I am reading Neil Stephenson's "doorstop" of a series called the baroque cycle. It is dense with philosophy, history and sensory details.

One thing caught my eye that seems a truism that could explain Bush's reelection:

"people use stories to makes sense of complicated situations" or words to that effect. It's true. It's too hard to understand everything and check the authenticity of all facts and to know the truth. So people use stories that may or may not be true. Stories like george washington and the cherry tree, or the boston massacre (which was like truly just a few colonists throwing stones and not really a massacre according to some sources) or whatever.