Dubya endorses Mitt Romney…barely

George W. Bush finally endorsed GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney today, but he wasn’t exactly effusive.

After Bush spoke at an event in Washington, DC, ABC News reporter Matt Negrin followed the 43rd US president to the elevator and asked him who he was supporting in the 2012 presidential election.

“I’m for Mitt Romney,” Bush said as the elevator doors slid shut, according to ABC News.

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Bush’s father, former President George H.W. Bush, mother, Barbara, and younger brother, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, gave Romney the thumbs up in March, CNN reported.

The Obama campaign issued a statement about the endorsement before the Romney campaign did, according to the Atlantic. "President Bush has endorsed Governor Romney, and Governor Romney has endorsed a return to Bush-era economic policies,” the Obama campaign jabbed.

"We welcome the president's support, as we welcomed his father's," Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul told CNN later.

The Washington Post pointed out that Bush’s statement is just the latest in a string of lukewarm endorsements Romney has collected from his Republican colleagues so far. In fact, the Post noted, Yahoo News has held a series of votes for readers to choose which of Romney’s endorsements has been the most tepid. (As of May 9, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels’ statement was judged to be least enthusiastic.)

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