Liberals would hate Bush without the war
That is what liberals do, they hate anyone who doesn't share their outlook on all the issues. And, it would not matter to them if he helped the economy in any indirect way. They would still pull out all kinds of inequalities and blame them on him.
If liberals were willing to dislike Clinton for pushing the Democratic party to the center, then they were never going to give Bush a chance. They were going to hate him from the day he was sworn into office.