Kerry towered over Bush and had a much deeper voice.
But Bush was seen as the more manly candidate compared to the effeminate Kerry.
Absolutely true. But the Swiftboats probably did more to win that election for Bush-—and, don’t forget this-—in Ohio they had a “gay marriage” initiative on the ballot. This was HUGE, and gave Bush Ohio by a comfortable, but not huge, margin (115,000 votes as I recall). Without those two things, Kerry would have won.
Bush was also helped that John Kerry was a traitor back in 1972.