'Misoverestimated': Jeb Bush's Terrible Week

It's only Thursday and it wouldn't be a stretch to say Jeb Bush has had the worst week of any presidential candidate this cycle. He's aligning himself with his brother's disastrous foreign policy, running scared from the conservative wing of his party, flubbing answers to simple questions and, unsurprisingly, tanking in the polls. Speaking in the language coined by his brother, Bushism, it looks like we "misoverestimated" Jeb and his bid for the White House. Take a look at Bush's wince-inducing week:

Iraq

Politico: Was Jeb dropped on head as a child?: "So to fully appreciate the importance of Jeb’s revelation that George W. will be his chief adviser when it comes to the Mideast, you’ve got to keep in mind that Jeb’s entire campaign is built around one selling point: Jeb is the smart one in the family." New York Times: Wow, Jeb Bush Is Awful: "The bottom line is that so far he seems to be a terrible candidate. He couldn’t keep his 'I’m-my-own-man' mantra going through the spring. He over-babbled at a private gathering. He didn’t know how to answer the Iraq question, which should have been the first thing he tackled on the first day he ever considered that he might someday think for even a minute about running for president."

Fourth Time's a Charm? No One's Buying Jeb's Iraq War Shifts

After four days and four different answers from Jeb Bush on the Iraq War, no one's buying Jeb's Iraq War "shifts." It's like he's not related to the president who made that decision...or hasn't heard about it's disastrous consequences... or hasn't been thinking about running for president for years. His team wants you to think he's unprepared, but he's not: Jeb is unprincipled and no one is buying his Iraq war "shifts."

The 2016 GOP Field is Hopelessly Backwards on Women's Healthcare

The 2016 GOP presidential wannabees came out in full force to show their support for heinous House legislation restricting women's access to healthcare. Not to be outdone, Chris Christie and Scott Walker have also backed legislation limiting women's right to choose. The bill erects senseless barriers for survivors of rape and incest, making it even more difficult to get timely healthcare. Rape victims would be required to undergo multiple trips to different health care providers and endure a 48 hour waiting period. This issue has proven toxic for the GOP in general elections, but the conservative base demands purity -- and they're getting it. Meanwhile, 62 percent of Republicans and 71 percent of Independents say this is the wrong issue for Congress to be spending time on.This latest outpouring of support from presidential contenders makes it abundantly clear that instead of trying to help working families, the 2016 field would rather spend their time pushing their extreme anti-choice agenda.

Jeb 'Lose the Primary to Win General' Bush Reverses Position on Yucca Mountain

Shot: May 13, 2015: Bush Opposes Yucca Mountain "The ex-Florida governor told reporters after a Reno town hall meeting Wednesday he…

Indecider in Chief: Brutal Headlines Follow Jeb's Iraq War Tiptoe

Given the power of hindsight and what we know today about failed intelligence, Jeb Bush says he STILL would have ordered an invasion of Iraq if he were president in 2003 -- even Ted Cruz knows better than that. After getting battered for that answer to Megyn Kelly, Bush passed on the chance at damage control in a softball interview with Sean Hannity. Instead of cleaning up his mess, he stepped in it.

Run, Walker, Run: Scott Walker Flees Press and State Budget Woes

Where in the world is Scott Walker? This week, he's in Israel, conveniently far away from the press and Wisconsin's budget woes. Not that Wisconsinites or the press should expect anything else -- the governor has a habit of disappearing when things get tough and his advisers are likely terrified of another foreign policy slip up. Between his flub-filled trip to London in February and comparing hard working union members to ISIS, Walker already has more than his fair share of gaffes. But that's no excuse for leaving the country when his state's budget faces severe cuts to education, health care, and emergency services. Walker is just too busy not running for president to take care of his governing responsibilities. It looks like, for now, Wisconsin will have to fend for itself.

ICYMI: Jeb Backed Yucca Mountain

As he campaigns in Nevada, a reminder of Jeb Bush's record of supporting Yucca Mountain, the latest in a long line of positions that would hurt the same people he wants to vote for him:

During this same period, Bush signed letters opposing interim waste sites, including joining a bipartisan group of 17 governors in 2006 in a letter to Congress that argued it was "a giant step backward for ratepayers in our states and others who have contributed more than $14 billion into the Nuclear Waste Fund."

What's more, those emails Bush recently released show he was fully briefed on Yucca Mountain during this time, so he shouldn;t have a reason to study it now...Bush can't avoid his past on the repository, which was finally approved by a guy with the same last name in the White House.I don't believe in the sins of the brother being visited on the brother, but Jeb appears to have had the same position as W.

Jeb was once part of nuclear industry group pushing Yucca Mountain

NEW VIDEO on JEB: Things Losing Campaigns Say: Polls Don't Matter

Something else was happening while Jeb Bush tried to backtrack from doubling down on his brother's foreign policy -- he cratered in national and key primary state polls, a clear rejection from conservative and mainstream Republicans of Bush's record.

MEMO: Paging Marco Rubio's foreign policy experience

As Marco Rubio prepares for what his campaign is billing as a “major” foreign policy speech at the Council of Foreign Relations on Wednesday, his lackluster foreign policy resume is a good reminder that Rubio’s shift to ultra-hawk has been sloppy at best. Like his vertigo-inducing swing right on immigration, Rubio has tacked to the extreme right to appease the Tea Party base that still controls the Republican Party. Rubio likes to remind voters that he has the most foreign policy experience of any GOP presidential contender with spots on the Senate Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committees, but those assignments haven’t translated into substantial achievements.

The Indecider: On Iraq, Jeb Says Knowing What He Knows Now, He Still Doesn't Know.

If the Iraq War was a fiasco, trying to follow Jeb Bush's position on it mystifying. Did the brother of George W. think he was really going to ride to the presidency without giving a strong answer on this question? Or is he just woefully unprepared for the office he seeks? Listen to Jeb with Megyn Kelly of FOX News yesterday: