Bush: Clinton Is "Very Formidable"

In Interview, President Also Says He Thinks Republican Will Win Next Year

(AP)  President Bush said Tuesday that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was a "very formidable" presidential candidate who understands the pressures of public life, yet he expressed confidence that a Republican could beat her next year.

In an interview Tuesday at Camp David with Charlie Gibson of ABC's "World News," Mr. Bush said Clinton's experience as first lady has prepared her to handle the pressure of a presidential race and to understand the klieg lights.

But he stressed: "I do believe our candidate will beat her, if she happens to be the nominee."

If that sounds familiar, it's because it is straight from the White House talking points on Clinton.

Karl Rove, who recently stepped down as Mr. Bush's top political adviser, says of Clinton: "She is tough, persistent and forgets nothing. Those are some of the reasons she is so formidable as a contender, and why Republicans who think she would be easy to beat are wrong," he said in a column for Newsweek's Nov. 26 issue.

And Mr. Bush himself hailed her back in September during an interview with The Washington Examiner.

"She's got a great national presence and this is becoming a national primary," Mr. Bush told the newspaper. "And therefore the person with the national presence, who has got the ability to raise enough money to sustain an effort in a multiplicity of sites, has got a good chance to be nominated."

The White House has denied that Mr. Bush was talking up Clinton's prospects to energize the Republican base against her candidacy.

It has been difficult for Mr. Bush to remain silent about the 2008 president race, despite his promises not to be the "prognosticator in chief." He has been talking about the race and handicapping candidates during off-the-record chats with visitors to the White House.

Late last month, Clinton talked about the GOP's commentary on her candidacy.

"In a perverse way, I think that the Republicans and their constant obsession with me demonstrate clearly that they obviously think that I am communicating effectively about what I will do as president," she said.