Elder Bush lauds 'best choice' Romney

“I think Romney is the best choice for us,” the elder Bush told the Houston Chronicle, citing Romney's “stability, experience, principles.”

“He's a fine person,” he said. “I just think he's mature and reasonable — not a bomb-thrower.”

The elder Bush's nod to his old friend comes just days before the party's first event to nominate its presidential candidate for the November elections: the crucial Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3.

He also expressed misgivings about the candidacies of fellow Texan Governor Rick Perry and former House speaker Newt Gingrich, who was a rising power in Congress when Bush served as president from 1989 to 1993.

“I like Perry, but he doesn't seem to be going anywhere; he's not surging forward,” Bush said.

Of Gingrich, Bush said: “I'm not his biggest advocate.”

He recalled how Gingrich slipped away moments before he was set to stand with Bush and leaders of both parties in support of a deal reached in 1990 to raise taxes so he could start lobbying against it.

Romney's campaign — which has made much of more formal endorsements — did not immediately respond to the story published on the paper's website Thursday.

Bush is considered a moderate Republican and the endorsement is not likely to help the former Massachusetts governor much with the party's conservative base.

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