The nay-sayers are underestimating Bush again. They don't think he can do it. These are the same people who were so sure he would be swept out of office last year. If any one is long in the tooth, its the Left, whose dominance in American life is fading.
Yes, it sounded like some sort of wishful thinking on the part of this leftist that the conservative "cycle" is growing a bit too old. I attribute the fascination of the public with big government to be a function of those who credited FDR with ending the Depression, and as the voters who remembered and liked the New Deal started dying off in the mid 1970's, we have entered a more conservative time. Even Clinton tried to co-opt the language of conservatism to fool under-50% "majorities" into voting for him.
The Baby Boomers have no memory of FDR, but they do remember Reagan's "Morning in America". They'll also live a lot longer than their parents' generation, and will keep the GOP in power for a long time.