Why Did 51% of Voters Choose Bush?

1) because 9/11 shocked them into believing he was a great leader who was strong on fighting terrorism
2) because these people for the most part know very little about Bush's actual policies and these people have a poor understanding of news events
3) because the media protected Bush and covered for his mistakes
4) because John Kerry did not comprehensively spell out many of the most horrible things that have happened during the past four years-- Abu Ghraib and other prison abuse scandals, the 100,000 civilians that have died in Iraq since the war began, the failure to prevent 9/11, the horrible fiscal policies and the anti-working class policies of the Bush administration. He spent too much time on Bush's Iraq planning, which was not a slam dunk for him, since he never consistently spelled out his differences with Iraq.
5) because John Kerry was hamstrung by his failure to vote for the $87 billion for the war and then explain consistently why he did that. This one vote, and the idea that Kerry wasn't supporting the troops, easily cost Kerry a huge chunk of votes.
6) because John Kerry is a "liberal senator from Massachussetts"-- and the south is never going to vote for him.
7) because the GOP ran a campaign of sleaze and distortion (Swift Boat Veterans, Gay Marriage, etc) and vote suppression-- particularly in key battleground states like Florida and Ohio.
8) because, in contrast to the GOPs efforts against Kerry, Democratic lawmakers were not united in a comprehensive strategy to stop Bush at all costs.

So despite Bush's manifest failures across the board, most of the American public was willing to still vote for him because of all these reasons.