Washington Free Beacon reporter Elizabeth Harrington appeared on Now on FNC Friday to discuss Republican candidate Jeb Bush.
Harrington said that Jeb Bush’s impressive second-quarter fundraising haul secured his status as frontrunner of the Republican field.
"I think it really does cement his status as frontrunner," Harrington told Fox News host Jenna Lee. "Like you said, it’s so wide open, there’s no next-in-line candidate. This clearly shows the advantages that Jeb Bush has, the family connections and ability to raise money."
Bush’s campaign raised $11.4 million since he announced his candidacy in mid-June. Right to Rise USA, a Jeb Bush-allied SuperPAC, raised $103 million over six months.
"Keep in mind he was able to do this because for months he was able to focus solely on the Super PAC and raise money while saying ‘Oh, I don’t know if I’m going to run,’" Harrington said. "Clearly everyone knew he was going to run. But this enabled him to raise these unprecedented sums, which amount to $8 per second. It definitely cements his status because others can’t compete with that kind of fundraising."
Harrington cautioned that Bush’s critics would attempt to portray the Republican candidate as out-of-touch, as evidenced by coverage of Bush’s comments about underemployment and slumping labor-force participation rates.
"Democrats will always try to paint the Republican nominee as out-of-touch," Harrington said. "Especially if it’s Jeb Bush, he will face the same problems that Mitt Romney had, being from a wealthy family and having all these connections."
In 2012, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was haunted by comments he made that 47 percent of Americans would vote for President Obama because they were dependent on government.
Harrington said that Bush’s comment was being misinterpreted.
"I don’t think that statement about part-time work will really hurt him like Mitt Romney’s 47 percent comment," Harrington said. "He was really talking about how the labor-force participation rate is so low. There are all these people who have given up on the workforce. They want to get back into the workforce, to work more. So I don’t think this will stick."