Bush: 'I'd Have Endorsed Obama If They'd Asked Me'
During the 2008 campaign, President George W. Bush told a group of visiting Brits that he "probably" wouldn't vote for McCain, according to Financial Times writer Alex Barker. That's not all: He also said he would've endorsed Obama if asked.
A bunch of British dignitaries stopped by the Oval Office in 2008, after Bush had officially endorsed McCain, and got, well, a surprising reaction from the president when the Republican presidential candidate came up:
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."
Okay, so, assuming that the events in this anecdote actually happened, Bush was joking, right? (That, or trying to impress the cool kids by being all, "I only endorsed McCain 'cause I had to.") I mean, come on. But, still, I like to imagine end-of-presidency Bush, bored as hell in the Oval Office, wearing a t-shirt and paint-stained jeans, in utter senioritis/just-don't-give-a-fuck mode, sipping on a beer in a cozy and attempting to shoot the shit with Gordon Brown. "McCain? That asshole? Whatever."
