Five reasons why Jeb Bush should drop out now – before entering the 2016 race

Reason No. 5: Running for his brother’s “third term” is a losing proposition.

After finishing the first draft of this piece I received a late night return phone call from a Florida Republican power player (who asked that his name be withheld). He was responding to a question from me earlier about former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s prospects for winning the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. Coincidentally, he had just left a high-dollar local fundraiser for Florida Senator Marco Rubio — the reason he gave for calling so late.

Here are some direct quotes from our conservation:

“Jeb’s people are now Rubio’s people.”

“Jeb is not relevant.”

“Jeb has no momentum.”

“Jeb has no new people supporting him, just the same old people, just the same old money people.”

His candor surprised me since my source has known both Bush and Rubio for many years. And, like many active Republicans, he is still uncommitted to any specific 2016 candidate.

I took this eerily-timed conversation as an affirmation for what I had written hours earlier — five reasons why Jeb Bush should drop out of the 2016 presidential nomination race before he officially declares.