I hear you on public speaking, Tab, and I agree to a large extent. I used to have to do it, and I can attest that it is hell. I was sent to training a couple times and one leader said that surveys show that the fear of public speaking is approximately the same as the fear of death. But you do get over it with practice, and George W. has had enough of it. I think he was governor of Texas for eight years, and he had to run for prez in '00. He wasn't shoved out onto the stage last week or anything.
Bush's father was a bad public speaker, too. Famous for malapropisms, mixed metaphors and verbless sentences, as I recall. Not only that, but under stress he would get really whiney (I think you Brits would say
whingey?) But the old man was no dummy. He put together that Gulf War financial and diplomatic coalition, and I'll never forget seeing him on TV positioned so the soles of his shoes faced the camera, telling Saddam to scram from Kuwait or else. I remember thinking, holy cow this guy means business.
And who can do anything but admire him for contriving to vomit on the Japanese prime minister?
An unknown story about Bush Sr. is when he went to a big funeral in Japan (Hirohito?) he was assigned a seat in the second row. He ignored the assignment and walked up to the conqueror's rightful seat in the front row. No dummy, he. Bush's kid talks tough. Bush's father talked softly, but when that man walked, well look at it this way: If you followed him on the beach you'd see a set of footprints with a furrow between them. Tough as steel, that man. I truly miss his presence now.
So I'm strongly inclined to think that it's a brainpower issue with the son. That would seem to be confirmed from the accounts of others who have interacted privately. George W. doesn't seem to have much upstairs, and I think it's a huge problem for all of us.