Bush got more votes than other person in history. The GOP has controlled the house and state governorships for around a decade. With the exception of traitor Jim Jeffords (which was NOT won at the ballot box), the GOP has also controlled the senate.
Voting patterns of the last 25 years, for the most part, have indicated a GOP resurgence and democrat collapse.
The decline of the Democrats was caused by a blunder.
NAFTA.
Clinton believed in free trade and the arguments for free trade. So did all of elite opinion, Republican and Democrat. Problem is, the working class base never agreed with free trade because they know that Desi Sixpack and Chan Sixpack will do the same jobs for a fraction of the money that Joe Sixpack gets and they can't compete with that. But Clinton made the decision to turn his back on them and won a victory that did not profit him politically in the least.
From then on, it was all downhill for Democrats because they had shown disdain for the economic interests and now the moral values of Joe Sixpack. The Clinton era Democratic party only cared about college educated knowledge workers. It was smugly assumed that only non-college educated people would be economically displaced and who cares about them ? That is a fixable problem, as Hillary realizes with her 27% tariff. A Democratic Party that talked more of jobs and protectionism than free trade and sodomite marriage could get Joe Sixpack back.