The Left hated Richard Nixon so passionately that libs I know now, far too young to even remember him, loath him. During the Reagen years (when I was in college), the Left hated the gipper so much that they were nearly inarticulate with rage. Now, when the Libs talk about W., they act like a bunch of people with rabies.
This is just something the Loony Left seems to do. It doesn't really have anything to do with W.
I believe you are correct there. I also believe that the intensity of the hatred is directly related to the effectiveness of the president in getting his agenda accomplished. GHWB didn't generate venom at this pathological level precisely because, with the exceptions of the Gulf War and Clarence Thomas, he didn't do much that was far outside what libs considered reasonable.
Now, the debate about whether Nixon, GHWB--or GWB for that matter, were conservative may be left for another time.