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Laura Bush says that the Republican Party has room for all candidates -- even the ones who "frightened" women with unconventional remarks about rape.

During an interview that aired on Monday, CNN host Erin Burnett asked the former first lady if the Republican Party "has made a mistake in doubling down" and making issues like same sex marriage and abortion central to its platform, which may have contributed to President Barack Obama's re-election in 2012.

"Well, no, I wouldn't say that necessarily," Bush replied. "And every candidate was different, each one of them. There were obviously some examples of candidates that were -- that I think frightened some women, but they were the exception rather than the norm in the party."

"And, you know, all of those social issues are very, very heartfelt by people," she added. "And I understand that. There are differences, and people -- you know, there just will be. And I'm glad that in our party, we have room for all of them."

Bush was most likely referring to remarks made by former Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin, who said women could not get pregnant from "legitimate rape," and former Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock, who suggested that pregnancies from rape were a gift from God. Both Akin and Mourdock lost their elections in 2012.

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You can see why CNN calls itself "The Most Trusted Name In News." You want hard-hitting coverage?

Following Michelle Obama's Sunday night video appearance at the Academy Awards, CNN used a clip of Happy Days character Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli jumping a shark on water skis to question whether the first lady had diminished herself.

The 1977 Happy Days scene and the phrase "jump the shark" has come to describe the moment when a gimmick damages someone or something's reputation beyond the point of repair.

"An editor at Salon.com thinks the first lady is following in Fonzie's footsteps by presenting the award for best picture at the Oscars," CNN host Carol Costello announced on Monday after showing the Happy Days clip.

Costello noted that the first lady had also recently met with Sesame Street's Big Bird about her campaign to combat childhood obesity, appeared on Jimmy Fallon's show and talked to TV chef Rachel Ray "about those much-buzzed-about bangs."

"Some say maybe the Oscars aren't the best use of the first lady's time," the CNN host continued. "Instead of all those cameos, she might champion some grittier political issues like the deficit, gun control or the pressing need for bipartisanship... Did Michelle Obama jump the shark at the Oscars?"

CNN contributor L.Z. Granderson reminded Costello that Laura Bush had also appeared in a video at the 2002 Academy Awards.

Granderson also noted that critics were forgetting that Michelle Obama "is not actually a politician, she's married to a politician."

After first expressing outrage about the current first lady's Sunday night cameo, conservative pundits like radio host Dana Loesch and columnist Michelle Malkin later rushed to defend Oscar appearances by Laura Bush and Ronald Reagan.

"Reagan was former president of the Screen Actors Guild. Sorry, did I miss Michelle Obama's past career in Hollywood?," Malkin wrote on Twitter Sunday night, adding that the first lady would soon "be in every movie theater preview telling you to shut your cellphone off & put away the popcorn."

"The left can't produce a video of Laura Bush presenting because it doesn't EXIST," Loesch argued. "They want to deflect because FLOTUS presenting shows bias and the propaganda involved around their 'Zero Dark Thirty' flick."

But Costello's point seemed to be that the first lady had better things to do with her time: "Imagine if Michelle Obama would reach out to Ms. Boehner... And they had lunch together and they talked about their husbands."

"I think the Oscars jumped the shark, like, four hours before Michelle Obama was even on TV," CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash told Costello on Monday. "Jumping the shark had nothing to do with Michelle Obama."

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Laura Bush seems to be a woman first and a Republican second. In an interview that aired Sunday, The former first lady told Fox News' Chris Wallace that she supports the nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court.

"I think it's great. I'm really glad that there will be three [women on the court] if she is confirmed. I like to have women on the Supreme court," she said.

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November 04, 2009 NBC Jay Leno

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Laura Bush told Fox's Chris Wallace that she disagrees with people that view her husband's presidency as a failure.

"I know it's not [a failure]," she said. "I think history will judge and we'll see later."

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While much of the country laughed when President Bush dodged shoes thrown by a reporter in Iraq, Laura Bush said she "was not amused." Laura Bush wouldn't say what should happen to the reported but she believes the incident was "an assault."

December 02, 2008 ABC News

The Preznit, out working on that Legacy Thing, was on ABC with Charles Gibson last night, and had this revealing exchange:

Gibson: You've always said there's no do-overs as president. If you had one --

Bush: The biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq. A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said, you know ... the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein. It wasn't just people in my administration, and um ... You know, that's not a do-over, but I wish the intelligence had been different, I guess.

Gibson: If the intelligence had been right, would there have been an Iraq war?

Bush: If he had had weapons of mass destruction, would there have been a war? Absolutely.

Gibson: No, if you had known he didn't.

Bush: Oh, I see what you're saying. Uh ... You know, that's an interesting question. That is a do-over I can't do. It's hard for me to speculate.

David N: As always with Bush, the Buck Stops Over There, Or There -- Anywhere But Here.

It obviously never crossed Bush's mind to consider the possibility that there weren't WMD in Iraq -- which, as we now know, was a lot of the reason the intelligence he received was getting so skewed. Indeed, it's obvious he'd probably have simply ignored that intelligence even if it had clearly warned there were no WMD.

Meanwhile, guys like Richard Clarke were warning him he shouldn't even go into Iraq if he was serious about combating terrorism.

Clearly, he wasn't. He was just intent on kicking Saddam's ass, regardless of the price paid.

And that's why, contra Karl Rove, he is forever doomed to be known as the Worst. President. Ever.

Adam Serwer at TAP and Greg Sargent at TPM have more on Bush's actual record regarding pre-invasion intelligence on Iraq.

December 01, 2008 C-SPAN

President and Mrs. Bush participated in the Saddleback Civil Forum on Global Health held at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. Pastor Rick Warren presented President George W. Bush with the first "International Medal of P.E.A.C.E." from the Global P.E.A.C.E. Coalition in recognition of his contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDS and other diseases.