TO THE RESCUE

Laura Bush Defends Obama

Says he has a lot on his plate.

Here's one Republican who isn't worried for the nation's children on Tuesday. Former first lady Laura Bush, a onetime teacher, defended the president’s contentious decision to deliver a back-to-school address and said she thinks he is doing a good job overall. “I think he has got a lot on his plate, and he has tackled a lot to start with, and that has probably made it more difficult,” Bush tells CNN. She also said she isn’t surprised Obama is having trouble reaching across the aisle to Republicans, since her husband encountered similar problems when he tried to practice bipartisanship. "He was disappointed that that was not the way it worked out in Washington," she said. "I'm sure President Obama didn't expect it to be that way [either]. All of us need to do what we can to come together on issues." Both Laura Bush and George W. Bush are currently working on their memoirs.