A pro Jeb Bush Super PAC called PAC Vamos for Jeb 2016 has decided to call it quits. In what is an apt metaphor for the entire Jeb Bush experience in the 2016 race:
“The committee has not raised nor dispersed any funds and would like to accordingly terminate and be discontinued,” wrote Andrea Wong, the treasurer for the super PAC. “Up to this point the only activity done were social media pages on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook which have been deactivated.”
This PAC folding is not significant it self, but it is significant that the fat lady is getting to sing:
In conversations over the past six weeks, a number of major Right to Rise donors have privately told The Hill that they are holding on to hope that the political action committee can turn things around.
And, while doubts are mounting, none of the super-PAC’s largest donors interviewed was willing to publicly abandon the group’s leader, Mike Murphy. Murphy has been trying to reassure them that his is a winning strategy and that their six- and seven-figure checks are being judiciously spent.
But Republican doubts about super-PACs’ efficacy go much deeper than questioning Right to Rise’s performance.
Jordan, the Rubio supporter, says the conservative donors he talks to “are in the head-scratching phase.”
“They haven’t figured out what is going on,” he said. “They just know that the usual stuff is not working.
Jordan says he is focused on generating “earned media,” content that will be entertaining enough for people to watch and share with friends. He believes that large ad campaigns have mostly been a waste of money this election cycle.
The one thing that folks with enough money to give to super PACs have in common is that they want results. The one thing that the people in super PACs have in common is that most harbor a desire to be part of the new administration. The fact that these people folded indicated that they have no hope of a payoff. The donors being spooked indicates they think their money was wasted, too.
Right now the Jeb Bush campaign is in the flopsweat stage. They don’t have a plan. Their path to victory requires divine intervention. We’ll see more of these headlines soon.
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