If President Bush referred to his opponents as dumbasses in a speech and then proceeded to explain his plans for the WOT then the audience of people who would take him seriously would quickly diminish.
Again, you sound like you are contradicting yourself. You previously promoted this “tactical thinking” with regard to stuffing Obama down our throats so we could learn how bad his ideology is. I think a “tactical” loss is just a loss.
I don’t think there has been a big shift in either the liberal or conservative direction in the past four years. I think people vote based largely on personality, perceived character, and image. If Reagan had looked, sounded, and acted like Helen Thomas, he would not have won, no matter how bad people thought Carter was. Obama is doing as well as he is because he is an attractive and appealing speaker. But McCain can win based on character and a sense of authority.