The great white nope: A humiliating end for Jeb Bush who wanted to be president like his dad and brother

He launched his campaign in the warmth of a Florida summer, hailed as the candidate who melded a new, multicultural Republican appeal, a family history of winning and the most formidable fundraising machine his party had ever built.

Eight long, humiliating months later, in the South Carolina winter, John Ellis Bush gave up, making him the most prominent casualty of an unruly presidential contest and marking a stunning public repudiation of a family that defined GOP success for decades during two turns in the White House.

The heady promise of Bush’s start made his fall that much more dramatic. The campaign’s launch in June opened with a splashy call to action that was presidential in scale and embracing in tone, particularly toward the voters whom GOP leaders had identified as a crucial target after the party’s loss in 2012.

Latin music blared, speakers — including Bush — addressed the Miami audience in Spanish. His slogan added an exclamation point to suggest enthusiasm: “Jeb!” Bush employed his Mexican-born wife and his bilingual children, and imported members of his famous family, to craft a compelling image.

“He is the new America. He is the new Republican Party,” said one announcement speaker, state Senator Don Gaetz.

It was everything a candidate could dream of — except for an almost total lack of appeal to GOP voters.