Bush would have endorsed Obama?

[hefdaddy42]

So reports the London Financial Times.

Naturally the election came up in conversation. Trying to be even-handed and polite, the Brits said something diplomatic about McCain’s campaign, expecting Bush to express some warm words of support for the Republican candidate.

Not a chance. “I probably won’t even vote for the guy,” Bush told the group, according to two people present.“I had to endorse him. But I’d have endorsed Obama if they’d asked me.”

https://blogs.ft.com/westminster/2010/11/bush-i-probably-wont-even-vote-for-mccain/

[PlaysLikeMyung]

So the reason he endorsed McCain was only because his party forced him to do so.

More evidence that our system is completely fucked

[ehra]

He had to? Why? Would could he have lost otherwise?

[Sigz]

I don't remember Bush endorsing McCain at any point, and I'm pretty sure the McCain campaign would have wanted Bush as far away as possible from him.

[millahh]

I think Bush endorsed McCain, but it wasn't made a big deal....nobody wanted to be associated with GWB during the 2008 election.

That said, Obama has mostly mimicked Bush, so an endorsement actually would have made sense.

[tri.ad]

So the reason he endorsed McCain was only because his party forced him to do so.

More evidence that our system is completely fucked

The US isn't the only country with that problem. But yes, it's fucked up.

[Perpetual Change]

I think Bush endorsed McCain, but it wasn't made a big deal....nobody wanted to be associated with GWB during the 2008 election.

That said, Obama has mostly mimicked Bush, so an endorsement actually would have made sense.

Yeah, I don't know how to feel about this. On one end, I'm happy: This proves that the tea-party is retarded. But it also proves that Obama is about as bad as any of us thought he could be.

[j]

I read somewhere that Bush offered his support, but McCain didn't want him anywhere near his campaign.  I knew the two have kinda been at odds for a while, although I'm not sure they haven't resolved their differences by now.

Interesting quote.

-J

[El Barto]

Yeah, Obama has been quite supportive of Bush, so there's no surprise there. 

This does shed some new light on that vicious primary campaign from 2000, though.  The Manchurian candidate and the illegitimate black child. 

Would you be more likely or less likely to vote for John McCain for president if you knew he had fathered an illegitimate black child?

[jsem]

Obama isn't exactly changing many of Bush's policies anyway, he's as establishment as it gets. McCain on the other hand was a maverick - you never knew what he was gonna do

[rumborak]

I would argue that whole "Maverick" business cost him a lot of votes. It sounded contrived, and more so the more they repeated. His talking monkey (Palin) didn't help matters by blabbering the word everywhere she went.

rumborak

[PowerSlave]

Obama isn't exactly changing many of Bush's policies anyway, he's as establishment as it gets. McCain on the other hand was a maverick - you never knew what he was gonna do

Not sure if serious..........

Wasn't his voting record brought up during the campaign showing that it was in line with Bush's policies 95% of the time, or something along those lines?

[El Barto]

Doesn't really matter at all.

Also, Obama voted in line with fellow Senate Democrats 97 percent of the time in 2007 and 2005, and 96 percent of the time in 2006, according to CQ.

All it shows is that they're both slaves to their respective masters. 

My brother raised an interesting point earlier.  These are two very different people (Bush/McCain).  Bush cruised through life due to his family's connections.  Lots of partying.  Lots of shirking responsibility.  Basically being spoiled and obnoxious.  McCain came from a military family, served honorably as we all know, got worked over pretty badly in the process, and only hit the easy road after marrying a woman he doesn't seem to particularly like.  It's pretty obvious that there'd be a shitload of resentment there.  There's kind of a Frank Grimes type thing going on.  Then when it's time for him to cash in and run for president, Bush's campaign manages to make McCain look insane and Bush look like America's greatest hero.  I can't imagine how these two could even stand to be in the same room together.  I suspect that behind the scenes their attitudes are real close to abject hatred. 

[PowerSlave]

I see the point you're making EB but, I'm not sure that the same comparison can be made between the two in this case. McCain was asserting that he diverged from his own party's message quite often by using the "Maverick" nickname ect. ect... Obama campaigned on change in opposition to the Bush policies. If Obama had indeed voted along his own party lines 96-97% of the time then his record previous to '08 certainly would have backed up his claims. If McCain had voted along with Bush policies prior to that time then his claim as a maverick would be unfounded.

Now, the argument can be made that Obama has just continued along the same lines that Bush had established but, that would be after the fact.

[SnakeEyes]

This is complete B.S.  Bush has been making the rounds on all the shows (O'Reilly, Hannity, Matt Lauer, Today Show).... I have seen all of these interviews.  There's no way in HELL that Bush voted for Obama or would have endorsed him.  He even says in one of the interviews that he was upset that McCain didn't ask him to campaign for him.

There's also another, "behind the scenes" kind of statement from a former Bush aide who said Bush was watching Obama during the campaign for 2008 and said something along the lines of, "this guy doesn't even have a clue."  THAT sounds like something Bush would say, not what hef daddy posted. 

[El Barto]

This is complete B.S.  Bush has been making the rounds on all the shows (O'Reilly, Hannity, Matt Lauer, Today Show).... I have seen all of these interviews.  There's no way in HELL that Bush voted for Obama or would have endorsed him.  He even says in one of the interviews that he was upset that McCain didn't ask him to campaign for him.

There's also another, "behind the scenes" kind of statement from a former Bush aide who said Bush was watching Obama during the campaign for 2008 and said something along the lines of, "this guy doesn't even have a clue."  THAT sounds like something Bush would say, not what hef daddy posted. 

That he was upset by the McCain snub doesn't really mean much.  Not being welcome in McCain's campaign was a pretty blunt statement about his presidency.  It would have been embarrassing and upsetting.  That doesn't mean that he would have actually preferred a McCain presidency.  It'd be like not getting invited to a party you didn't want to attend in the first place. 

That being said, the statement might very well be BS.  It also might be legit.  Who knows?  Most people here seem to agree that there really isn't much of a difference between the two, so it's entirely possible that Chimpy would have preferred Obama for any number of reasons.   

I see the point you're making EB but, I'm not sure that the same comparison can be made between the two in this case. McCain was asserting that he diverged from his own party's message quite often by using the "Maverick" nickname ect. ect... Obama campaigned on change in opposition to the Bush policies. If Obama had indeed voted along his own party lines 96-97% of the time then his record previous to '08 certainly would have backed up his claims. If McCain had voted along with Bush policies prior to that time then his claim as a maverick would be unfounded.

Now, the argument can be made that Obama has just continued along the same lines that Bush had established but, that would be after the fact.

I was merely pointing out that Congressional voting records don't really have any relation to what they'll do in the White house.  They both toed the party line like good politicians, that's all.  However, your point about McCain being liar is valid.  I'd say that Obama was equally deceptive.  McCains no maverick and Obama defines change as just carry on like the last guy.   

[hefdaddy42]

This is complete B.S.  Bush has been making the rounds on all the shows (O'Reilly, Hannity, Matt Lauer, Today Show).... I have seen all of these interviews.  There's no way in HELL that Bush voted for Obama or would have endorsed him.  He even says in one of the interviews that he was upset that McCain didn't ask him to campaign for him.

None of that really has anything to do with the veracity of the alleged comment from the article.

There's also another, "behind the scenes" kind of statement from a former Bush aide who said Bush was watching Obama during the campaign for 2008 and said something along the lines of, "this guy doesn't even have a clue."  THAT sounds like something Bush would say, not what hef daddy posted. 

That's actually kind of a corroboration.  If he really thought that Obama didn't have a clue, perhaps he would have seen in Obama a comrade-in-arms.