I keep thinking about a story I saw or read that during a rally for GW, when the people screaming their support for Bush were asked about what policies of his they supported, they couldn't name any. Many times over we are told Americans voted for Bush because they liked him. They liked the man. He was "one of us."
Based on that you begin to realize that these people have no standards by which to judge Bush's time in office. There are no specific policies, laws or decisions these voters supported that they can hold up and deem Bush a success or failure by. They simply voted for him because they liked him.
the rest...
The irony is, the more stubborn Bush is on a matter, the more he looks like the man they originally voted into office. His policies don't matter. His war doesn't matter. His failures don't matter. He's "one of us", and matters of policy, or those core beliefs that conservates supposedly hold dear, like smaller, less intrusive government, simply don't matter and aren't relevant to these voters.
This poses a question: How do you discuss Policy with voters who are voting Personality?