transforming consensus

Michael Barone writes a brilliant piece today where he talks about policy and public approval of seven American and British leaders over the past twenty six years.

Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, John Major and George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Tony Blair and George W. Bush.

Barone postulates:

"The transformational Thatcher and Reagan had negative to neutral job ratings during most of their longer years in power. [They were] followed by lukewarm but clearly right successors in Major and the first President Bush. Blair and Clinton for most of their years in office had quite high job ratings. Yet surely history will regard Thatcher and Reagan as more consequential leaders than Blair and Clinton."

How should we thus interpret the low approval ratings for President Bush? Certainly, his foreign policy could be described as 'transformational' as Reagan's.

Could it be that bold-visioned Conservatives are less popular than consensus-building Liberals?