That is my feeling too, although for reasons that are different from those suggested on this list. It may sound like a platitude, but electoral politics is, after all, about popular preferences. The reasons why Repugs can count on winning is not because of evil shrewdness of Karl Rove, or spinelessness of Democrats, but because it reflects the preferences of a big slice of the US population.
A big chunk, perhaps a half, of the US population tends to be politically conservative, self-righteous, suspicious of "aliens" of any stripes, and accepting US exceptionalism as self-evident truth. The accurate understanding of the complexities of domestic or foreign politics may be well beyond their intellectual capacity, but they cope with that shortcoming by making their judgment based on what sociologist of religion call "hierophanies" or physical manifestations of the sacred by virtue of similitude - e.g. sun can be a hierophany because its physical properties - light, heat, being above and beyond reach - are like those of an imagined but invisible deity.
Likewise - Bush is a hierophany of what in the minds of those people stands for Amerika as a "chosen" nation: power, self-righteousness and wealth. Bush personifies all these three characteristics - he is rich, he is arrogant and self-righteous, and he is quick in using power - and he and his handlers make sure that these characteristics are explicitly present in his public appearances. In that sense, Bush personifies what the folks from that group would like be themselves. This is why these people will be voting for Bush even if his administrations policies are a disaster - or perhaps because of that disater, which will help to portray Bush as self-righteous Amerikun male facing hostile environment.
This precisely that image that the other part of the US population hates with passion - but unlike the knee-jerk Amerikan patriots just described, these folks do not make their judgment solely on simplistic hierophaninc "cowboy" images. They take other aspects into consideration: who is more likely to easy my tax burden? Who is less likely to give my tax dollars to undeserving poor? Who is more like to provide cheap gasoline for my SUV? and so on. As a result, many of those folks, who otherwise hate Bush hierophanic "cowboy" image, may still vote for him.
To summarize, this is a self-righteous and conservative country - and the Bushies know exploit that conservatism and self-righteousness to their own advantages. Therefore, anyone successfully labeled as "liberal" has even a slightest chance of being elected president - who whether we like it or not - is the ultimate father-of-the-nation figure for many Amrikuns.
Wojtek