Jeb Bush Denies Dying Campaign: Support For Candidate Declining?

After a series of disappointing showings on the debate stage, former Florida governor Jeb Bush's campaign looks a little low on support. However, he's not disheartened, insisting instead that even though it doesn't seem apparent, he still has the skills and the staying power to keep on with the elections.

When his once-formidable campaign operations have been forced back to a cost-saving budget, he told reporters at a campaign stop that his is "not on life support." "We have the most money, we have the greatest organization. We're doing fine," Bush said.

He spoke for fewer than five minutes to a small crowd in Washington, but he seems to be in a good mood as he indirectly addressed criticism about his performance in the debates.

Bush told the crowd, "Look, there are two types of politicians. There the talkers and there the doers. I wish I could talk as well as some of the people on the stage, the big personalities on the stage, but I'm a doer."

He then supported this statement by referring several times to his "servant's heart" and his track record for solving problems, adding, "That is my mission. It has nothing to do with the personalities of the people on the stage."

As for his declining supporters, he was insistent that they're not walking away, noting that there are eight more debates, and the end is far from over. He also pointed out that in 2012, Hillary Clinton was nearly 30 points ahead of now-President Barack Obama.

"Every one of these elections goes through a process," Bush shared.

However, there is a big shift in the debate when Bush criticized Senator Marco Rubio, who he said had a poor record of passing legislation, as do Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul. 

On Thursday, The New York Times mentioned that Bush dismissed his friend and former partner as another Obama, who has a "silver tongue" but with "little achievement" in the office.

"We've had seven years with a divider in chief who was spectacular as a candidate, great speaker, he's a very, very good politician," Bush spoke.

"Marco's my friend," he added. "I admire him greatly. He is a gifted politician for sure. But I think we need to focus on who can lead, who can forge consensus, who can solve problems."

However, despite his confident exterior NBC News noted that he's in trouble as far as campaigns go. Though there have been candidates who were able to overcome a lot of challenges during the elections (John McCain Barack Obama, and John Kerry among them), Bush has to turn the debates around to his favor if he ever wants to land the oval office.

What did you think of the last Republican debate?