Bush on Trump at Hilton Head campaign stop: 'I'm the only guy who is taking him on'

Former Gov. Jeb Bush touched on a number of issues at a town hall meeting on Hilton Head Island Saturday night -- immigration, national security and the economy chief among them.

But it wasn't so much what he talked about as who he talked about that had people clapping.

"He is not a conservative," Bush said, referring to billionaire businessman Donald Trump. "And if he is elected he will hijack the conservative cause."

That comment had many in the packed conference room at the Marriott Hotel on Hilton Head applauding.

As if responding to recent poll numbers that showed Bush's waning performance, the former Florida governor referred to Trump multiple times over the course of the more than one-hour gathering in an effort to distinguish his policies from that of the party's front-runner.

"I'm the only guy who's taking him on," he said.

A conservative approach to issues seemed to be at the heart of Bush's stump speech as if to call in to question Trump's credibility as a conservative.

When asked about immigration, for example, Bush said, "Build a wall? That's not going to happen. ... It makes a great sound bite, but that's just not going to happen."

Or, when it came to clarifying his position on Common Core school standards, Bush touted the academic gains of his state, then added that Trump had "absolutely no knowledge how the educational system works."

And on terrorism, he said, "People talk tough about carpet bombing Mosul," but he suggested that taking on the Islamic State was more complicated than that.

"I'll be a commander-in-chief, not an agitator in chief and not an angry person in chief," he said.

On immigration in particular, Bush went on to outline a plan that would include work permits, pathways for obtaining legal status or citizenship for those already living and working in the country and securing the border.

"We need to solve it with a conservative solution," he said.

Still, suggesting that Trump is not a real conservative may not be enough. A Gallup poll released on Friday showed that Bush had fallen to a minus 1 favorable rating among Republicans, making him among the least liked among candidates.

Dell Kagan, of Sun City, said she had heard about the dip in Bush's "likability" rating.

"I do pay attention to polls," Kagan said before the town hall began. "And from what I've seen of him on TV, I'm not impressed."

Still, the Republican who is leaning toward Trump said she was willing to "give Bush a chance." She'd already seen many of the other Republican candidates in similar settings in Beaufort County and wanted to see how Bush performed in person as well.

"You have to listen to what each of the candidates say, and then you have come to an informed decision," she said.

Hugh O'Kane of Hilton Head, however said he was "very impressed" after seeing Bush Saturday night.

"He wasn't afraid to say what he thought and he didn't duck the issues," he said.

Like Kagan, he also had attended several of the other candidates' campaign stops. O'Kane said he liked that Bush had a "steady policy" on immigration and national security.

In addition to separating himself from Trump, he was particularly impressed that Bush was able to distinguish his policies from those of his father or his brother, both former presidents.

"As he said, it's a different time with different enemies," O'Kane said. "There are different forces at work in the world now."

South Carolina's "First in the South" presidential primary on Feb. 20 will be among the first three in the country, behind New Hampshire and the Iowa caucuses.

Follow reporter Mindy Lucas on Twitter at twitter.com/MindyatIPBG.

This story was originally published January 9, 2016 at 9:11 PM with the headline "Bush on Trump at Hilton Head campaign stop: 'I'm the only guy who is taking him on'."