Advertisement
Canada markets close in 5 hours 59 minutes
  • S&P/TSX

    21,887.33
    +50.15 (+0.23%)
     
  • S&P 500

    5,139.20
    -10.22 (-0.20%)
     
  • DOW

    38,860.09
    +69.66 (+0.18%)
     
  • CAD/USD

    0.7346
    -0.0043 (-0.58%)
     
  • CRUDE OIL

    82.89
    +0.17 (+0.21%)
     
  • Bitcoin CAD

    86,487.66
    -5,406.17 (-5.88%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,155.40
    -8.90 (-0.41%)
     
  • RUSSELL 2000

    2,018.00
    -6.74 (-0.33%)
     
  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.3160
    -0.0240 (-0.55%)
     
  • NASDAQ

    16,002.25
    -101.20 (-0.63%)
     
  • VOLATILITY

    14.56
    +0.23 (+1.61%)
     
  • FTSE

    7,725.03
    +2.48 (+0.03%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    40,003.60
    +263.20 (+0.66%)
     
  • CAD/EUR

    0.6767
    -0.0025 (-0.37%)
     

Why it’s curtains for Jeb Bush and his $100M war chest

Talk about a wasted pedigree. For a presidential candidate whose father and brother both sat in the Oval Office, Jeb Bush has had all the advantages. And now he’s all but finished.

Focus on tonight’s Republican presidential debate will be on the one candidate not in attendance, Donald Trump. Bush would need to put on a rock-star performance to shed the “low energy” reputation Trump has tagged him with.

“[Bush] is polling in the single digits. I mean he's fourth, fifth or sixth in the race, and he's almost being talked of as a has-been at this point … To me this is an astonishing story,” says Yahoo Finance columnist Rick Newman.

According to privately obtained data from SMG Delta, Bush has spent $82 million on ads—more than all his opponents combined.

Source: SMG Delta
Source: SMG Delta

Sunday, it gets worse for Bush. Federal filings will officially reveal how much he’s spent on private jets, posh hotels, and those TV ads that seem to get him nowhere. As of the last required disclosure, Bush had raised approximately $100 million, but this number could be substantially higher by now.

ADVERTISEMENT

David Nelson, chief strategist at Belpointe Asset Management, says of Bush, “If you look at this as a stock—I am a stock guy and I looked at it—the return on investment is not getting you bang for your buck.”

Bush donors do not appear to be happy. According to Reuters, 11 of 16 major donors contacted by the news agency had doubts about how his campaign money has been spent. If there are doubts in the minds of those who've put their money where their mouths are, the fickle American public is unlikely to come around to Camp Bush.

Newman says, “[Bush] supposedly had all the big donors in the country lined up behind him. And it bought him—nothing … The lesson here is: you can’t buy votes.”