Late last year, the Clintons and Bushes were on opposite trajectories. Hillary Clinton was dominating presidential polls and planning was already underway, prematurely as it would turn out, to celebrate the election of the country’s first female president.
The Bushes, on the other hand, were hitting rock bottom. In a Republican primary field full of colorful personalities, Jeb Bush had distinguished himself as the nerd trying to pass off as a jock. President Donald Trump gave him the nickname “Low energy Jeb”— perhaps the most accurate of his epithets and one that resonated with voters. Meanwhile, even in many conservative circles, his brother’s legacy was considered a liability more than an asset.