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Personally, I think he owed his victory to too many strong people. I don't believe he was 'his own' president, so to speak. He was the selected front man for a wider project, and as such was delivering somebody else's agenda. Not unusual in a leading politician really. In these days of focus groups and detailed breakdowns of public reactions to speeches and debates, I suspect that the Bush we've been seeing for the past few years is a version that has been refined through such feedback. He scored well on folksey charm, and people felt better about him when he was just as bemused by the world as they were. After the slickness of the Clintons, it was a breath of fresh air for a lot of people to be led by somebody who seemed like he would enjoy a beer at their local bar.
Maybe they thought, because he seemed to be an ordinary guy, he'd share some of their more pressing ordinary concerns.
Either way, I think they (his advisors, speechwriters, pollsters etc) began to over emphasise that side of him. He was playing a role the last few years. The role was his most ordinary and least impressive self.
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