Actually, Bruce, as pissed of as I was about the way Dubya became President (note that I do not say "was elected") in 2000, I gave him the benefit of the doubt at first, with his talk about being "a uniter, not a divider" and caring about education and the environment, etc. I think a lot of other Democrats, progressives, etc., did too.   Some of his early decisions, like choosing Colin Powell as Sec. of State, didn't seem that bad.   I don't think Bush's opponents in their wildest dreams imagined the disaster his Presidency was going to be. We formed our really negative opinions based on the policies and actions we saw AFTER he took office.