FAILING, disappointed, humiliated by six months of well-aimed taunts from Donald Trump, Jeb Bush has had a horrible six months. Once the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, he probably, it turns out, never stood a chance of getting it. He is measured, thoughtful, wonkish; Republican voters want rage. He could scarcely be more of the GOP establishment that they decry.In the televised Republican debate held on January 14th Mr Bush argued against starting the trade war with China and levying the ban on Muslims that Mr Trump advocates. But the Republican front-runner’s response, lambasting Mr Bush for being “weak”, and the glum, bullied expression this elicited in President George W Bush’s brother, President George H. Bush’s son, were, sadly, more memorable. In a crowded field, Mr Bush is currently polling less than 5%; his main rival for the support of mainstream conservatives, Marco Rubio, is on 12%. Mr Trump has over a third of the Republican vote.So the endorsement of Mr Bush by Lindsey Graham, a senator from South Carolina and early drop-out from the Republican contest, on January 15th was a rare splash of sunlight for his campaign. Though Mr Graham failed to gain any traction in the race, he is well-known for his hawkish views on national security, which has increasingly dominated in the Republican contest since the terrorist attack, inspired by Islamic State, ...
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