wisecup, a protégé of Murphy’s, suggested that Bush challenge Trump to a one-hour, live televised debate on birthright citizenship, perhaps on “The O’Reilly Factor.” The Fox News host, they argued, supports birthright citizenship, and his show would offer a high-profile platform for Bush to demonstrate his policy knowledge and articulate his more unifying message, bringing the contrast between himself and Trump into sharper relief. 
 
 But Bradshaw, the most senior figure in the operation, and campaign manager Danny Diaz couldn’t be convinced it was a risk worth taking, according to high-level campaign staff. 
 
 
 
 By early August, Bush's team all agreed their main problem was Donald Trump, who had begun baiting Bush into fights almost immediately after his campaign launched. Above, the three candidates at the New Hampshire debate in early February. | AP 
 
 
 
 Days later, on Aug. 25, Trump was on stage at a rally in Dubuque, Iowa, when he offered an impression of Bush and characterized him as “low energy,” a critique he’d come up with after the first debate a few weeks earlier. 
 
 Bush’s team was stunned, first by the insult and then that it stuck. Kochel and Wisecup raced to respond and saw their already planned event that very same day — on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina — as the perfect opportunity for Bush to respond forcefully and directly to Trump. They envisioned Bush in Pensacola, Florida, speaking straight to Trump: “You think I’m low energy, why don’t you come down here and talk to these people about how I took charge in a crisis.” 
 
 But once again, Bradshaw and Diaz couldn’t be convinced. Trump, they decided, wasn’t in Bush’s “lane” and so the campaign need not worry about responding to him. They went ahead with the event as planned, rolling out a two-minute video telling the story of Bush’s leadership during several hurricanes in 2004 and 2005. The following day, the headlines mainly served to remind readers of another Bush with a less-heralded record on Katrina—George W. “One Bush gets praise for his handling of hurricanes” was The Washington Post’s version. 
 
 They got defined as �?low energy’ by a guy who took an escalator to his own announcement.” 
 
 “The Jeb people knew that literally every day when he was governor, he’d walk the steps of the Capitol at a jog pace,” one longtime Bush bundler and confidant said recently. “The building was 30 stories high. You’d hide because you wouldn’t want him to catch you and make you walk the stairs. He’d email you at 5:30 a.m. This was not at all a low-energy guy. It wasn’t true, but it stuck.” 
 
 “They got defined as �?low energy’ by a guy who took an escalator to his own announcement.” 
 
 *** 
 
 Those pivotal days in late August were one of the most critical inflection points for Bush’s troubled presidential campaign—the moments when Bradshaw, Kochel and Diaz might have reconsidered the assumptions made months earlier and redirected their candidate. They didn’t, because that redirection wasn’t part of the playbook. 
 
 “You cannot run a political campaign and not have the ability to adapt, to pivot,” one longtime Bush donor who has supported all five of the family’s presidential campaigns. “To sit there and say �?We have a book’ just shows the immaturity.” 
 
 Bradshaw, who remained based in Tallahassee throughout the campaign, not the Miami headquarters, is exceedingly close to Bush. She has run all of his gubernatorial campaigns and served as his chief of staff. She acts as his strategist, his confidante and his muscle, defending him from critics and acting as a wall between Bush and almost everyone else. But some donors worried that she and other Bush loyalists wouldn’t be able to see his flaws as a candidate. 
 
 Early on, Murphy warned some incoming top aides about the loyalists. “If Jeb walks into a room and asks for a coconut,” Murphy told them, “the loyalists would drop everything to make sure Jeb got a coconut.” 
 
 When Bradshaw held her first meeting with about 40 of the campaign’s most connected donors in Washington, D.C., last spring, laying out the playbook, explaining the structure of the operation and confidently asserting the high likelihood of Bush becoming the GOP nominee, she left the sleek law-firm conference room without assuaging some donors’ doubts about the plan — specifically, the decision to focus the first half of 2015 almost exclusively on raising unlimited amounts of cash for the super PAC and the structure of the campaign itself — or her willingness to speak tough truths to Bush himself. 
 
 “She told this story about how Jeb upset the young kid tasked with collecting and distributing the [news] clips because he said he didn’t want anyone reading the clips, he wanted them focused,” a top Bush bundler who attended the meeting recalled. “And she said she told the kid, �?Don’t worry, just take Jeb off the list and keep doing them.’ She’s in a room with 40 of us basically saying that she’s hiding things from the principal. We were like, �?Why are you telling us this?’” 
 
 Bradshaw brushed off donors’ concerns that focusing so much on filling the super PAC’s coffers might leave the campaign cash-poor. At the time, so much money was rolling in, that situation was hard to imagine. Bush’s finance team, led by Heather Larrison and Jack Oliver, was confident it would have the money it needed and instructed Kochel, then serving as the unofficial campaign manager, to build out a massive campaign with ballot-access teams working every state and senior staffers earning more than $200,000 annual salaries. Early on in the campaign, for example, Bush hired scores of policy aides — a reflection, perhaps, of his own wonkiness. Yet it was a luxury: Most of the campaigns hired only a small number of policy aides. 
 
 Once Diaz was named campaign manager in June, he went on a cost-cutting spree — implementing painful across-the-board cuts that affected staffers at nearly every corner of the campaign. Even junior staffers making mid-five figures found their salaries reduced. By late fall, the campaign was no longer leasing a second office space on the sixth floor of its Miami headquarters, with so many staffers having been either laid off or relocated to Iowa and New Hampshire. 
 
 “[Sally] would be the one who could be direct with Jeb about his flaws — but she doesn’t see the flaws,” said a GOP operative who has worked with Bradshaw. “She doesn’t understand how other people don’t see it, and anyone who is critical of Jeb is dead to her.” 
 
 Bradshaw especially was obsessed with Rubio, whose audacity in simply entering the race and challenging his friend and former mentor was, to many Bush loyalists, unforgivable. Once the GOP debates began in August, sparking new interest in the golden-tongued Rubio, Bush’s team agreed it was time to engage with a challenger who, in its view, posed a greater obstacle to Bush consolidating support from mainstream Republicans. 
 
 In October, Bush began laying the groundwork to prosecute his case against Rubio, dinging the first-term senator for his poor attendance record and missed votes in the Senate. Heading into the third GOP debate in Boulder, Colorado, on Oct. 28, Bush and his entire team were on the same page — and brimming with confidence. They hinted at what was coming, planting stories and calling reporters on debate day to ensure that the attack on Rubio was the dominant storyline. 
 
 They’d rehearsed the attack on Rubio dozens of time during debate prep, but when it came time to execute on stage, Bush “just whiffed,” one senior staffer lamented later. “That stuff he said about being one of Marco’s constituents and being disappointed, that wasn’t anything we’d practiced,” the staffer continued. “He’s Jeb Bush. No one is going to empathize with him as someone who needs his senator to work on his behalf.” When Rubio hit back, dismissing Bush’s attack by citing the fact that “we’re now running for the same position,” Bush failed to respond. 
 
 “Sometimes you just fuck up,” the Bush staffer said. 
 
 It wasn’t until that debacle that Bush’s advisers decided to address the candidate’s poor performances themselves, hiring Jon Kraushar, who generally works with television anchors, as a public speaking coach. 
 
 *** 
 
 Looking back now after his early exit from a nomination battle he vowed to be in “for the long haul,” his slow, awkward stumble from August through October encapsulates everything that caused the operation viewed as “Jeb!, Inc.” to fail. Bush was on the wrong side of the most galvanizing issues for Republican primary voters; he himself was a rusty and maladroit campaigner and his campaign was riven by internal disagreements and a crippling fear that left it paralyzed and unable to react to Trump. 
 
 The problem, many donors say they believe, is that there wasn’t anyone on the team who both recognized his shortcomings and was willing to point them out to the principal himself. 
 
 “He did not put an adult as the chairman of the campaign and a lot of the mistakes flow from that,” said one longtime Bush donor. “Reagan put Bill Casey in that position. 41 put Jim Baker. 43 had Don Evans. You always had someone above the campaign manager who could tell people and the candidate what needed to happen, who could see the big picture. By putting Sally, who loves you, in charge, you don’t get the fair perspective, the right perspective.” 
 
 But the blame is not Bradshaw’s alone. The entire premise of Bush’s candidacy now looks like a misread of an electorate that wasn’t amenable to establishment candidates—and a misunderstanding of a modern media environment ill-suited to a policy wonk who speaks in paragraphs, not punchy sound bites. He couldn’t sell experience to an electorate that wanted emotion. He couldn’t escape his last name. His millions couldn’t buy popular support. 
 
 Given how the race has gone, the real mystery of Jeb Bush’s campaign isn’t why he failed — but why anyone ever thought he would succeed. 
 
 Glenn Thrush and Alex Isenstadt contributed to this report. 
 
 Eli Stokols is a national politics reporter. ||||| SUMMERVILLE, S.C. — Some of Jeb Bush’s most steadfast allies think Saturday might be the end. 
 
 Donors, who poured millions into his campaign and super PAC, have stopped giving — one refusing a direct request to raise $1 million this week. Bush himself is hitting the phones, pleading for patience with his most influential supporters. And even some of his confidants are suddenly dejected after a dispiriting week capped off by South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley rejecting Bush in favor of Marco Rubio. 
 
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 “What a kick in the balls,” said one of Bush’s closest supporters, one of the more than a dozen major Bush donors interviewed for this story. 
 
 The Bush team had been banking on a strong week, believing their candidate’s first solid debate performance last weekend would move the numbers in South Carolina. They thought bringing in George W. Bush on Monday night would generate more enthusiasm and positive earned media than it did. They held out hope that the former president could convince Haley, who’d hedged on backing Rubio after his slip in New Hampshire, to support a fellow governor. 
 
 But none of it panned out. 
 
 “The Haley endorsement just hurt,” said a Florida-based fundraiser who is close to Bush and had up to now remained optimistic about his chances. “We felt we had some momentum after New Hampshire. And Jeb was feeling good about his brother. But it wasn’t as good as we thought it would be. Then this happened.” 
 
 “It’s bad for the staff, for morale,” that donor said. “People are working hard and it’s tough when this happens. But this stuff happens.” 
 
 But even before Haley’s endorsement, several longtime Bush donors were emailing one another Tuesday morning, expressing a collective readiness to intervene and tell Bush, depending on his finish here Saturday night, that his time is up. 
 
 “People are going to wait and see what the sequence is in South Carolina, but they’ve put all the players on the field at this point, including W,” one donor on the email chain said. “If he finishes significantly behind Rubio in South Carolina, I think a lot of the people who are personally close to him, including donors are going to say, don’t stay in until money runs out, don’t stay in just to be a spoiler. We’re thinking about legacy now.” 
 
 On a donor conference call Wednesday night hours after the Haley endorsement, the mood was even more grim. Bush himself wasn’t on the line when one donor asked about the cash situation. The donors were told that the Right to Rise super PAC has $15 million left in the bank. The implication, however, “was that the hard money is about used up,” said one donor. 
 
 At the beginning of the week, Jack Oliver, the Washington attorney heading up the campaign’s fundraising efforts, was calling campaign bundlers. The “ask” to one Texas bundler: Can you raise $1 million this week? The answer was no. “Every single person who can write a $2,700 check has already written it,” one Florida-based Bush donor said. “I think they’d like to keep going, I just don’t think they can.” 
 
 Bush himself began working the phones immediately after his fourth place showing in New Hampshire 10 days ago, calling several of his most loyal and influential supporters, all of whom long ago maxed out contributions to his campaign and most of whom have been reluctant to keep writing checks to the super PAC. According to one source who received such a call, Bush was pleading for patience. 
 
 “Stay with me through Nevada,” is how one Washington, D.C., bundler paraphrased Bush’s message to him. “For a guy who’d built a campaign to go the distance, it was telling.” Bush might not even make it to Nevada. On Wednesday, a poll showed Bush drawing just 1 percent of likely Nevada caucus-goers. 
 
 Jeb Bush adviser dances around exit question An excerpt of CNN's 'New Day' on Friday. 
 
 On Thursday, Bush’s communications director, Tim Miller, shot down reports that the campaign held a call informing staff that it would be out of money as early as Saturday. To the contrary, the campaign just made an additional six-figure investment in voter contact efforts for phone banks and digital and radio advertising because of money raised at three events this week, according to Miller. 
 
 “Marco’s campaign is hemorrhaging cash in South Carolina and likely won’t be able to fund their effort following another disappointing result like New Hampshire,” he continued. “Three polls in the last two days have a statistical three-way tie for second in South Carolina. We look forward to surprising people on Saturday here in Bush Country.” 
 
 In private conversations, Oliver and two others close to Bush have been insisting that Bush will continue through Nevada and the Super Tuesday contests on March 1 unless he finishes a distant fifth or sixth in South Carolina. But the hard-money situation, several sources close to the campaign acknowledge, is bleak. “The donors are not as giving as blindly this year as they did to [Mitt] Romney,” one longtime Bush ally said. “They learned to look at their investment and to assess if and where it might pay off. If the numbers in Nevada and Florida aren’t good, whatever happens in South Carolina, the reality is it’s going to be very hard to pick up delegates in the places he has to win. 
 
 “The fact of the matter is there isn’t strength anywhere.” 
 
 Bush is facing serious problems on the ground in South Carolina, where he’d been hoping to reinvigorate his campaign by outpacing a weakened Rubio in a second consecutive primary. But while Rubio has rebounded, Bush has remained stuck, his support somewhere around the 10 percent mark according to an average of the most recent polls. His close confidants and longtime friends are dejected. They know that finishing behind his former protégé here could be the death blow. 
 
 “People would love to get Jeb all the way through the convention, but I’m not sure, given where things stand, that’s not realistic,” said a Florida Bush supporter who’s been close to the family for the better part of three decades. “The question is: Will Jeb Bush do what’s best for the country, especially with Trump in a position to run away with it? Or is it too personal for him to quit. This is a gut check moment Saturday, depending on the outcome.” 
 
 Things seemed to be headed in the right direction after Saturday night’s debate in Greenville, where Bush aggressively went after Donald Trump, fighting back after the front-running businessman criticized Bush’s brother, former president George W. Bush, blaming him not just for the Iraq war but for the 9/11 attacks that happened, Trump said, “on his watch.” 
 
 South Carolina primary: The gloves come off A recap of some of the messier moments during the last 16 years of the South Carolina primary. 
 
 After the debate, Bush’s team was downright jubilant. Inside a crowded spin room, Miller, lingered just over Trump’s shoulder, smiling cheekily, as the businessman answered questions into a sea of microphones and cameras. Later, Miller made a photo of his Trump-trolling his Twitter avatar and posted a picture on his Instagram feed with the caption, “Good night for the home team.” 
 
 Indeed, it was Bush’s strongest performance on the debate stage; but it does not appear to have yielded much benefit to the candidate himself. By midweek, public and private polls, including two conducted over three nights of live calls, showed that Trump might have lost some of his support in the days after the debate, but that Bush’s numbers hadn’t really moved. 
 
 Bush knew he had to put down the pedal in South Carolina this week. Plans for a strong showing in Saturday’s first in the South primary have been in place for weeks: busing dozens of volunteers up from Miami to canvass across the state and bringing in his brother, who enjoys an 84 percent approval rating among South Carolina Republicans. 
 
 But Trump, after sparring with Bush on the debate stage Saturday night and challenging his assertion that George W. Bush “kept the country safe after 9/11,” made sure he continued to dominate the media coverage on Monday, holding an hourlong news conference during which he continued to criticize the former president just four hours before the Bushes rallied just up the road on the outskirts of Charleston. 
 
 Only 3,000 people showed up to the North Charleston Convention Center, filling just half of the cavernous exhibition hall (by comparison, the day before in a rural town of just 20,000 people, Marco Rubio had drawn more than 2,000 on a Sunday afternoon). And multiple news accounts of the event included interviews with attendees who’d gone to see the former president but were hesitant about voting for his brother. 
 
 Among Bush supporters the next day, depression began to set in. 
 
 “We thought we could get a bigger splash with that event,” one of Bush’s most loyal Florida backers privately admitted. Instead, the attempt to remind Republicans here of their lasting affinity for a family and its dedication to public service served onlyto further position Jeb Bush as the last scion of a passing dynasty — in direct contrast to Rubio, who by week’s end was stumping across the state with three of South Carolina’s most popular conservative officeholders, Sen. Tim Scott, Rep. Trey Gowdy and Haley, the collective embodiment of a new, more diverse and aspirational generation of Republican leaders. 
 
 Haley’s endorsement Wednesday stung even more because of an interview Bush had done on his campaign bus just a day earlier, when he told NBC’s Peter Alexander that the Haley endorsement, “if she is to give an endorsement, it would be the most powerful, meaningful one in the state.” 
 
 “When they rolled out that clip right after Haley endorsed [Rubio], it was just devastating,” another Florida-based Bush supporter said. “You just shake your head watching that. He should have known better than to say that, unless somehow he had a sense she was going to endorse him. It just shows that he doesn’t get the messaging piece of this, or that he’s insulated from what’s actually happening out there.” 
 
 Many of Bush’s “alumni,” those who broke into politics on his past campaigns and served him as governor, remember a commanding, keenly aware executive — one who, just a decade ago, himself seemed emblematic of the GOP’s future, not its past. They imagined him as a future president; and they remain unwavering in their belief that he’d make a great one. But they are no longer sugarcoating the reality — and hoping Bush himself can ultimately accept it — that it might no longer be his time. 
 
 “I love this man,” one Jeb alumnus said. “Watching this play out is painful.” 
 
 Even Bush sounds funereal. 
 
 “I hope you don’t think the end is near,” he said in South Carolina on Thursday at the end of his speech. 
 
 Marc Caputo and Ben White contributed to this report. ||||| Throughout 2015, news coverage of Jeb Bush tended to bracket him as his party’s dynastic counterpart to Hillary Clinton. He was the boring, preordained candidate of his party’s power structure. But the parallel has collapsed. Hillary Clinton has retained a bare but relatively firm command of her party’s nominating contest, while Bush’s campaign consisted of a long, painful demise punctuated by one aborted moment of relief. Perhaps the candidates and their circumstances were not so similar after all. 
 
 Both Bush and Clinton represent name-brand presidents of the relatively recent past. And both have squared off against populist insurgents. But there the similarity ends. Bush’s candidacy has received a measure of dignity in its death that was denied it in life. All sides now recall the dearly departed former governor as a sober, dignified voice of reason, the polar opposite of Donald Trump’s bellicosity. Jeb, his supporters have told us, is the one candidate who stood up to Trump. But this encomium mistakes victimhood for courage. Bush did not choose Trump as his antagonist; Trump choose Bush. His vicious, relentless pummeling defined Bush in a way that was horrible to watch. Bush’s strategy throughout was to hope Trump turned his attention to others. “Trump is, frankly, other people’s problem,” confessed Bush’s primary strategist last August. And he continued that strategy for months, attacking everybody but Trump. Whenever Trump momentarily relented his abuse, Bush appeared gratified. 
 
 Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images 
 
 Bernie Sanders is not an abusive jerk. He shouts but does not interrupt, and softens the edges of his personal attacks. (His accusation of corruption against Clinton is implied more than stated overtly.) Unlike Trump, Sanders has a coherent (if not realistic) programmatic alternative. But the main difference is that Sanders is attacking a successful model of governance. His campaign is built upon discontent with President Obama’s achievements, and — to a lesser extent — discontent with Bill Clinton’s. Hillary Clinton is running as the heir to both administrations, a figure who will build upon their success. 
 
 This strategy is working because Bill Clinton was a successful president, and Obama has been an extremely successful one. There may be shortcomings in both of their records, but both of them managed to govern intelligently, competently, and in a way that looked after a relatively broad spectrum of interests. 
 
 George W. Bush’s presidency did none of these things. His administration was an abject disaster both domestically and abroad. Jeb Bush never figured out how to divest himself from his brother’s failure, and by the end reduced himself to running openly as his heir, bringing Dubya to campaign with him in his South Carolina box canyon stand. The Bush disaster presented Jeb with a double trap he could never escape. His brand was poison for swing voters. And conservatives, who had fallen mostly in line with Dubya during his presidency, were forced to disavow him as a heretic by the end so that their ideology could escape the wreckage. 
 
 The direction of Republican politics since 2008 is mostly the continuing momentum of this explosion. One direction of Republican strategy has taken seriously the premise that Bush failed because of his moderation, and tried to steer the party toward a more austere version of the faith. That is the Cruz version. The Trump version is more of an inchoate rebellion against the party’s donor class and its ideas, embracing nationalism and affect. Marco Rubio represents the true continuation of Bushism within the party — massive tax cuts plus neoconservative foreign policy plus soft-pedaled social conservatism, all sold in a compassionate package with lots of high-profile outreach to Democratic constituencies. Rubio allows Republicans to double down on Bushism without saddling themselves with the liability of the Bush name or, by extension, acknowledging that they still believe Bush’s ideas work. 
 
 What killed Jeb Bush’s campaign was first the failure of his brother’s administration, and then the emergence of Marco Rubio to present a more attractive face for its continuation. Trump is the face Jeb Bush’s admirers wish to present as his antagonist. But the Bush campaign did not need Trump to kill it. ||||| If there is any justice in the universe (I know, but let’s go with it), Jeb Bush’s announcement Saturday night that he was ending his campaign for the Republican nomination marks the permanent end of the Bush family’s presence in our national politics. 
 
 Can anyone think of another family dynasty that has had such a huge role in a particular stretch of American history, yet has almost zero hold on the country’s imagination? 
 
 The Roosevelt cousins Teddy and Franklin served altogether about five full presidential terms and had an outsized role in building and shaping the nation in the first half of the twentieth century; they are among the most notable personalities in our political history. The martyrdom of Jack and Robert Kennedy, and the tragedies that befell other members of their family, might have ensured them a place in our national mythos out of proportion to their actual impact, a fact that drives the right crazy. (There is a reason conservatives to this day still make snarling references to Chappaquiddick.) Still, there is an argument to be made that the Great Society legislation later signed by Lyndon Johnson had its roots in JFK’s administration (along with the long and brutal Vietnam War). And Teddy Kennedy was a consequential senator for over fifty years. His decades-long push for healthcare reform helped shove Obamacare over the finish line in his memory. 
 
 But the Bushes are in a class by themselves. Of the last nine presidential elections, a Bush has been on the Republican ticket for six of them, winning five. They have had a profound impact on the nation we see around us today, from George Herbert Walker Bush’s role in the Reagan administration and his waging of the Persian Gulf War in 1991, to George W. Bush’s eight years of incompetent, bumbling rule that left the nation with a stunning budget deficit, a financial crisis the likes of which we had not seen since the 1930s, thousands of broken military veterans, and foreign entanglements that we may never be able to untangle. 
 
 The Bushes are like the McDonald’s of political families. They have popped up everywhere for half a century, and damn near everything they offer is unhealthy enough to kill you. 
 
 But when you think of them, do you think of the glamor of Camelot, or stoic leadership in the face of great national tragedies like the Great Depression or World War II, or an outsized personality promising basic fairness to citizens, fighting for progressive reforms, and not letting something small like getting shot stopping you from giving a speech before seeking medical attention? Do you think of either 41 or 43 as legends? What are the tales we’ll be writing about them in our nation’s history books? A couple of wars, a hideous recession, and the infliction of Dick Cheney on the nation, an act for which W should never be allowed out in public again. These are not accomplishments that get your face carved on Mount Rushmore. 
 
 If it is the end for the Bushes, could there be a more fitting close than a member of the family blowing a boatload of money and good will on a hopeless campaign, the very nature of which befuddled him, and for which he seemed to be caught flatfooted, completely unprepared for the forces arrayed against the juggernaut he was so sure would roll over the opposition? 
 
 Because that was Jeb Bush for the last few months of his political career. Granted, almost no one saw Donald Trump coming. But a year ago, Bush’s nomination was supposed to be a sure thing. He was going to roll up huge amounts of fundraising. The RNC scheduled the primaries in such a way as to allegedly be advantageous to him. His name was supposed to be a plus for some reason. The Republican establishment, at least, seemed to think the Barack Obama that exists in the right-wing media bubble would fuel a nostalgia for the W years that would redound to Jeb’s benefit. God knows why, but no one ever accused Reince Priebus of being the crispiest French fry in the Happy Meal. 
 
 Others have noted the irony of Bush’s campaign ending in South Carolina, the home state of famed weasel Lee Atwater, who helped get George H.W. Bush elected with the despicable Willie Horton ad in 1988, and where a 2000 whisper campaign begun by Atwater disciple Karl Rove regarding John McCain’s alleged illegitimate black daughter helped W to victory in that year’s primary. But that has always been the Bush way: Let someone else do the vicious dirty work while you keep your hands clean. Or operate so far in the background, as Poppy Bush did while serving as Reagan’s vice-president, that you can mostly avoid the crap from something like the Iran-contra scandal splattering all over your loafers. 
 
 Jeb Bush never had his father’s knack for avoiding that spillage. Nor did he ever seem to really have any fire or passion in him for the presidency. You could see this on Saturday night, when he read his concession speech like he was giving a perfunctory toast at a Rotary Club dinner. When he awkwardly announced that he was happy to go home that night and sleep in his own bed with his best friend, his wife Columba, who was standing behind him, I half-expected a waiter to materialize onstage to put a plate of undercooked roast beef on the lectern. 
 
 That was Jeb Bush, whose campaign motto might as well have been “Sure, Why Not.” As always with the Bushes, one got the sense that the call to public service was not taken up out of some sort of great love for the nation or belief in their ability to make a difference. Elected office was just sort of there, and what the heck, someone had to sit in it. 
 
 It didn’t help that the party Jeb claimed to love, which had nourished his family for decades, had passed him by, had become not so much a political party as a toxic cloud of xenophobia and inchoate rage. Of course, a close observer could have seen that before he blew upwards of a max NBA contract on a presidential campaign that lasted less than a year, but the Bushes have always seemed so insulated from anything approaching reality. 
 
 As for the future, there is always Jeb’s son George P. Bush, currently serving as Texas land commissioner and occasionally mentioned as the family’s hope for continued political relevance. It’s hard to see how the GOP will ever again embrace the family name, but who knows? When your party is about to nominate Donald Trump for the presidency, all bets involving logic and reason are off.
– The post-mortems on Jeb Bush's failed campaign are rolling in. Some examples: Don't blame Donald Trump. "What killed Jeb Bush’s campaign was first the failure of his brother’s administration, and then the emergence of Marco Rubio to present a more attractive face for its continuation," writes Jonathan Chait at New York. Still, Peter Beinart at the Atlantic explains why Bush was Trump's "perfect foil." The Week sums things up by collecting 19 "devastating quotes" that compare coverage of Bush in early 2015 with more recent stories. One problem: His campaign underestimated "Bush fatigue," observes the Washington Post. Another: He didn't have advisers who could recognize shortcomings and, more importantly, point them out to Bush himself, says this piece in Politico Magazine. How on earth do you spend $130 million and have so little to show for it? The New York Times digs into "one of the least successful campaign spending binges in history." Those early stumbles on Iraq didn't help, notes CNN. Gary Legum at Salon bids "good riddance" to the "Bush Dynasty" with the question, "Can anyone think of another family dynasty that has had such a huge role in a particular stretch of American history, yet has almost zero hold on the country’s imagination?"