SIGH

Sad Jeb Begs Audience, ‘Please Clap.’

Things are only getting lonelier for Bush.

An obviously lower-even-than-usual energy Jeb Bush came closer to rock bottom at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire Wednesday afternoon, when his speech failed to rouse, well, any response at all, leading to the candidate to plead, “please clap.” As if that weren’t bad enough, the lights went out three times during his speech.

Maybe the gathered crowd is more accustomed to the firebrand ranting of the GOP’s leading candidates.

This isn’t Bush’s first foray into lackluster audience dynamics—last September a woman seated behind the candidate nodding off, an event leading to Donald Trump’s trolling him with an Instagram video touting the elder Bush brother as a sleep aid. None of this seems to bode well for his supporters to wake up in time to vote for him in the Granite State’s primary next week.

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James Joiner

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