George W. Bush became president in part because people thought he was his father. This isn’t to say that people voted for the younger Bush because they expected he would continue the “kinder, gentler” conservatism the elder Bush had once endorsed. Rather, it’s to recall that some people literally thought the man seeking the White House in 2000 was the ex-president. Three days before the South Carolina primary, one Republican voter, speaking to a New York Times reporter, declared himself a “Bush supporter,” yet showed puzzlement at references to an unnamed father. “Oh!” the twenty-three-year-old William Lee finally said. “You mean it’s George Bush’s son who is running this time? It’s not President Bush again? Is that right?”

It’s doubtful that by the time of the 2000 primaries there were many voters still as confused as Mr. Lee. But in 1999, when candidates were first jockeying for poll position, the Texas governor rapidly climbed to the top, and the chief reason was nam...

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