Tales from the Trail

When George W. Bush says he’s done with politics — believe it.

Not even the queen of daytime TV could draw the former Republican president into commenting on the current political scene when Bush sat down with her to discuss his new book.

He makes it clear he has moved on from politics and that punditry is not his thing.

“I’m through with politics. It’s hard for people to believe. I already said that. I am through. I enjoyed it,” Bush says in excerpts of an upcoming interview with Oprah Winfrey released Thursday.

Winfrey asks if that’s why he’s made no public comment on  President Barack Obama’s  job performance.

“No. Because I want to treat my successor the way I’d like to have been treated.  I don’t think it’s good for a former president to be out there opining on every darned issue. He’s got a plenty tough job. Trust me. And there’s gonna be plenty of critics and he doesn’t need me criticizing him. And I don’t think it’s good for the presidency. Other people have a different point of view,” Bush explains.

The sneak peek of Bush’s sit-down with Winfrey came two days after his Republican Party gave Obama a “shellacking” in Tuesday’s midterm elections, seizing control of the House and picking up a half-dozen seats in the Senate.

In a second excerpt, Winfrey tried but did not succeed in getting Bush to weigh in on whether Sarah Palin would be “the one” for the Republican Party in 2012. (Is Palin’s new ad the launch of something?)

Bush held his ground, refusing “to wade back into the swamp.”

“You know, I am not a political pundit. I’m really not. And secondly, a lot is gonna happen between now and the nominating process. I have no clue,” Bush said.

End of  story. Or at least that’s all we get to see for now.

The full interview airs next Tuesday, the same day as the official release of Bush’s memoir, “Decision Points.”

Our own Steve Holland previewed an advance copy and writes that the Bush book is full of anecdotes and behind-the-scene details of  the former president’s eight years in the White House.

Photo credits:  REUTERS/Mike Segar (Bush at Game 3 of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers) REUTERS/Brian Snyder (Bush throws out ceremonial first pitch at Game 4 of the World Series as his dad, George H.W. Bush  looks on)