Unfortunately, a lot of Republicans are happy to have an "empty suit" in the White House as long as he spouts the correct rhetoric. That's what Ronald Reagan was, after all, and they want to put his face on Mount Rushmore.

Reagan was way more articulate than Bush (at least at the beginning of his presidency), but he was mainly articulate only about his ideology (e.g. the Soviet Union was the "evil empire") and he was happy to leave the details of implementation to others. Hence the "arms for hostages" deal.