Boom... out comes the 'Peace Mom' and the MSM attack begins. Then it's NOLA, where Bush is unfairly savaged by the Dems & the MSM. Even though the blame rests on state and local officials... Bush accepts full responsibility.
On the heels of that comes the self-destructive Miers pick... then Plame/Rove... and a Democrat assault on Bush's reasons for going into Iraq. All through this MSM/DNC concocted nonsense... Bush is silent... and his numbers plummet. I wouldn't of believed it... if I didn't see it.
True. Bush was often attacked earlier--National Guard, Weapongate, capital punishment in Texas, rich oilman, and especially Enron, which was an all-out Watergate type propaganda campaign. He managed to get through these, but I think it weakened him as well as discrediting the MSM. Finally, it started to take effect. Miers was an important factor, because unlike all those other attacks, Bush himself supplied the ammunition for that attack by failing to do his homework.
Also, he really reacted the wrong way with Katrina. He acted as if he was guilty, when he should have counterattacked, pointed out that constitutionally he was not a first responder, and that he could not go in until Blanco gave her permission. He should also have pointed out that Blanco delayed the evacuation, which was only started after he spoke out. It's not his job to evacuate, it's hers and Nagin's. Pointing fingers is never pretty, but he should not have stood there while everyone pointed at him and not explained the constitutional and legal realities of the situation.
Frankly, he also needed to attack the lies spread by the press. No one has ever apologized for all those lies and errors, and few people even know about them.