Bush pressured to drop out

Jeb Bush’s rivals are pointing to his poor showing in South Carolina to pressure him to drop out of the GOP presidential race.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who is supporting Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) for president, strongly indicated it’s time for Bush to step aside.

{mosads}“It’s hard to tell you what the Bush camp is thinking. He served as a great governor. I think it’d be a great opportunity for him to bring his folks over to the Rubio camp,” Scott said on CNN.

“But the reality is everyone who is running wants to do something good for America, so the question is, once you realize that’s not going to happen, what do you do next? It’s hard to answer that question unless you’re the candidate.”

Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s campaign released a statement saying “tonight it became a four-person race” between Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), Rubio and Kasich.

“Only four candidates have top-three finishes in any of the early states and can justify staying in,” Kasich strategist John Weaver said. “At the same time, John Kasich has now won the so-called ‘Governors Bracket’ by continuing to run strong and beat expectations.  While others were making their last stand in South Carolina, John Kasich strengthened his organization and support — despite being outspent by tens of millions of dollars.”

With 10 percent of the result in, Bush is running a distant fourth place even after pouring enormous resources into South Carolina.

With 36 percent of precincts reporting, Bush is just ahead of Kasich, but South Carolina was seen as a strong playing field for Bush and a weak one for Kasich. 

Trump has been projected as the winner of South Carolina by a healthy margin. Cruz and Rubio are battling for second place.