I've really enjoyed reading all of your terrific posts. I agree that George W. Bush doesn't meet the definition of a demagogue. Just because he undermined America's image in the world, weakened America's commitment to human rights, and failed to be a sound economic steward and a competent wartime commander in Iraq doesn't necessarily make him a demagogue. Moreover, the concept of "demagogue" doesn't, in my view, capture and fully do justice to Bush's legacy--whether we're talking about his supply-side economic policies, positions on abortion or civil rights, and crusading post-nine-eleven policies in waging the war on terror.
What most interests me about this discussion is the idea, which Heather's post touched upon, that fear is a political force coursing through the country's post-nine-eleven economic and national security debates. Fear has been featured in our political debates in recent months and years.

Obama's critics have accused him (wrongly, in my view) of sowing fear to enact his stimulus plan and expand government's role in Americans' lives. Most disturbingly, instantaneous communication technologies have made it easier for some in the political media and other spheres to use fear as a political weapon during big national debates. Rick Santelli's infamous rant against bailing out "losers' mortgages" is one recent example of political messages driven by these kind of resentments. Meantime, talk radio kingpins and bloggers rail against what they brand Obama's quasi-Stalinist and socialistic-big-government agenda. In 2004, Bush's wolves ad attempted to stoke Americans' fears that if Democratic hopeful John Kerry won the presidency, he couldn't be entrusted to defend American lives. I thought it was among the most effective ads of the campaign.
In certain respects, then, we might come to see the 2002 mid-terms and 2004 presidential elections as moments in history when some of our leaders irresponsibly sought to fan fears that if we didn't follow their policies, we'd be attacked again. We were told that millions of Americans would die or suffer grievous harms, and the country would be imperiled. In retrospect, I wonder if fear -- and it's not only the right but also the American left that can stir fears about, say, corporate evils and issue exaggerated claims about the perils of particular policies -- is partly shaping the nation's political discourse. I wonder if the real threat to America even in Obama's hopeful age is less the emergence of a single poweful demagogue but of a series of demagogic, fear-soaked claims that drain our debates of reason, facts, reasonable policies and responsible discussion of serious ideas.
America's a resilient country, with a strong constitutional conscience. But political violence that's propelled by fears has also been a feature of the nation's politics since the nation's founding. That's why I worry that demagogues could still prey upon people's fears and legitimate economic and security concerns and further undermine confidence and trust in our democratic system and damage Barack Obama's agenda.