Is Bush Doomed? The Best Eulogies After Debate

Think Wednesday night was a rough one for Jeb Bush's candidacy? Consider these assessments:

• Politico: "It will also likely be remembered as the night the Jeb Bush 2016 deathwatch began," writes Glenn Thrush. Candidates can recover from the various missteps Bush has previously suffered, "but you can't do all those things, and then lay an egg in the most important debate of your political career."
• Matt Drudge: "Jeb Bush can eat carbs now ... #GOPDebate."
• Weekly Standard: "Rubio ended Jeb Bush's campaign with the kind of body shot that buckles your knees," writes Jonathan V. Last. "That's on Bush, who never should have come after Rubio in that spot for a host of strategic and tactical reasons."
• New Republic: "The whole [Rubio] exchange exemplified my point that Bush just isn't very good at this, and would help his party by suspending his campaign," writes Brian Beutler.

• FiveThirtyEight: "Yeah, Jeb Bush Is Probably Toast," reads the headline on a Nate Silver post. The "conventional wisdom" is that he's in trouble, which is a problem in this case because "Bush is running a conventional campaign." He "maybe" can recover, "but his problem isn't a mere lack of 'momentum,'" writes Silver. "Bush has never looked all that electable or all that conservative."
• Slate: "It was do or die," writes Jamelle Bouie. "And Bush died. ... Bush might have cash reserves and support from family backers, but after tonight, he's slipped to the second tier. He may not leave the race, but he'll struggle to get traction."
• Washington Post: "Oh, Jeb. This was a really bad night for someone who needed a good-to-really-good night," writes Chris Cillizza. "The buzz about whether Jeb is up to this race, which was at a relatively low level before tonight, is going to start getting a lot louder."
• And a counterpoint: "Be patient," says a GOP strategist quoted in Mike Allen's Playbook blog at Politico. "He has the cash to stay in until he can retool. Let the new frontrunners tear each other apart. Trust his abilities and résumé will give him a path back. Don't stop fighting."

(More Jeb Bush stories.)