From the Department of All Things Self-Evident:
In person Mr. Bush is so far removed from the caricature of the dim, war-mongering Texas cowboy of global popular repute that it shakes one's faith in the reliability of the modern media.
In fairness, the president is neither silver-tongued nor skilled in the craft of euphemism, so he does not welcome exchanges when they are in substance combative. His most visible characteristic, facing the disingenuous leftward nine-tenths of the White House press corps, is stilted agitation. Humor helped him recover political esteem lost after his first debate with presidential challenger John Kerry.
On the stump, speaking from both memory and heart to voters with whom he shares a mutual admiration, President Bush is brilliant. (Hat tip, the Corner.)