Former first lady Barbara Bush is giving a thumbs down to the GOP presidential race.

"I think it's been the worst campaign I've ever seen in my life," Bush said Monday at a conference on first ladies at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. "I hate that people think compromise is a dirty word. It's not a dirty word."

Bush's comments were reported by The Dallas Morning News.

The wife of President George H.W. Bush and the mother of President George W. Bush recently recorded automated calls on behalf of Mitt Romney that are targeting voters in Ohio and Vermont. Both states are among the 10 that go to the polls tomorrow on Super Tuesday.

In the robo-calls, Bush says Romney is the "best man to lead the country" and his wife, Ann, "will make a great first lady."

Bush and her daughter-in-law, former first lady Laura Bush, took part in the conference at SMU, where the younger Bush's presidential library is going to be located.

In response to a question about civility in politics, Barbara Bush didn't mince words. "I think the rest of the world is looking at us these days and saying, 'What are you doing?' " she is quoted as saying in the Dallas newspaper.