I think the basic truth being exposed is that people like Bush but do not necessarily like his individual policies on education, the environment, domestic security, or international relations. Reagan had very little understanding of sustainable public or international policy but he always took credit for anything perceived to be good and passed the buck on anything considered bad.
Clinton is of a similar vein but he typically had his grubby hands into everything b/c he knew something about everything or his wife taught him something about everything.
Bush is not particularly honest or deceitful. He's just another pol. But his handlers have mad skills, the media's primary function has become entertainment, and the public is too lazy to search for insight. Last but not least . . . the alleged opposition party (Dems) have essentially no message with a semblance of coherence.
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is King . . . or in this case one-eyed man with myopia, glaucoma, macular degeneration, partially detached retina, hypopyon, and a cataract.