George W. Bush Blames Sarah Palin for Losing the 2008 Election

As former President George W. Bush gets set to make the media rounds to promote his memoir, he is being peppered with questions about 2012 and Sarah Palin, but Bush is no Palin fan. In fact, he blames the choice of Palin for losing the 2008 election. According to the New York Daily News, Bush thinks that McCain, “destroyed any chance of winning by picking Palin.”

According to a story in the New York Daily News, George W. Bush is no fan of Sarah Palin. According to a source, “He thinks McCain ran a lousy campaign with an unqualified running mate and destroyed any chance of winning by picking Palin.” Even worse, Bush questioned McCain manhood because he picked Palin, “Naming Palin makes Bush think less of McCain as a man.”

Maybe the NY Daily News story is not enough evidence for you? Fox News played a clip of former President Bush’s upcoming appearance on Oprah, where he is asked about Palin and 2012.

Here is video courtesy of Media Matters:

When asked by Oprah if he thought that Sarah Palin was the one for the Republican Party in 2012, Bush said, “You know, I am not a political pundit. I’m really not, and secondly, a lot is going to happen between now and the nominating process.” Oprah said, she was just asking for his opinion. Bush replied, “You are asking me to wade back into the swamp.”

If Bush’s answer seems familiar, it should be. It is the exact same point that Karl Rove made when asked about Palin on Face the Nation, “Well, I don’t know whether she is going to run or not, and if she runs she would be a formidable candidate, but look there are going to be several geological ages that are going to come and go before the 2012 Republican presidential nomination fight gels.”

Last night, Rove went on Hannity and gave Palin a half baked apology for his criticism of her reality show, but today, this story shows up in the NY Daily News cited an unnamed Republican official who is familiar with President Bush’s thinking calling Palin the reason why Republicans lost in 2008. Any guesses on that unnamed Republican official might be? Rove’s statements mirror those of other former Bush administration members. David Frum, Nicolle Wallace, and Mark McKinnon are three other Bushies who have had strong words for and about Palin.

Palin fancies herself to be the leader of the Republican Party, but the Bush family dominates the levers of power within the GOP. George W. Bush was terrible president, but he was qualified to hold the office, and the man is the best campaigner in the Republican Party. He has good instincts when it comes to electoral politics, but he could not govern at all. I believe that Bush thinks that Palin is unqualified, and he probably does blame her for the loss. He probably sees what everyone outside of her blind followers can see. If Palin wins the nomination, it will be a disaster for the Republican Party.

If George W. Bush doesn’t want Palin to win the nomination, then it is a pretty safe bet that she won’t win the nomination. Palin is getting schooled in big time Republican politics by Rove. In fact, the methodology is classic Karl Rove. He said one thing in public on Hannity, and did the complete opposite in private. Sarah Palin might win a fight against celebrities and the media, but she won’t win a battle with the George W. Bush wing of the Republican Party. George W. Bush is the one Republican who can tame the Mama Grizzly.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association