Im familiar with the argument in favor of this within the past couple years. But what case is there that they started 15 years ago?

“I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy,” Bush said. “I was able to get a sense of his soul.”

I dunno about 15 years, but it was already a thing in 2015. My local gun store owner - the kind of guy who watches Fox religiously, has "thin blue line" stickers on his truck etc - straight up told me that he'd prefer Putin to Obama because the former is a "true leader", a "real Christian", and "protects family values".