Although Mitt Romney stands as the strongest candidate the GOP has this year for the presidential elections, endorsements haven’t exactly been piling up. It wasn’t until this week that former president and GOP member George W. Bush made a public announcement regarding his take on Mitt Romney. The endorsement itself wasn’t so enthusiastic.
This Tuesday, George W. Bush endorsed Mitt Romney, but not in too many words. In fact, the former president had only simple four words: “I’m for Mitt Romney”. It goes without saying that Bush wasn’t so enthusiastic about the endorsement, but in the end the current Republican nomination race had some pretty “poor” candidates. Mitt Romney simply stands out as the strongest in the crowd, but that doesn’t mean GOP couldn’t have done better.
The brief statement, George W. Bush made, was probably the single one related to the current Republican presidential nomination race. In his defense, George W. Bush hasn’t been enjoying the most positive status among both the party and voters.
Richard Rinaldi is one of the old timers of the GOP and feels that Bush did good by keeping away from the nomination race. “The Iraq war? The economy? Let’s not revisit President Bush’s record. There’s no desire to see him campaigning”.
As short as Bush’s endorsement was, it provided just enough ammunition for Barack Obama’s campaign. The four words statement the former president gave a reporter with ABC News just as the doors to his elevator was closing are enough to pull down Romney in polls.
“President Bush has endorsed Governor Romney, and Governor Romney has endorsed a return to Bush-era economic policies” reads a statement from Ben LaBolt, Obama campaign spokesman. According to LaBolt, expect the following to happen again: “massive tax cuts for the wealthiest and no accountability for Wall Street, which led to huge deficits and tepid growth”.
George W. Bush isn’t the first member of this praised GOP family to endorse Mitt Romney. However, his endorsement was the most harmful. Back in late March, his father, George H.W. Bush endorsed Mitt Romney saying: “Barbara and I are very proud to fully and enthusiastically endorse and support our old friend Mitt Romney. He’s a good man, he’ll make a great president”.
