In almost every public opinion poll, including one taken after Tuesday's elections in the US, George W. Bush handily beats Al Gore as most Americans' choice to be the next president.
The question is, do they know who they are voting for? Literally. Because when the pollsters dig a little deeper, they often find that people confuse the former president of the United States, George Bush, now 74, with his son, the newly reelected Governor of Texas.
Confusion notwithstanding, the status of the younger Bush in those polls has catapulted him to the position of leading candidate for president.
The next question, of course, is whether he wants the job, especially in an era where politicians' personal lives are so scrutinised. Mr Bush has openly talked about what he calls his wild fraternity-boy party days in college. He also says he was once a heavy drinker and engaged in behaviour of which he is not proud.
He has not been specific, but as a member of a political family and a savvy politician, Mr Bush knows that the media are likely to dig up whatever they can.
Those intrusions into his privacy, he has said, are among the concerns he has as he weighs a campaign for the Presidency.
Mr Bush was born on July 6th, 1946, and grew up in Midland and Houston, Texas.
He received a degree from Yale University and an advanced business degree from Harvard.
From 1975 to 1987 Mr Bush was chief executive of an oil and gas company. After that he served as an adviser in his father's presidential campaign. In 1989 he became part of a group that purchased the Texas Rangers baseball team.
In 1994 Mr Bush was elected Governor of Texas with 53 per cent of the vote. This week he was re-elected.
Calling his political stance one of a "conservative and compassionate philosophy," Mr Bush has focused his administration's efforts in three areas; combating juvenile crime, improving the state's business climate, and getting social welfare recipients to return to work.
That focus has made him a popular Republican Party governor in a state formerly known for its Democratic Party occupation of the state house. This year even the state's highest elected Democrat, Lieut Governor Bob Bullock, endorsed Mr Bush's re-election campaign.
Mr Bush stands in sharp contrast to his father in many areas. The senior Bush was known as a bland politician, a WASP blueblood whose Ivy League bent and upper-class demeanour were difficult to shed. The senior Bush was also criticised during his presidency for an absence of what came to be called The Vision Thing, an inability to project a broader vision of public policy that went beyond efficient management of government.
The younger Bush is a commanding personality, charismatic and charming. Despite his Ivy League pedigree, Mr Bush prefers bass fishing and baseball to the pursuits of sailing and lacrosse.
He is also known for his quick, biting wit, a warm personality who nevertheless can show bursts of temper.
One famous story concerns the Wall Street Journal's former Washington bureau chief, Al Hunt. Mr Hunt had written some things critical of George Bush snr. One evening when Mr Hunt was dining in a restaurant with his family, including his four-year-old son, Mr Bush came over and called Mr Hunt an obscenity. Mr Hunt replied that his son was there and they would discuss the matter another time. They never did, but Mr Hunt told the Dallas Morning News that he hoped Mr Bush had matured since those days.
Preferring blue jeans to suits, Mr Bush is also known for being decisive and handling tough tasks himself, such as firing people. Perhaps the most famous man he ever fired was John Sununu, an intimidating personality who was President Bush's chief-of-staff. The difficult task of facing him down was given by President Bush to his son.
After participating in the baseball team purchase, executives gathered to determine whether an expensive new stadium needed to be built. Mr Bush considered it and within 15 minutes decided to build.
On the campaign trail, Mr Bush has been energetic and compelling. That came as no surprise to those who have known him. At the age of 40, he gave up drinking and also quit his considerable smoking habit. Soon after he became a jogger and now runs three miles a day. If he does run for president, Mr Bush will need that energy. The strain of a national campaign, both in its duration - most concede the campaign has already begun, given Mr Al Gore's 224 trips on behalf of candidates for this week's elections - and in its financial and emotional cost has already driven several potential candidates from the race.
Mr Bush is known to be especially sensitive about his family, and the brutality of the campaign could be difficult for them.
His wife, Laura, is a former schoolteacher who has worked on behalf of education and literacy in Texas. The couple have two children, 16-year-old twins Barbara and Jenna.
Political consultants agree that if Mr Bush is to run a successful campaign, he will have to show he has that elusive political quality that in the US is called "fire in the belly".