Bush has been in office for 7 1/2 years

[Col Forbin]

Didn't Gore try to distance himself from Clinton?

Not in policy. He did, however, try to distance himself from him on a personal level because of his personal affairs.

McCain, on the other hand, is trying to distance himself from Bush on a political level in terms of policy and budget - which up until this campaign he agreed with. I guess he needed to appeal to the majority of Americans fed up with the Bush Administration.