Exactly!
We all wanted answers as to why W Bush allowed himself to be the medias/left’s punching bag, for eight years, and why he stood silent during 0’s destruction of America.
We want THOSE answers. Go back to Crawford and paint.
The reason is that Bush and other establishment Republicans represent a fake, managed opposition to the Left. They have the same core agenda of internationalism and multiculturalism (outsourcing, open borders, multilateralism, and "nation building" abroad), but gently disagree on some of the details such as a few mostly symbolic social issues.
To maintain the charade of opposition and choice, one side gets to beat up on the other occasionally, and they take it in stride. In contrast, when authentic challenge to the established order like Donald Trump comes along, they put their fake disagreements aside and unite against the common foe. That's why W. was happily doing bad watercolors of his dog during the Obama years but suddenly decided to speak out when Trump deprived Jeb from his turn at with the throne and scepter. GOP establishmentarians could live with an Obama or a Clinton in office, they're challengers within the club. It's someone outside the club taking over that riles them.