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Mitt Romney may want to rethink keeping George W. Bush at arm's length.
A recent poll has found that the divisive ex-president's favorability rating is now higher than that of the struggling Republican nominee.
Forty-six percent of those surveyed by Bloomberg News had a favorable opinion of Bush, compared with only 43 percent who had favorable feelings about Romney. Romney's unfavorable rating was also higher — 50 percent compared to Bush's 49 percent.
Former Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer pointed to the Bloomberg News poll on Twitter — writing that Bush's favorability rating was his "best level in years." The last GOP president left the White House with a dismal 22 percent approval rating, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll from February 2009.
While Obama has used former President Bill Clinton as a key surrogate on the campaign trail and a major speaker at the Democratic National Convention, Bush has remained on the sidelines of the presidential race.
His presence at the GOP convention was limited to an appearance in a tribute video that also featured his father, former President George H.W. Bush.

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