For the record, obama did play the race card multiple times. It may have been subtle, but he did. All of his unite america speaches were based on the fact that he has had experience on "both sides of the spectrum" being that he's half black and half white.
Also, I believe that bush is entirely smart. Think about it, he was leader of the world for eight years by the people's voluntary will despite being a poor public speaker.
Someone can be an insanely intelligent person without being a good public speaker. Unfortunately, he made a few blunders, and the media tore him apart and magnified every little mistake. I don't think he did a particularly bad job. I think he was an average president who was unfortunately the best option, who's career was crushed by bad times. I don't believe that he was the cause of the bad times, just someone who was caught up in it and blamed for it all.
Also, if you'll remember, I still believe that bush was the best option for president given the option between him and al gore and john kerry.