In Transition

President Bush, who spent most of the 2008 election on the sidelines, had several thoughts about Barack Obama both as a campaigner and the next President when he was interviewed last night on ABC's "World News."

Bush told anchor Charles Gibson that the Obama administration was going to be "an exciting time for America," and while he had obviously hoped for a victory by John McCain, "the election of Barack Obama is going to lift our spirits in many ways."

Bush said he never expected to see an African-American win the White House during his lifetime.

As for the outcome of the election, Bush attributed it more to the Obama's strengths than McCain mis-steps. "From Barack Obama's perspective is, he had a really good campaign," Bush said. "I mean this guy, I'm told, raised $150 million in one month. That meant a lot of people were for him for president."

Although he acknowledged the Democratic victory was a "repudiation" of the GOP and that his own unpopularity cost the party votes, Bush said, "I think most people voted for Barack Obama because they decided they wanted him to be in their living room for the next four years explaining policy. In other words, they made a conscious choice to put him in as president."