Fredreka Schouten

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Finally.

Donors supporting Jeb Bush exulted Wednesday at his fourth-place finish in New Hampshire, saying the former Florida governor has found his footing at last in a chaotic Republican presidential race.

The battle now heads to South Carolina, where Bush already was campaigning Wednesday on a national security message he hopes will resonate with the state’s large numbers of active-duty military personnel and veterans.

“He needed to be in the game, and last night, he was able to do so,” said Barry Wynn, a former South Carolina Republican Party chairman, who is raising money for Bush. Although Donald Trump tops GOP polls in the Palmetto State, Wynn denounced the billionaire’s “Kardashian-style vulgarity.”

“I don’t think that sells as well in the South, as it does in New England,” he said. “You may find that South Carolina corrects some of the mistakes of New Hampshire.”

Bush entered the presidential race last year with the biggest war chest and the best-known name in the Republican primary field but fell behind the pack after unsteady performances on the campaign trail and in the early GOP debates.

David Beightol, a Washington lobbyist who signed on as an early fundraiser for Bush’s campaign, called the New Hampshire results a “nice re-set.”

Bush’s task now is “to convince people that although he has an establishment name, he’s anti-establishment in his actions,” Beightol said, citing Bush’s confrontations with teachers’ unions and use of the line-item veto as Florida governor.

Bush could be helped by the departure of two rivals.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina ended their bids for the Republican nomination Wednesday after finishing sixth and seventh, respectively, in New Hampshire.

William Kunkler, a top executive at a Chicago private-equity firm and a Bush fundraiser, said the Republican field needs to narrow to help stop the rise of Trump, whose first-place finish in New Hampshire has rattled the party's establishment.

“Donald Trump can’t be the nominee,” Kunkler said. "If voters consolidated around an establishment candidate, Trump would be losing."

"The candidates who have no chance need to start setting their personal interests aside … and ride off into the sunset.”

On Wednesday, Bush emphasized his experience as he pivoted to the first-in-the-South primary.

“We need a proven leader in Washington, D.C., to fix the mess, not just talk about how bad things are,” Bush said on MSNBC. He said Trump was a “gifted politician” but would “be a disaster as our nominee.”

Republicans in South Carolina vote Feb. 20.

Trump and his rivals head to South Carolina

“People who were with Jeb at the start of the primary process are still with him, and many are energized that he’s still in the mix,” said Henry Barbour, a top Republican strategist and Mississippi lobbyist who is unaligned in the primary. “Now, he has to deliver.”

Bush’s allies say he has strong network in the state, which backed his brother George W. Bush in 2000. A radio ad featuring the former president began hitting the airwaves Wednesday, and Jeb Bush is relying heavily on Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to campaign on his behalf in the Palmetto State.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who finished fifth in New Hampshire after a rocky debate performance, also hopes to find friendlier territory in South Carolina. He has been endorsed by the state’s other senator, Republican Tim Scott, along with Rep. Trey Gowdy, a Republican popular with Tea Party voters.

In addition, Rubio’s campaign manager Terry Sullivan is a veteran South Carolina strategist.

Wounded in New Hampshire, Marco Rubio vows revival in South Carolina

A key question: Do other candidates seeking to emerge as the establishment alternative to Trump have the money to compete in South Carolina, a state with more than three times the population of New Hampshire?

Rubio and Bush started the year with roughly $10.4 million and $7.5 million in available cash, respectively, to the $2.5 million available in the campaign account of Ohio Gov. John Kasich, the second-place finisher in New Hampshire.

A pro-Bush super PAC, Right to Rise, opened the year with the biggest cash reserves in the Republican field: nearly $59 million.

Right to Rise, already had spent $10.3 million on ads in the state as of Tuesday, data compiled by NBC and SMG Delta show. Rubio’s campaign and aligned outside groups were close behind at $9.4 million.

Paul Lindsay, a Right to Rise spokesman, said the PAC added another $1 million Wednesday to its advertising buy in the state.

Asked about fundraising following Tuesday's strong showing in New Hampshire, Kasich spokesman Scott Millburn said: "We had a very, very, very good night," but did not disclose any amounts.

Millburn said Bush "better hope he has the organization in South Carolina that can bail him out." The state, he said, is "going to be a Bush vs. Rubio bloodbath," and Kasich just needs "to exceed expectations."

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