Palin fires back at 'blue-blood' Barbara Bush

By Matt DeLong

Updated 11/24/2010 at 1:44 p.m.

In an interview Wednesday with conservative radio host Laura Ingraham, Sarah Palin fired back at former first lady Barbara Bush, opting to make a class issue out of Bush's comments earlier in the week. Bush told CNN's Larry King in an interview that aired Monday that she hoped Palin would stay in Alaska. From Palin's interview with Ingraham:

"I don't want to concede that we have to get used to this kind of thing, because I don't think the majority of Americans want to put up with the blue-bloods -- and I want to say it will all due respect because I love the Bushes -- the blue-bloods who want to pick and choose their winners instead of allowing competition," Palin said.

Palin's comments begin at around the 1:30 mark in the clip below.

Palin is no stranger to class warfare. Last year, when Caroline Kennedy was mulling a Senate bid to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton, who vacated her seat to become Secretary of State, Palin suggested that Kennedy would be treated with "kid gloves" because of her iconic last name.

"I've been interested to see how Caroline Kennedy will be handled and if she will be handled with kid gloves or if she will be under such a microscope," Palin told conservative filmmaker John Ziegler.

"I think that as we watch that we will perhaps be able to prove that there is a class issue here also that was such a factor in the scrutiny of my candidacy versus, say, the scrutiny of what her candidacy may be," she added.

As Sen. John McCain's running mate during the 2008 presidential campaign, Palin promised to represent the "Joe Six-Pack American," prompting New York Times columnist David Brooks to devote an entire column to Palin's propensity for playing the class card.

Also of note in the Ingraham interview, Palin took another shot at the Bush family.

Palin also suggested that the Bushes upper-class status had contributed to "the economic policies that were in place that got us into these economic woeful times."

Original post:



In an interview with Larry King set to air Monday, former first lady Barbara Bush said she hopes former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin chooses to stay in Alaska.

"I sat next to her once, thought she was beautiful," Bush said. "And I think she's very happy in Alaska -- and I hope she'll stay there."

Palin has been increasingly vocal about her possible future plans in recent days. In an interview with the New York Times Magazine published this week, Palin said she is "engaged in the internal deliberations" about a potential 2012 bid for the presidency. She said in an interview with Barbara Walters last week that she thinks she could beat President Obama.

Also of note in the Larry King interview, former President George H.W. Bush said he is "confused" by the tea party, adding that he doesn't "know what it really is." Still, he said, "some of [their] ideas make a lot of sense."

Watch:





This post has been updated for clarity.