If there was one thing he had going for him, at least George W. Bush used to look like a president.

Although he has raised an incredible amount of money, Bush was having a string of bad luck. He failed a pop quiz on world officials given to him by a reporter, he had to consistently dodge questions about his rumored cocaine use during the disco era, and some pundits questioned whether the Texas governor has the mettle to be president.

And there was, of course, Bush’s stunning loss to Arizona Sen. John McCain in the New Hampshire primary, in which the man who had all but been officially anointed the Republican Party’s nominee for president suddenly wasn’t necessarily the front-runner anymore.

But through it all, at least Bush had his family name and an air of inevitability about him.

Even though he may not know much about foreign policy or health care or, well, really any of the major issues candidates should be educated about, he still looked strong and professional. In fact, Bush looked so much like a president that it didn’t really matter that he’s not even halfway fit for the job.

Not anymore. At Tuesday night’s debate, the last meeting of the GOP candidates before Saturday’s South Carolina primary, Bush didn’t seem so presidential anymore. He looked tense, nervous and like the desperate candidate he has become, since there’s a statistical dead heat between him and McCain in the Palmetto State.

Tuesday night’s debate, which was moderated by CNN’s Larry King, turned out to be a series of nasty exchanges between Bush, McCain and ultra-conservative Alan Keyes, who for some reason is still in the race. During the exchanges, Bush came off as paranoid as Richard Nixon did in the original presidential debates.

Why would Bush even begin to accuse McCain of negative campaigning when there are numerous charges of push polling against the Bush camp? Also, Bush has refused to pull his negative advertising, despite pleas from McCain for a more positive race.

Why would the establishment’s candidate be acting this way? Because Bush realizes he can hide behind his father’s name and his lack of knowledge for only so long, and no amount of negative campaigning can disguise that.

So here’s a couple of tips for the Dubya: Don’t bother expounding on issues that you know nothing of; don’t accuse other candidates of practices that your camp has perfected; and don’t resort to going negative when you don’t know what else to do.

Oh, and enjoy what’s left of your time in the sun.

It’s fading fast.

Iowa State Daily Editorial Board: Sara Ziegler, Greg Jerrett, Kate Kompas, Carrie Tett and David Roepke.