I assume that is Machiavelli?
While Bush was acting as though the facts will speak for themselves and truth will out, he was abandoning the tools of power. People want to believe in their leader and with encouragement from him and an explanation of why he has adopted the policies he has, they will support him. By keeping silent he let himself be perceived as powerless.
Meanwhile the left was following Saul Alinsky, who taught that power is not only what you have, but it is what your enemy believes you have. George Bush simply threw that power away and he continues to do so to this day.