TV of Course.
On a chilly January afternoon in 2005
PoliticalWire "You know," he said quietly, "I hope you don't mind me giving you a piece of advice."
"Not at all, Mr. President." He nodded. "You've got a bright future," he said. "Very bright. But I've been in this town a while and, let me tell you, it can be tough. When you get a lot of attention like you've been getting, people start gunnin' for ya. And it won't necessarily just be coming from my side, you understand. From yours, too. Everybody'll be waiting for you to slip. Know what I mean? So watch yourself."
"Thanks for the advice, Mr. President."
"All right. I gotta get going. You know, me and you got something in common."
"What's that?" "We both had to debate Alan Keyes. That guy's a piece of work, isn't he?"
I laughed, and as we walked to the door I told him a few stories from the campaign.
It wasn't until he had left the room that I realized I had briefly put my arm over his shoulder as we talked -- an unconscious habit of mine, but one that I suspected might have made many of my friends, not to mention the Secret Service agents in the room, more than a little uneasy.
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This sounds very much like the president made the statement, the way I read it.
Just taped conversation when GW and the One got together las week. It was played on TV.
It didn't happen recently, if it happened at all. According to Obama in the Audacity of Hope, it was a private conversation, and this is his memory of it. Rather self-serving on his part, I might add, since he uses GWB to diss Alan Keyes, who was his recent opponent, and is still on his case.
I am trying to set the record straight. There is no proof that Bush said this in 2005 or at all.
Thanks for posting the entire conversation - and just so I understand clearly, this is from Obama’s book or Obama’s recollections, right?
If Bush did say that, it sounds as though he meant it in the sense that Keyes is difficult to debate with.