Bush: Mainstream politician or dry river bed of leadership?

[soupkitchen]

Probably nothing in the political discourse makes me want to scream more than when a politician brings out that hackneyed, "You're out of the mainstream" charge. Which of course, Bush did in the debates against Kerry.
In fact Bush's, "You're so far out of the mainstream you're sitting on the left bank," pretty much has to be the most hackneyed version of this tired old Republican debate standard ever.
And I still haven't figured out why a leader is supposed to be concerned about the mainstream. Where in the leadership manual does it say the key to leadership is to follow the masses?
Anyway, whenever a policing starts accusing another of being out of the mainstream, my thought is the accuser is fishing for votes among the pebble brains in a dry river bed.