In 2016 fundraising, Jeb Bush is on the defensive

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For a time,..."/> <meta name="date" content="2015-04-23"/> <meta property="og:title" content="In fundraising, Jeb is on defense"/> <meta property="og:type" content="article"/> <meta property="og:url" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158/http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/jeb-bush-2016-fundraising-117304.html"/> <meta property="og:image" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158im_/http://images.politico.com/global/2015/04/23/150423_jeb_bush_gty_1160.jpg"/> <meta property="og:site_name" content="POLITICO"/> <meta property="og:description" content="This weekend in Miami Jeb Bush will huddle with a group of his top donors at a brand new &ldquo;nature-centric,&rdquo; $700-a-night South Beach hotel, replete with four pools, a Tom Colicchio restaurant and an 11,000-plant &ldquo;living green wall.&rdquo; The point, though, isn&rsquo;t tranquility and relaxation &ndash; it&rsquo;s survival. 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Jeb Bush speaks at the First in the Nation Republican Leadership Summit April 17, 2015 in Nashua, New Hampshire. The Summit brought together local and national Republicans and was attended by all the Republicans candidates as well as those eyeing a run for the nomination. (Photo by Darren McCollester/Getty Images)"/> </div> <figcaption> <p>Getty</p> </figcaption> </figure> </div> </div> </div> <div class="content-groupset pos-alpha"> <div class="content-group story-tools"> <div class="tools-group"> <div class="tools-item"> <aside class="user-tools orient-vertical sticky-content"> <ul class="share-tools tools-list" data-share-url="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/jeb-bush-2016-fundraising-117304.html"> <li class="share-facebook"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158/http://api.addthis.com/oexchange/0.8/forward/facebook/offer?pco=tbx32nj-1.0&url=http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/jeb-bush-2016-fundraising-117304.html&pubid=politico.com" target="_blank"><b aria-hidden="true" class="icon icon-facebook"></b><span class="icon-text count-facebook">Facebook</span></a></li> <li class="share-twitter"><a 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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158/mailto:/?subject=In%20fundraising%2C%20Jeb%20is%20on%20defense&body=http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/jeb-bush-2016-fundraising-117304.html"><b aria-hidden="true" class="icon icon-mail"></b><span class="icon-text">Email</span></a></li> <li class="utility-comment"><a href="#superComments" class="collapse-toggle jump-anchor"><b aria-hidden="true" class="icon icon-comment"></b><span class="icon-text">Comment</span></a></li> <li class="utility-print"> <a href="#" onclick="window.print();return false;"><b aria-hidden="true" class="icon icon-print"></b><span class="icon-text">Print</span></a> </li> </ul> </aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="content-groupset pos-beta"> <div class="content-group story-core"> <div class="story-text "> <div class="shifty-wrapper empty-at-base empty-at-small empty-at-medium" data-set="shifty-story-interrupt"></div> <p>This weekend in Miami Jeb Bush will huddle with a group of his top donors at a brand new “nature-centric,” $700-a-night South Beach hotel, replete with four pools, a Tom Colicchio restaurant and an 11,000-plant “living green wall.”</p> <p>The point, though, isn’t tranquility and relaxation – it’s survival.</p> <p class="story-continued">Story Continued Below</p> <div class="story-interrupt format-s pos-alpha predetermined"> <div class="interrupt-item ad"> <div class="ad-slot orient-vertical" id="core-twentyten-story_pol-05"> </div> </div> </div> <p>For a time, it looked like Bush would steamroll the GOP field with a cash-flush juggernaut that might raise as much as $100 million in the first quarter, using a variety of super PACs to push the boundaries of campaign finance laws and dominate the field.</p> <aside class="story-related"> <article class="story-frag format-sm"> <figure class="thumb"> <div class="fig-graphic"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158/http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/white-house-on-trade-deal-clinton-is-with-us-117305.html?ml=ri"><img alt="Hillary Clinton listens at left as President Barack Obama speaks to members of the media. | AP Photo" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158im_/http://images.politico.com/global/2015/04/23/150423_obama_hillary_clinton_ap_1160_90x49.jpg"/></a></div> </figure> <div class="summary"> <header> <p class="category"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158/http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/white-house-on-trade-deal-clinton-is-with-us-117305.html?ml=ri">Also on POLITICO</a></p> <h3> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158/http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/white-house-on-trade-deal-clinton-is-with-us-117305.html?ml=ri">White House on trade deal: Clinton is with us</a></h3> </header> <footer class="meta"> <p class="byline"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158/http://www.politico.com/reporters/Edward-IsaacDovere.html" rel="nofollow">EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE</a> and <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158/http://www.politico.com/reporters/AnnieKarni.html" rel="nofollow">ANNIE KARNI</a></p> </footer> </div> </article> </aside> <p>But that was before New York hedge fund magnate Robert Mercer pledged more than $15 million to Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio gained the full-fleged support of Miami billionaire Norman Braman and became the front-runner to win casino mogul Sheldon Adelson’s backing. Another rival, Scott Walker, recently became the favorite of billionaire David Koch, who seemed to tip his support for the Wisconsin governor at a fundraiser this week.</p> <p>“Everyone has looked at Jeb’s fundraising strategy of ‘shock and awe’ as him ‘going on offense’,” said a Bush bundler, one of several who spoke to POLITICO for this story on the condition of anonymity. “The reality is: it’s defense. He’s going to have all of these other Republicans, each with their own super PAC funded by their own billionaire, coming after him. He’s going to have to withstand what could be a $50 million onslaught.”</p> <p>Added another Bush donor: “These folks may have – altogether – somewhere in the neighborhood of $50-70 million in the primary, and we may see them come to a collective decision to try to take Jeb out. Democrats, if there’s an opportunity, may throw some money on top of all that to help.”</p> <aside class="story-related"> <article class="story-frag format-sm"> <div class="summary"> <header> <p class="category"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158/http://www.politico.comhttp//www.politico.com/2016blast/0415/2016blast18026.html?ml=ri">Also on POLITICO</a></p> <h3> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158/http://www.politico.comhttp//www.politico.com/2016blast/0415/2016blast18026.html?ml=ri">Jeb's $100 million survival fund</a></h3> </header> <footer class="meta"> <p class="byline"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158/http://www.politico.com/reporters/JonathanTopaz.html" rel="nofollow">JONATHAN TOPAZ</a> and <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158/http://www.politico.com/reporters/BenSchreckinger.html" rel="nofollow">BEN SCHRECKINGER</a></p> </footer> </div> </article> </aside> <p>Hence, the calculation that Bush may need to raise $100 million “as a matter of survival.”</p> <p>“With Mercer, Adelson, Braman, the Kochs, and talk radio and the blogs, it’s like ‘Game of Thrones’ out there,” said a longtime Bush donor.</p> <p>While Bush is in Miami this weekend, Walker, Cruz, Rubio and Paul will be making their case to social conservatives at Ralph Reed’s Iowa summit. Meanwhile, Adelson’s Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual meeting in Las Vegas is expected to draw Cruz, Lindsey Graham and other pro-Israel hawks making a play for the billionaire’s financial backing.</p> <p>Bush’s two-day summit at 1Hotel is a thank you of sorts to four levels of major donors who’ve already bundled at least $50,000 – the highest level is for donors who’ve already raised $500,000 for Bush’s Right to Rise PAC.</p> <aside class="story-related"> <article class="story-frag format-sm"> <figure class="thumb"> <div class="fig-graphic"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158/http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/marco-rubio-takes-lead-in-sheldon-adelson-primary-117268.html?ml=ri"><img alt="American businessman Sheldon Adelson is shown. | AP Photo" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158im_/http://images.politico.com/global/2015/04/23/lede_150422_adelson_sunglasses_ap_1160_90x49.jpg"/></a></div> </figure> <div class="summary"> <header> <p class="category"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158/http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/marco-rubio-takes-lead-in-sheldon-adelson-primary-117268.html?ml=ri">Also on POLITICO</a></p> <h3> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158/http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/marco-rubio-takes-lead-in-sheldon-adelson-primary-117268.html?ml=ri">Rubio takes lead in Sheldon Adelson primary</a></h3> </header> <footer class="meta"> <p class="byline"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158/http://www.politico.com/reporters/AlexIsenstadt.html" rel="nofollow">ALEX ISENSTADT</a></p> </footer> </div> </article> </aside> <p>The confab starts Sunday afternoon with a welcome reception, then a dinner with Jeb and his wife, Columba, and a late night party, followed by panel discussions Monday morning with some of Bush’s policy advisers and then a lunch panel discussion moderated by the candidate.</p> <p>“It’s a reward for bundlers,” said one Bush donor who isn’t attending. “They get to hear about the campaign and take pictures with Jeb. I’d guess a majority of the real high-end bundlers aren’t even going because it’s not that exciting to them.”</p> <p>But the weekend is also an effort to maintain relationships and a broad donor network that has seen some defections early on.</p> <p>“It’s constructive to keep people close, to have Jeb talk to them and make sure they feel listened to and appreciated,” one Florida-based Bush backer said. “But there are some people down here who’ve been rubbed the wrong way by the fundraising team’s imperial demands.”</p> <aside class="story-related"> <article class="story-frag format-sm"> <figure class="thumb"> <div class="fig-graphic"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158/http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/04/jeb-bush-reporters-florida-schooled-the-press-117004.html?ml=ri"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158im_/http://images.politico.com/global/2015/04/15/_lead_polotico-8—-jeb-bush-for-the-web_90x49.jpg"/></a></div> </figure> <div class="summary"> <header> <p class="category"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158/http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/04/jeb-bush-reporters-florida-schooled-the-press-117004.html?ml=ri">On POLITICO Magazine</a></p> <h3> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158/http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/04/jeb-bush-reporters-florida-schooled-the-press-117004.html?ml=ri">How Jeb Bush Schooled the Florida Press</a></h3> </header> <footer class="meta"> <p class="byline">S.V. DÁTE</p> </footer> </div> </article> </aside> <p>With this cycle’s wider field of attractive and seemingly viable Republican candidates than the party saw in 2012, a number of conservative donors aren’t ready to go all-in for anyone at this point in the race, wanting to evaluate interesting but relatively untested candidates like Walker and Rubio by watching them perform on the campaign trail and in debates, which don’t begin until August.</p> <p>That hesitation doesn’t sit well with Bush’s finance team, some donors say.</p> <p>“They’re trying to hustle everyone to get on the train now,” one said. “There’s some pressure – ‘you’re with us or you’re against us’ – that is the result of a more competitive field.”</p> <p>Some donors are put off by the pressure from Bush’s financiers, and express an unease about where the campaign is at this point — especially with polls showing Walker ahead — and its unorthodox structure.</p> <p>Bush’s reluctance to declare himself a candidate or even that he’s exploring a run, which enables him to sidestep campaign finance rules, allows him to continue raising unlimited sums of money for the super PAC, which could have its own policy shop and serve as the primary message machine, walled off from Bush himself and his actual campaign.</p> <aside class="story-related"> <article class="story-frag format-sm"> <figure class="thumb"> <div class="fig-graphic has-overlay"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158/http://www.politico.com/magazine/gallery/2015/04/i-want-to-be-with-the-circus/002185-031134.html?ml=ri"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158im_/http://images.politico.com/global/2015/04/20/1_kennerly_1996_clintons-extended-gray_90x49.jpg"/><span class="fig-overlay is-deemphasized"><b aria-hidden="true" class="icon icon-camera"> </b><span class="icon-text">View Photo Gallery</span></span></a></div> </figure> <div class="summary"> <header> <p class="category"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158/http://www.politico.com/magazine/gallery/2015/04/i-want-to-be-with-the-circus/002185-031134.html?ml=ri">On POLITICO Magazine</a></p> <h3> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158/http://www.politico.com/magazine/gallery/2015/04/i-want-to-be-with-the-circus/002185-031134.html?ml=ri">‘I Want to Be With the Circus’</a></h3> </header> <footer class="meta"> <p class="byline">DAVID HUME KENNERLY</p> </footer> </div> </article> </aside> <p>“There’s a worry that this is setting them up for a number of legal challenges,” a Florida-based donor said. “There’s some freedom allowed by this but there’s also a lot of arrogance because, even if they think they’re on firm legal ground, we all know the intent of the law is not to have presidential campaigns being run out of a super PAC. It’s untested, it’s risky — there’s that chance that it blows up, that some unforeseen legal challenge actually sticks.</p> <p>“And the optics are horrible. If he wins the nomination this way, Democrats will seize on the tactics as evidence that Jeb Bush thinks he can play by his own rules. It’s the same playbook we’re trying to run against Hillary, which would be out the window.”</p> <div class="story-supplement"> <footer class="content-credits"> <h6>Authors:</h6> <div class="credits-list"> <dl class="vcard"> <dt class="credits-author"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158/http://www.politico.com/reporters/EliStokols.html" class="url fn" rel="author">Eli Stokols</a></dt> <dd class="credits-twitter"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158/http://twitter.com/EliStokols" class="url"><b aria-hidden="true" class="icon icon-twitter"></b> @EliStokols</a></dd> </dl> </div> </footer> </div> <div class="story-supplement"> <aside class="content-categories"> <h6>This story tagged under:</h6> <ul class="categories-list"> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158/http://www.politico.com/p/pages/jeb-bush">Jeb Bush</a></li><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150629131158/http://www.politico.com/p/tag/jeb-bush-2016">Jeb Bush 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In 2016 fundraising, Jeb Bush is on the defensive - POLITICO