One of Bush's biggest failures (and, yes, it's a very long list) both for country and for himself and his political party was to fail to genuinely tap into the uniting post-9/11 spirit. To use his lame expression, he decided to be a divider, not a uniter, and failed to transform American politics in a way which quite likely would've led to Republican domination for decades.
Tomasky has an essay about a new (old) kind of politics, one based on appealing to the common good rather than appealing to individual interest. It's similar to what Joe Trippi has been talking about - moving away from transactional politics and towards transformational politics.
Tomasky does a good job of fleshing out the potential pitfalls, as well as recognizing that it may just be his inner idealist talking. But I think many people do want to feel a part of something bigger than themselves, something they feel is a force for good.
