Bush on Palin: "What is She, the Governor of Guam?"

Matt Latimer's new book, Speech-less: Tales of a White House Survivor, is due out in a few days. Latimer is a former Bush speechwriter, and last month the Washington Post noted that some ex-Bush administration were growing nervous about the new tome.

The October of issue of GQ has excerpts from the book, and its clear the book will be an interesting read, and perhaps even an unintentional laugh-fest.

With regards to the selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain's running-mate, Bush actually had some insight, revealing that at least in terms of Palin, he was on the mark:

“I’m trying to remember if I’ve met her before. I’m sure I must have. What is she, the governor of Guam? [...]

“Look, I’m a team player, I’m on board. She’s interesting. You know, just wait a few days until the bloom is off the rose.

“This woman is being put into a position she is not even remotely prepared for. She hasn’t spent one day on the national level. Neither has her family. Let’s wait and see how she looks five days out.”

On realism about John McCain's chances:

“He can’t get 500 people to show up for an event in his hometown? He couldn’t get 500 people? I could get that many people to turn out in Crawford. This is a five-spiral crash, boys.”

Latimer also writes that Bush didn't seem to understand the proposal to handle the economic crisis; this should be required reading for anyone pointing at the Obama administration for anything to do with the initial bailout.

When it was explained to him that his concept of the bailout proposal wasn’t correct, the president was momentarily speechless. He threw up his hands in frustration.

“Why did I sign on to this proposal if I don’t understand what it does?” he asked.