George Bush Thinks Sarah Palin Is 'Unqualified,' Lost Election For McCain, Says GOP Source

George W. Bush is not a fan of Sarah Palin and thinks that she spoiled the GOP's best laid plans in 2008 and could potentially do it again, a friend of the former president recently said.

The New York Daily News reported Friday:

"Naming Palin makes Bush think less of McCain as a man," a Republican official familiar with Bush's thinking told the Daily News.

"He thinks McCain ran a lousy campaign with an unqualified running mate and destroyed any chance of winning by picking Palin."

Bush has addressed Palin as a relative non-factor before, characterizing her as a grossly unpolished candidate not ready for the political spotlight.

From a book released last year, former Bush staffer Matt Latimer wrote:

"'I'm trying to remember if I've met her before. I'm sure I must have.' [Bush's] eyes twinkled, then he asked, 'What is she, the governor of Guam?'"

"This woman is being put into a position she is not even remotely prepared for. She hasn't spent one day on the national level. Neither has her family. Let's wait and see how she looks five days out."

While the "Republican official" reports that Bush supposedly has certain strong feelings about Palin and her presidential qualifications, the former head of state told Oprah Winfrey Thursday that he wasn't going to do any 2012 forecasting.

"A lot is gonna happen between now and the nominating process, I have no clue," Bush said in response to a question about Palin being "the one" for Republicans.

WATCH:

Comments

[sottott]

10:35 AM on 11/11/2010

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2010
Sarah Palin: Happy Veterans Day
*
As posted on Gov. Palin's Facebook Notes page:
Happy Veterans Day

On this Veterans Day, please take a moment to remember all those who served in uniform past and present. Though the words in this famous poem are about a soldier, they apply to every member of our armed services. God bless them all. May we never forget the sacrifices made to secure our liberty.

It’s the Soldier, not the reporter,
Who has given us the freedom of the press.

It’s the Soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us the freedom of speech.

It’s the Soldier, not the politicians,
Who ensures our right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

It’s the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag.
- JP

[rebelle]

01:14 AM on 11/10/2010

bush ruined McCains chances of winning.

[Gregatcha]

01:40 PM on 11/09/2010

"If anyone credits Sarah for originality for her "Africa is a country" comment, recall that outgoing Prez G.W. Bush said it first."

[CJWebber]

10:21 AM on 11/09/2010

Actually, the main reason McCain lost the election was because of his poor decision decision-making skills and second was Bush's previous record. Palin was the 3rd reason they lost.

[Marnie1]

10:53 PM on 11/08/2010

John McCain's inconsistency and his sexism (what he was trying to overcome by picking a hot mamma running mate) were enough to probably take away his chance,but if that wasn't enough, even without Sarah, McCain's panicked retreat from his campaign to run do DC to try to "single handedly save the economy," had the opposite effect than he desired, and reminded people of his panicked fleeing form his command and his squadron and his ship when the USS Forrestal caught fire, possibly from McCain's neglect.

[E-MU]

10:34 PM on 11/08/2010

Nice try, W. You can't blame the loss on McCain or Palin. They were stuck with your record hanging around their necks. As for calling Palin unqualified, well, you should know. As for your low regard for McCain, you made that obvious in the SC primary in 2000.

The more he reappears the more I remember why he made me recoil in disgust. I would take McCain/Palin over W/Cheney any day, if that was the choice.

[maidenofdforest]

10:15 PM on 11/08/2010

Hey, Bush has some real IQ on this subject, hurrray!

Can I hear Sarah tweet in FB now on this?

[Angel R1240]

09:48 PM on 11/08/2010

If George Bush did say this wow Bush is right on Palin is "Unqualified" but that is ironic coming from Bush when most think that Bush was unqualified when he was in office as president. The republicans lost the 08 elections long before Palin because of how bad Bush was as president.

[anthonyCA]

09:25 PM on 11/08/2010

George Bush. Still a legend in his own mind.

[david5000]

09:20 PM on 11/08/2010

I can not believe these two were the winners among 500 million spermms, can anybody imagine if any of the losers had made it instead?

[marty marty]

07:45 PM on 11/08/2010

The 70 year old candidate that didn't know how to use a cell phone, that said the economy was going well as it fell apart during the election, your bailout on September 8, 2008 of the banks......they cost McCain the White House. Most of the problems were "your leadership" Mr. Bush and the fact that McCain was uninformed and out of step with the world cemented the deal.

[Luv2Purple]

07:21 PM on 11/08/2010

No George - YOU cost old man McCain the election. America would've elected virtually anyone not of your family of party Junior. Heck....Palin is just about as smart as you are.....God tells her what to write on her hand you betcha.....Between you both there's not a lick of common sense and sure as heck no real book learnin neither!

[SCboy]

07:16 PM on 11/08/2010

McCain cost McCain the election. Palin was simply an unindicted co-conspirator.

[Michael Mouton]

06:49 PM on 11/08/2010

Palin didn't lose the campaign for McCain. McCain would've lost regardless of who he had picked from his VP shortlist.

[warriorwoman73]

06:39 PM on 11/08/2010

George W. Bush belatedly comes to the same conclusion the rest of us reached over 2 years ago and it's considered headline news?