Former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino talks 2016, voter frustration

Dana Perino isn’t in the prediction business, but she’s not sure her former boss President George W. Bush would win if he was running for president in 2016.

But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t think his brand of compassionate conservative can’t resonate. Seven years after leaving the White House, it still resonates with her.

“One thing I learned from President George W. Bush is that you don’t get do-overs, and it’s not productive to fantasize about things that can’t happen,” she said. “The 2000 and 2004 elections were President Bush’s time to serve. I don’t know if he would win today, but I do know this — I would vote for him every day for the rest of my life.”

Perino, the former White House press secretary and co-host of “The Five” on Fox News, will be in Bonita Springs on Friday as part of an annual event to sponsor the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.

Since leaving the White House, Perino has taken on the role of a television host, joining Fox News in 2009 as a contributor. Her show, “The Five,” debuted in 2011. While she’s still very much in the political arena, she hasn’t gotten in the habit of making political predictions.

“I always tell my friends and colleagues, ‘I’m not in the prediction business, I am in the analysis business’ and I enjoy my job of being a neutral observer,” she said in an email.

Perino has been closely following the twists and turns of the 2016 election cycle. She said the one thing polls have consistently shown is “the frustration with Washington is real — and it probably should be.”

That frustration, could be why so-called outsider candidates, such as Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, have fared so well. Perino said the desire to an elect an outsider could mean foregoing experience in managing government, but, she said “that might not be a bad thing.”

“I can understand the desire to try something new,” she said. “America is, after all, still of pioneering spirit.”

As for Trump, Perino said it will be interesting to see how he fares as voters continue casting ballots.

“I think there is something to be said about a bold new voice who provides endless entertainment,” she said. “He is certainly spurring a lot of interest in the 2016 election, but once voting gets under way, we will see if the polls hold up.”

Perino is one of several authors scheduled to headline the Florida Celebration of Reading event in Bonita Springs. The annual event raises money for the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, which aims to raise awareness about the importance of family literacy.

Since 2001, the Florida Celebration of Reading has raised $25 million to support literacy programs that support children and their parents. The Florida celebration was founded by Jeb Bush and his wife, Columba. The former Florida governor is campaigning in New Hampshire and not expected to attend the event this year.

Perino isn’t just attending because of her ties to the Bush family. In 2015, Perino released her first book, “And the Good News is…: Lessons and Advice from the Bright Side.”

The book, Perino said is “a one-stop place to say it all; from an inside look at what it was like to work in the White House, to how I got there, to providing clear, practical advice for young ladies starting out in their careers.”

The book is chock full of stories about her life and time in the White House, including the story behind a black eye she got in Baghdad. But there’s one thing it is missing — a chapter about dogs.

Perino, a dog lover, said she wrote an entire chapter about dogs that she offered to cut during the editing process. That cut happened, but she said her editor promised she could write an entire book about dogs in the future.

“I plan to hold him to it,” she said.