The most startling impression I'm left with is how "real" he is. He's out there talking from the heart, not politicing, posing for the cameras or wrapping himself up in his own rhetoric. He's pretty much a WYSIWYG President.
How refreshing.
It was humorous how Democrat elitists misread him. Cheney ran the office, remember. His Daddy got him the job. His brother fixed the Florida election. He was a back slapping frat boy. Bush was a bumbler, a dullard. That was the image crafted for him by the media, and accepted by the left.
Americans didn't see that. They saw an honest, conscientous leader. They didn't think he was stupid.
From the first time I watched him operate, during the New Hampshire primary, I always saw him as an astute, disciplined executive. He was clear and sincere.
I think he was honestly committed to creating a new atmosphere of cooperation and bipartisanship in D.C. The Dems took this as weakness and naivete. It wasn't weak, but it WAS naive.
Many here try to marginalize Bush supporters as blind acolytes. That's insulting, but moreover, it's ignorant. I vote for President based on my read of his overall ideology ... but more importantly, his judgement, character and discipline. I liked the way he treated Laura. I loved the way he handled that nutjob Gore during the debates. I liked the way he handled the Chinese/surveilence plane event. It was never a crisis. Bush won my proxy early on - I don't micromanage every single legislative accomodation he makes, I trust him to pick his battles wisely. I don't have access to his information, his strategy and his constraints. Nobody here does. I support him because he's a conservative, he's a good manager of a good team, and he's honest and strong.
He's a winner. He wins the right way, for us.
I LIKE it!! Can we keep that? It'll drive the intellectual elite on the left NUTS (or more nuts)