3/19/16, "Neil Bush admits Ted Cruz is not his first, second or third choice but is supporting Cruz as a strategic move against Donald Trump's nomination." CNN.com, image from CNN.com
Neil Bush statements follow segment with GOP insiders, Kaufman, Goeas, and McKinnon
Sat., March 19, 2016, "Trump Winning War Vs. GOP Establishment;
Wang: 90 Percent Sure Trump Will Win GOP Nomination; Does Trump Have a
Jewish Problem? Aired 9-10a ET," CNN, Michael Smerconish show, CNN transcript
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"THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED."
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"THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED."
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"Smerconish:...My next guest recently joined Ted Cruz' national finance
team....Neil Bush, he's the son of 41, brother of 43 and sibling
of Jeb. Neil, thank you for being here. What do you make of my previous
guests not rallying to embrace your guy, Ted Cruz. What do you read into
that?
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NEIL BUSH, TED CRUZ COMMITTEE FINANCE MEMBER: Well, I think it's very early in the process and I have great respect for all three of your guests. Ron Kaufman has been an old friend and political mentor of mine personally. I think they are wrong, though, in the following way. Ed (Goeas) threw out the statistic which I think is flawed that Donald Trump would have to get 100 percent of the delegates going forward in order to lock it up. He only needs 55 percent of the delegates going forward to lock up the nomination. Ted Cruz needs 79 percent. Kasich is mathematically eliminated from this and Michael, if you look at the process going forward, there are 22 contests that remain. 14 of which are closed contests, which means only Republicans can vote.
Donald Trump does poorly in closed contests. And in most of these, they are winner take all consequences and so we need to rally the party in a one on one contest, Donald Trump cannot win. It's just clear. The evidence is there as the pack is narrowed, Cruz' numbers have gone up. Trump has a very solid core, you know, base of support....No one is going to peel any of those voters away. But there are more people that have come out to vote for other candidates and against Trump, so to his credit, he is bringing more people to the polls, but I'm not so sure all these people will stay in the Republican Party when he (Trump) loses and he will lose in an open transparent process if not before the convention, at the convention.
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SMERCONISH: Neil, is yours a full throated endorsement of Ted Cruz or are you engaged in strategic voting?
[09:15:00]
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BUSH: I'm engaged in strategic participatory politics. I made it clear that Ted Cruz wasn't my first choice. I admired and was heartbroken that my brother Jeb's lack of success. He had a track record and the temperament that proves he could be a great leader. Ted Cruz wasn't my second or third choice. I don't particularly like his style. He went to Washington to be disruptive and he clearly did that and he has lost a lot of friends in Washington. He'll rebuild friendships when he becomes president. So mine is a strategic move to try to bring our party together. I think it would be a disaster to put up the most flawed candidate as the head of our ticket. Donald Trump has proven - yes, go ahead, please.
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SMERCONISH: I was going to say, I'm glad to hear you differentiate why you're for Ted Cruz....
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BUSH: Yes."...
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NEIL BUSH, TED CRUZ COMMITTEE FINANCE MEMBER: Well, I think it's very early in the process and I have great respect for all three of your guests. Ron Kaufman has been an old friend and political mentor of mine personally. I think they are wrong, though, in the following way. Ed (Goeas) threw out the statistic which I think is flawed that Donald Trump would have to get 100 percent of the delegates going forward in order to lock it up. He only needs 55 percent of the delegates going forward to lock up the nomination. Ted Cruz needs 79 percent. Kasich is mathematically eliminated from this and Michael, if you look at the process going forward, there are 22 contests that remain. 14 of which are closed contests, which means only Republicans can vote.
Donald Trump does poorly in closed contests. And in most of these, they are winner take all consequences and so we need to rally the party in a one on one contest, Donald Trump cannot win. It's just clear. The evidence is there as the pack is narrowed, Cruz' numbers have gone up. Trump has a very solid core, you know, base of support....No one is going to peel any of those voters away. But there are more people that have come out to vote for other candidates and against Trump, so to his credit, he is bringing more people to the polls, but I'm not so sure all these people will stay in the Republican Party when he (Trump) loses and he will lose in an open transparent process if not before the convention, at the convention.
..........
SMERCONISH: Neil, is yours a full throated endorsement of Ted Cruz or are you engaged in strategic voting?
[09:15:00]
.......
BUSH: I'm engaged in strategic participatory politics. I made it clear that Ted Cruz wasn't my first choice. I admired and was heartbroken that my brother Jeb's lack of success. He had a track record and the temperament that proves he could be a great leader. Ted Cruz wasn't my second or third choice. I don't particularly like his style. He went to Washington to be disruptive and he clearly did that and he has lost a lot of friends in Washington. He'll rebuild friendships when he becomes president. So mine is a strategic move to try to bring our party together. I think it would be a disaster to put up the most flawed candidate as the head of our ticket. Donald Trump has proven - yes, go ahead, please.
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SMERCONISH: I was going to say, I'm glad to hear you differentiate why you're for Ted Cruz....
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BUSH: Yes."...
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