That sounds probable, since there recently has been an increased use of the word "pessimistic" by Republican pundits and pollsters to describe Democrats.
It also means that they will be rely on short-term memory, since Bush' record is all but "compassionate". They will also rely on the fact that several far-reaching laws were passed "stealthily", i.e. in a nightly session, shortly before a holiday, or buried somewhere in another law.
It's important that the voters are reminded of what Bush' record actually is. The issue for the Democrats is that they must do this without sounding "pessimistic", because uninformed voters will fall for that trick. His record should constantly be compared to the promises he made as a "compassionate conservative" during the 2000 campaign.
One strategy that might work is to remind voter of Bush' actual record by word of mouth, and through 3rd party (527) ads, shielding the nominee him/herself from the "pessimistic" meme.
There are several other things that the voters need to be reminded of, like the fact that Saddam had no connection to 9/11, but that's for another diary entry.