Jeb: New Hampshire has reset the race

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Jeb Bush on Tuesday night touted his showing, now just 0.3 percentage points out of a tie for third place, as a win.

“Last Monday night, when the Iowa caucuses were complete, they said the race was now a three-person race between two present senators and a reality TV star,” the former Florida governor told a group of supporters at his primary watch party here, references to Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and former “Apprentice” host Donald Trump.

{mosads}The largely sedate crowd perked up when Bush took the stage, chanting “Jeb” when Bush bashed his Democratic and Republican rivals.

“And while the reality TV star is still doing well, it looks like you all have reset things.”

“We need someone who can defeat Hillary Clinton,” Bush told the crowd, again motivating his supporters to shout his name.

“Not just Hillary Clinton. Apparently maybe Bernie Sanders as well. Who knows?”

Sanders beat Democratic rival Clinton by about 20 points on Tuesday.

Bush’s communications director Tim Miller took Bush’s comments toward a step further, taking shots at leading finishers of the New Hampshire primary — Trump and Ohio Gov. John Kasich — by name.

“Kasich ran a one-state campaign,” Miller told a group of reporters at the rally. “He does not have a viable path to the nomination at all, and he certainly does not have a viable path to success in South Carolina, a state where support of the military is critical.”

Miller chalked Trump’s big lead in the Granite State to the open primary where independents can vote with either ballot. “[Trump] obviously did very well tonight with independents but … in states where it’s a Republican primary, Trump’s going to struggle.”

“After tonight, hopefully that’s a wake-up call to everyone to get on board.”

With 68 percent of precincts reporting, Bush was hovering at fourth place, 0.3 points away from tying Cruz for third place.