Jeb Bush campaigning in Ames. (file photo)
Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush says he is stunned Walker is out of the GOP race.
“Scott’s a good man,” Jeb said during an interview with KGLO news. “He has served in a really tumultuous kind of time in Wisconsin and been a fighter and a winner and nothing in this campaign changes that. I admire him greatly. I was surprised, to be honest with you, because I think he is a formidable candidate.”
A poll released Sunday by CNN shows Bush in fifth place with nine-percent support and Walker was among several candidates who registered less than one percent. Despite the call by Walker for more candidates to drop out of the race, Bush said he’s all in. Bush compares the 2016 race to the 2012 campaign.
“Four years ago the Republican primary was pretty wild and wooly as well,” Bush told KCOB. “If you recall, people emerged as front-runners and then they pulled back and we’re in that similar process now. Look, I’m in it for the long haul. The election that matters is starting in February, not in September and there’s a big interest and it’s fun. It’s fun to talk about. It’s like fantasy football, I love fantasy football, but it’s not real. I mean, I don’t want to surprise eveybody, but the real game is the game that they play on Sundays and we’re not even close to that.”
Bush spoke to a crowd of about 125 people in Mason City last night. He continues campaigning through Iowa this morning with a stop in Cedar Falls.
(Reporting by Bob Fisher KGLO, Mason City)