Bush Reaches Historic Low

(NEWSER) - Former President Bush is gradually reentering life as a private citizen in Texas, Newsweek reports, but he's doing it gingerly and on his own terms. While many Texans agree that Dubya's still the friendly, aw-shucks guy they sent to Washington eight years ago, he's definitely keeping clear of dissent. “He is in home territory for sure,” a Texas historian said. “He doesn't enjoy naysayers and critics and opposition. Never has. And right now, he needs that nurturing cocoon that he is in.” More»

'Dead Certain' includes 6 hours of one-on-one interviews with the prez

(NEWSER) - President Bush is fixated on how history will remember him, a new book about his presidency will reveal Tuesday. Bush was initially coy with journalist Robert Draper, but he finally capitulated to six hour-long interviews in which he slowly lets his guard down. "I've got God's shoulder to cry on, and I cry a lot," he told Draper. More»

W. says he won't campaign, fundraise, or criticize Obama

(NEWSER) - You won't see George W. Bush hitting the campaign trail in 2012; he's sworn off politics for good, he tells C-SPAN in an interview airing tomorrow night. “I don’t want to go out and campaign for candidates, I don’t want to be used as a perpetual money-raiser, I don’t want to be on these talk shows giving my opinion,” Bush said, in an excerpt spotted by Politics Daily . “Despite the fact that I’m now on TV, I don’t want to be on TV.” More»

Obama's making Bush look good

(NEWSER) - George W. Bush left office with the lowest approval rating since Richard Nixon, while Obama took over with stratospheric numbers. But then a funny thing happened: “America woke up from its 2008 trance and is concluding that Bush was never as bad, and Obama never as good, as advertised,” writes Victor Davis Hanson of the National Review . Bush’s favorability ratings have soared—Ohio, for example, would now prefer him to Obama by a 50-42 margin. More»

... and shoulders will get colder as mid-terms near

(NEWSER) - President Obama’s support among his fellow Democrats—yep, looking at you, Howard Dean —is in a steeper dive than his opinion-poll numbers, and reminds David Broder of the last months of George W. Bush’s administration. But that was 7 years in for Republicans, he writes in the Washington Post. “I never thought we’d see Barack Obama face a similar problem before his first year was over.” More»