>>29
Two words: Herbert Hoover. The Collapse of '29 was not his fault, even started on the iniatives that Roosevelt would champion in the New Deal (whether or not that actually helped the economy recover; let's not make that a part of this argument). Who got blamed for the crash? Herbert Hoover.
And, heck, President Hoover at least had a lot of time than President Bush to do stuff for the benefit of the economy (eighth month after inauguration). Bush was on his absolute last year. Added to that, every time some politician did try to show concern that the housing market (at least) was all it was cracked up to be on paper, it was droned out under a shrill of "don't knock something that's working."