to the extent that the author's 'translation' fits experience (and the number of close-ups of the man in full dudgeon; the body language, eyes and - set jaw).
No longer a caricature - Lewis's demagogue was given attributes of just such a method and just such aims. Only it was fiction, so he got to project --> what one may hope is not -- our future, too.
That Bushie's is a negative personality - is not even an arguable matter IMhO. The extent of the malady is what we are bound soon to discover. (And what a lot of company does he appeal to! I find that the much scarier aspect of his ascendance. Much. Think of the word catalyst.)
Ashton