Trump surge challenges Bush to fight, yet keep the 'joy'
LACONIA, N.H. (AP) — Jeb Bush wanted to run for president as a joyful front-runner, above the fray of the pack. Instead, he heads into the fall campaign as a fighter with a foil: Donald Trump.
There's a new urgency in Bush's tone as a candidate. It's moved from frustration and annoyance with Trump's constant needling to a willingness to confront the brash billionaire and call him out for his antics.
And though he still relies on the policy-driven arguments that suit his wonkish style, the son and brother of former presidents is also acknowledging what's powered Trump's rise: outrage with the political class his family embodies. Such anger alone, he says, cannot prevail.