Maybe because Bush folk know that happiness is a choice and take responsibility for their own happiness while the gimmecrats are still lost in their sitting at the coffee shop whining about the evils of Capitalism orbit?
You make a good point about the differences in how Republicans and Democrats look at the issue of "personal responsibility" and how the state fits into that perception.
I sometimes feel as if Democrats don't think that personal responsibility and its exercise is possible without the "helping hand" of the state.