Breaking that "no new taxes" pledge was the worst thing to happen to the Republican party since Richard Nixon decided to stonewall and obstruct with Watergate. It was devastating to the party and Clinton got eight years to drag this country into the gutter.
The younger Bush is so different from the father that if they didn't look so much alike, one might be tempted to ask for a DNA test to prove it. Unlike his father, GWB is likeable in a "down-home" kind of way. You don't get those preppy "Ivy-League" vibes from GWB at all. Furthermore, when GWB speaks, he means it. He's got integrity. People trust him. He will never go back on an important campaign pledge like his father did, especially since he knows all too well the consequences of doing so.
So while it is true that the elder Bush had sky-high ratings during the Persian Gulf crisis, those ratings were short-lived and a direct result of the war and they plummetted as a direct result of the economy. Here we are over a year after GWB's historic moment (9/11) and his popularity is just incredible. And these aren't "wartime" ratings. We haven't been engaged in battle in a major way since the beginning of this year and the economy is far worse today than it was during 1991 and 1992. These ratings (still approaching 70%) are for real. Imagine what they will be when the stock markets start soaring again and Sadaam Hussein is finally removed from power!
Many here feel Bush the Sequel is unbeatable. We don't know what the next 24 months will bring.