This Week in Awkward Campaign Moments

So what awkward things happened this week on the campaign trail? Let’s take a look.

First thing's first, as a result of supposedly ‘slumping’ in the polls, Jeb Bush made an executive, altogether abrupt decision. Drum roll, please:

Jeb Bush said Wednesday that he felt compelled to reorganize his political team — and pick a new, unexpected campaign manager — “based on the skills of people that I got to know” and the “magnitude of the journey” he faces as a candidate.

In his first remarks about the reshuffling, Mr. Bush, a former governor of Florida, pleaded for patience and played down the idea that he was displeased with his standing in a crowded Republican field. He is expected to formally enter the race next week.

I'm sorry, that looks pretty bad. Then again, he’s doing well in New Hampshire and in national polling, too. So what's the big deal? Is the media making this a bigger story than it is?

Maybe not. Meanwhile, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) was blindsided twice this week by the New York Times, which accused him of both being a hazardous driver and a compulsive spender. However, to paraphrase the words of a prominent Chicago Democrat, he did not let the crisis go to waste:

Republican presidential candidate and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is raising campaign funds to attack an "elitist liberal media" agenda, after two recent New York Times articles investigated the Rubio family's financial troubles over the years.

The campaign has raised a total of $100,000 since the Times stories ran, a campaign source confirmed to CBS News.

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Not a bad haul, all things considered. Which brings us to our next fun, awkward moment of the week: Presidential contender and "democratic socialist” Bernie Sanders took the gloves off a few days ago, accusing his opponent of engaging in some, well, rather shady activities:

Yikes. I wonder how Clintonworld greeted that salvo. And finally, Rick Santorum doesn’t have many friends in Iowa – or so it would seem:

At first, one was the loneliest number for Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Monday.

Just one Iowan showed up at 2 p.m. campaign stop Monday at a restaurant in the unincorporated community of Hamlin, population 300, according to a report from The Des Moines Register — Peggy Toft, an insurance agent who chairs the county’s Republican Party.

I almost feel bad. Almost.