Bush: 'I'm sure some people voted for Obama because of me'

Bush: 'I'm sure some people voted for Obama because of me'

rawstory.com

In an interview to be broadcast on ABC News tonight, President Bush conceded that he just might have been part of the reason Barack Obama won the White House.

"I think it was a repudiation of Republicans," he said. "And I'm sure some people voted for Barack Obama because of me. I think most people voted for Barack Obama because they decided they wanted him to be in their living room for the next four years explaining policy."

(visit the link for the full news article)

"I'm sorry it's happening, of course... Obviously I don't like the idea of people losing jobs, or being worried about their 401(k)s. On the other hand, the American people got to know that we will safeguard the system. I mean, we're in. And if we need to be in more, we will."

"I wish the intelligence had been different, I guess,"

"That is a do-over that I can't do,"

He said incorrect intelligence about Saddam Hussein's arsenal was the "biggest regret of all the presidency."

"I think I was unprepared for war,"

"In other words, I didn't campaign and say, 'Please vote for me, I'll be able to handle an attack,''

"In other words, I didn't anticipate war. Presidents -- one of the things about the modern presidency is that the unexpected will happen."

"A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein,"

"It wasn't just people in my administration. A lot of members in Congress, prior to my arrival in Washington, D.C., during the debate on Iraq, a lot of leaders of nations around the world were all looking at the same intelligence."

"I listened to a lot of voices, but ultimately, I listened to this voice: I'm not going to let your son die in vain,"

"I believe we can win. I'm going to do what it takes to win in Iraq."

"When you have the Secretary of the Treasury and the Chairman of the Fed say, 'If we don't act boldly, we could be in a depression greater than the Great Depression,' that's an 'uh-oh' moment,"

A little video is in the source webpage. I see kind of a different Bush of what i am used to, troubled i might add.



rawstory.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I think over time when people from the Bush staff start speaking out about what really happened behind closed doors, Some people will change their opinion of Bush. I feel he did the best he could and was just surrounded by people who gave some shotty advice. As far as people voting for Obama cause of Bush, I agree..some did. However, I feel Obama earned the majority of votes he got. Just by beating Hillary he showed that he was capable of earning votes.

My opinion more people voted for Barack because of the media coverage than because of Bush. I saw the interviews from Obama voters half of them didn't know a thing about politics or who the politicians are but they immediately knew the talking points the media hammered for a year.

reply to post by Fatality

If Bush truly believes that then he should be looking deep within himself and at those who have advised him over the years and see clearly how his administration was a great and monumental failure that the American people would have voted for even the devil himself if nothing else to eliminate the possibility of repeating or continuing failed policies of his administration and party.

I'm sure that the reason for ANY candidate winning ANY such position is MARKETING and effective use of MEDIA connections and support.

I call BS on any notion that we know anything about any of the candidates that the media hasn't 'crafted' for us to consume.

Insofar as his regrets about 'the war' I remind you that the plans for the invasion of Iraq were in existence prior to his first inauguration. VP Cheney met with energy (oil) industry moguls to divvy up the oil fields in their ambitions 'plans' and the Patriot Act was drafted LONG before it's implementation.

"I want to be a war-time president' he said.

Regrets..., yeah, right. All the way to the Bank..., or his gigantic property in Paraguay.

And for most of us who did, i think we know the move was mainly symbolic as nothing will really change. It cant-the president just doesnt have that much power.

Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.

I do have some sympathy for Bush, I really don't believe he was the "evil mastermind" behind his administration. Look at the people he surrounded himself with, people the Republican party itself wanted around him. Dick Cheney, Rumsfeld, Karl Rove, and countless other crooked people. Bush did do some good things while in office, but the corruption of his administration will overshadow him. I'd like to see what all comes out when he leaves office, it will be interesting...will Bush speak out against his staff? Will staff speak out against Cheney? Who knows, it will be interesting...and of course the media is going to spin this saying such and such doesn't cut it. But have some humanity here, he was surrounded by scum, it's hard to be a good president when that's the case.

I'm starting to like Bush a bit more. Now that he's not trying to pretend he is a great leader, he's being more down to earth and coming out with some pretty humorous quips.

Originally posted by Reddupo
he's being more down to earth and coming out with some pretty humorous quips.

And this has changed how in the last 8 yrs?

The way I see it every time he opened his mouth he said something stupid.

Originally posted by princeofpeace
Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.

Exactly. I'm not sure why there are so many people who think the president of the United States holds any real power. Any decisions made by the president are only as good as the information he receives from the intelligence agencies and his advisors. Bad information results in bad decision making. The war in Iraq is a case in point.

The bottom line is that the president is a puppet. His advisors and intelligence agencies can sway the administration in any direction they want based on whatever information they choose to provide...information that can be altered or falsified to achieve a particular result. The Bush administration was a failure by design. I see no reason why the Obama administration would be much different.

[edit on 12/2/2008 by Lightmare]

[edit on 12/2/2008 by Lightmare]

reply to post by Maxmars


I have to agree with you on that! We don't pick a president based on what his capabilaties are or what he "can" do. We, as a society, buy into slogans. To proove this point, what was McCain's slogan? We all know that CHANGE was all over Barack Obama's (Bam-a-lam) campaign. But the three ring circus that polotics has become is nothing more than watching a WWE wrestling match.

Que the entrance music and lights....

Bring in the opponant with his own entrance music and lights....

Pan the camera across the crowd to show the homemade signs with cool catch phrases on them....

Is it Polotics or WWE.... YOU decide.

When all you've been fed is nothing but bologna sandwiches for eight years, all of a sudden the talk of them "changing" the menu on you to strictly beans and rice sounds might appetizing.

Problem, Reaction, Solution at its best.

The President might be taking a little more credit for the thumping the GOP took than the should.

My friends, even some Republicans voted against Sarah Palin, not for Obama.

Obama didn't really win....

McCain/Palin LOST. With their stupid campaign "Joe the Plumber" and their mean spirited approach. The voters are tired of negative campaigning.

I have been a registered Republican since I turned 18 in 1988 and voted Obama due to the abortion known as the last 8 years. We really do need a change.

Bush might have had plans for the invasion of Iraq, I believe that. However that doesn't mean that he wouldn't have abandoned those plans if he'd had better intelligence after becoming president. Who knows? I'm not optimistic enough to bet my life on that. However I have to agree with others that the President does not hold as much power as one might think. I think most of the power is divided up amongst the lobbyists and the political parties. Bush only got there because they gave him the money to, and once he was in the Oval Office he had to pay that money back. Every president does. It is because of that, that I won't vote.

Even if the President is a good person, a patriot, even if they want to do what is best for America I doubt that most of them ever get much of a chance. Of-course, perhaps now I am just being too cynical. I do wish Bush would have fired Rumsfield, a lot of the blame for how Iraq turned out can be traced back his arrogance.

reply to post by Fatality


After Bush you could put a Chimpanzee in the White house and it will do a better Job!
After all they did travel into space before us!

he's right.

some people did vote for obama because of him. why give him crap for stating the obvious?

reply to post by niteboy82


I agree with you. Too little, too late. He should have said this stuff years ago. It's unbelievable that he has the nerve of saying the most regrettable thing is bad intelligence on WMDs. They defended that to the death.

All of the things he just said about Iraq were the crux of the entire argument for the past 5 years. Had he just admitted that, we could have all moved on and worked towards a solution. Instead, we never got past phase 1 (determining the problem), so we couldn't get to phase 2.

I hate to say I told you so...