Being No. 2 is not necessarily a bad thing, Jeb’s allies argue: So much focus on Trump, they say, means the rest of the Republican field isn’t training their guns on him.

“It’s going to come down to Trump v. Somebody and Jeb is the somebody,” said one consultant who has worked for Bush, summing up the thinking inside his orbit.

In this reading, Bush’s amped-up attacks on Trump look more like a calculated strategy than a sign of panic. The more the press focuses on Trump v. Bush, the calculation goes, the less attention the lesser candidates get, starving them of oxygen. A two-man race is good for Jeb.

Bush’s backers acknowledge Trump has unexpectedly soared. But they believe he has a ceiling of support in the high 20s to early 30s – and that it’s unsustainable. Trump’s demise has been long-predicted and refuted, though.