Bush went on to suggest that he has been over-coached and over-advised in recent weeks — and to concede, without saying so, that perhaps he has listened to too much of that advice.

He did it in a roundabout way. Discussing Abraham Lincoln as a president who “held the nation’s highest office with humility,” Bush envisioned Lincoln running for office in today’s political circus…

Then a pivot to Bush 2016. “I’ve gotten a lot of advice lately myself — more than enough, thank you,” Bush said. “Some is stylistic: take off the suit coat, ditch the glasses, get rid of the purple striped tie.”…

“He’s saying being angry and pessimistic is not me,” notes Bush aide Tim Miller. “It’s fair to say that he’s arguing the emphasis should be on who can do the job, and that’s where he shines, over some of this other stuff. So in that sense, it is related to the debate.”