Jeb Bush Sides With His Mother On Sarah Palin Slight

Sarah Palin's power in the GOP might hold a lot of sway right now, but it couldn't make former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush back the former Alaska governor over his mother, Barbara, in a quibble between the two.

Bush was asked by Newsmax in a recent interview how he felt about Barbara Bush's comment expressing her hope that Sarah Palin "stays in Alaska" instead of running for president.

"If it's between my mom and Gov. Palin, I've got to go with my mom, just in general, because she's my mother," Bush responded. "So you're not going to get me in trouble with disagreeing with my beloved mother of 85 years, who occasionally from time to time says things that give us all great joy, and sometimes some consternation."

But Bush's praise of Palin could imply that his mother's slight of the former Alaska governor might have been an instance of such consternation. "She's got an incredible skill to connect with people," Bush said of Palin in the same interview. "She's got fantastic political instincts."

Others have been less forgiving of the former vice presidential candidate's comments against the Bushes, who she referred to as "blue bloods who want to pick and choose their winners," after hearing the former first lady's jab.

MSNBC host and former congressman Joe Scarborough tore into Palin over her response Tuesday in an editorial written for Politico:

That reality hardly makes Palin unique, but this is one Republican who would prefer that the former half-term governor promote her reality shows and hawk her books without demeaning the reputations of Presidents Reagan and Bush. These great men dedicated their lives to public service and are too good to be fodder for her gaudy circus sideshow.