|
Bush questioned
whether Rubio, a U.S. senator from Florida, had shown the
leadership skills or level of accomplishment needed to bridge
partisan divides and solve longstanding problems.
"In this era of gridlock, it's really hard to break through, and
I think he's given up. And I think that's the wrong thing to
do," Bush, a former governor of Florida, said in an interview on
NBC's "Meet the Press" that aired on Sunday.
"This is about public service, about solving problems," Bush
said. "I can change the culture in Washington."
In one of the most notable exchanges in last week's Republican
presidential debate, Bush criticized Rubio for missing Senate
votes while campaigning and suggested he resign his seat. But
Rubio punched back, accusing Bush of attacking him in an effort
to right his struggling White House bid.
Rubio responded again on CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday,
saying beating Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton was more
important than missing meaningless Senate votes.
"The truth is, I don't like missing votes, but what I would
really hate is to wake up on the first Wednesday of November to
the news that Hillary Clinton's been elected president," Rubio
said.
"Far too many votes today in the Senate are predetermined. We
know what outcome's going to be. It's being done for messaging
purposes, but it's never going to pass," he said.
Rubio's debate performance won praise and new momentum for a
campaign that has been stuck in polls behind Republican
frontrunners Donald Trump and Ben Carson.
Bush, meanwhile, has faced repeated questions since the debate
about whether his White House bid can survive. He said that was
part of the "tribulations" of a campaign.
"I have enough self-awareness to know that this is the bumpy
time of a campaign," Bush said. "This is the process. I totally
understand it, and I'm more than prepared to fight on."
Bush told NBC he had never seen a memo from his campaign that
surfaced last week calling Rubio a "risky bet" for Republicans.
But he said "comparing and contrasting" candidates is part of
the political process.
(Reporting by John Whitesides; Editing by Alison Williams)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
|
