Bill Clinton predicts that USA is likelier to elect a female if she's 'a conservative Republican woman'

"Maybe," Clinton replied to CBS' Tracy Smith's question about whether the U.S. isn't ready for a woman president. "I think in some ways we've moved to the right as a reaction to all the turmoil. And I think if Hillary had been nominated in 2008, she would've walked in, just like Obama did."

"Well, I think all these cultural battles that we're fighting make it harder in some ways for a woman to run," he said. 

"So, you think it has more to do with party than gender?" Smith followed up. 

"No," Clinton responded. "Although I think it would probably be easier for a conservative Republican woman to win."

The former Democratic president said it was because that was what Margaret Thatcher did and added, "I still think we'll have a female president pretty soon."

Smith also asked Clinton about why his book includes a portion on his affair with Lewinsky.

"Because I thought I needed to say something about it, and I wanted to be as helpful as I could to let her turn the page. I think she should be given a chance to build a life that is about her and the future, and not, you know, being whiplashed into an old story," Clinton said.

"I live with it all the time," Clinton wrote in "Citizens" of the Lewinsky scandal, according to a report. He also reportedly complimented her work on bullying. 

"I wish her nothing but the best," he wrote.