What's the difference between "strong" and "scary"?

Bush's whole schtick is that he's strong and decisive versus Kerry and Democrats who are weak and indecisive.

Below that is the subcontext that the Big Strong Bush and GOP will protect you from those frightening terrorists, while weak waffling Kerry and Democrats will hem and haw and let the terrorists get the upper hand.

The way people respond to that message and the Bush persona is amazing. On the freeper boards, they are filled with awe and respect at Bush's speeches like he gave on his way to NYC.

But I and many otehrs see those same speeches is just the opposite. Bush is scary aggreessive, not strong assertive. It seems like Bush is about to come through the tube and rip my throat out. I also find it scary thinking that as he takes this ranbting approach to the rest of the world, he actually makes a bad situation worse.

Kerry, on the other hand, has gravitas. The kind of quiet strength of the neighbor you'd go to in a crisis, because you trust him. Somehow, though, Kerry is having a hard time getting that across in a larger sense.

That, IMO, is the basic challenge Kerry has to overcome. Get across the contrast between his cool, deep ands granite-like strength against Bush's bouncing-off-the-wall aggression.