As I said above, according to Lucas in just about every other place he talks about Jar-Jar, he feels Jar-Jar was a huge success, and says the only reason he isn't in II and III as much as he was in I had to do with the tone getting darker, and the story centering in on the main characters. He speicifically says the "Jar-Jar Backlash" had nothing to do with it.
But if you think his "I am not too sure about Episode I" (a joke he did on a comedy show) is what he "really means" then more power to you.