Jeb Bush Scores Endorsements From 20 of Florida's 26 State Senators, but Does It Matter?

Jeb Bush may not be anywhere near close to leading the polls anymore, but he does lead in another factor: endorsements. Bush has the backing of more notable politicians than any other candidate in the race, and today he announced another whopping round of political backings. 

See, Florida currently has 26 Republicans sitting in the state Senate. Bush was able to secure an endorsement from 20 of them. It's another embarrassment for Florida's other GOP presidential candidate, Marco Rubio. Especially because more than a handful of those senators had worked with Rubio when he was in the state House. 

Here's the full list of Bush's latest backers: 

Senate President Andy Gardiner
Senate Pro Tempore Garrett Richter
Senate Majority Leader Bill Galvano
Senate Deputy Majority Leader Denise Grimsley
State Senator Thad Altman
State Senator Aaron Bean
State Senator Rob Bradley
State Senator Lizbeth Benacquisto
State Senator Jeff Brandes
State Senator Nancy Detert
State Senator Greg Evers
State Senator Anitere Flores
State Senator Don Gaetz
State Senator Dorothy Hukill
State Senator Jack Latvala
State Senator John Legg
State Senator Joe Negron
State Senator Wilton Simpson
State Senator David Simmons
State Senator Kelli Stargel

The announcement comes just weeks after Bush announced he had also secured the endorsements of all but three living former speakers of the state House. (One of those to not endorse Bush was Rubio himself. Another is a Rubio's mentor, and the third resigned in disgrace.)

Despite having not served in office for over eight years, and despite the fact Rubio is our current senator, Bush is still clearly the golden boy of Florida's GOP establishment. It's not even a close competition. Bush asks Florida's GOP powers that to be to jump, and they ask how high. It's not exactly a surprise. Bush is the face of the GOP renaissance in Florida, and he was the first Republican governor ever to win reelection in Florida. 

Though, one has to wonder if your common voter actually cares about all these nods. 

Look at the polls. Donald Trump, a man who has never held office, is currently leading, and that guy doesn't have a single endorsement from any nationally relevant politician. In fact, some of his biggest backers include people like Gary Busey, Ted Nugent, Charlie Sheen, and Mike Ditka. 

Ben Carson is in second place. He's another guy who has never held office and has even fewer notable endorsement than Trump. Carly Fiorina, yet another political outsider, is in third with yet another unimpressive slate of endorsements. Finally, it's Rubio who is currently in fourth. 

It's pretty clear right now that there's a big hunger among GOP primary voters for an outsider with few connections to the current establishment. It doesn't even necessarily have anything to do with conservative principals (not necessarily, at least — just look at some of Trump's positions besides his immigration policy) or the Tea Party. 

Yet, Jeb Bush, who seems increasingly tone deaf, keeps showing off shiny new batches of endorsements from that same political establishment like it's supposed to impress anyone. 

And, sure, maybe it does with some mega-donors, but that strategy certainly is not helping him in the polls right now. 

Maybe he would be better off securing the backing of Gene Simmons from KISS or Larry the Cable Guy.