This is just one news sources interpretation of what was said, however:
Things like this, and there are quite a few, push me towards the conspiracy theory that there are only a handful of behind the sconces people running the world. If a favorite starts to lag, someone gets pushed into saying things someone loyal to their party wouldn’t.
As someone up-thread pointed out, these aren’t the words of a person with class.
The biggest mysteries Bush has pulled surround Sandy Berger. Why he would let him skip out of that blatant breach cannot be explained.