| Wman1996 said: George W. Bush didn't seem charismatic at all compared to most presidential candidates. Unless people found the Bushisms endearing compared to Gore and Kerry and their more straightforward approaches. |
Bush's re-election was probably the earliest example of the disconnect between what people online and the general public are thinking. When Bush came out with that line in the debate about "rumors on the internets", a lot of people in discussion forums of the day were laughing at his ignorance and assuming there was no possible way that Kerry could fail to beat this moron. Of course, for every person who was laughing at him, there were almost certainly more people thinking "Hey, I don't get all that internetty stuff either, President Bush is A-OK in my book."
All that being said, Bush's re-election probably had more to do with Iraq not yet having quite taken enough of the sheen off his post-9/11 popularity to deny him re-election, along with Kerry being a pretty forgettable opponent. The three-way combo of Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, and the financial crash rendered John McCain's campaign DOA four years later... but even then, Sarah Palin (somehow) resonated with more than a few voters, indicating that people will very often overlook a candidate's flaws if they find them more relatable than their opponent.
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