[SingleMan]

I'm not sure where this whole "Obama threw the stick away" thing is coming from. So far, Obama has been pretty much exactly in line with Bush with our military foreign policy, if not more aggressive in many respects. We're still following the same Iraq withdrawal time table, we're still in Afghanistan, we're now more aggressive with our use of drone strikes in Pakistan, Gitmo is still open, we've stepped up our actions against Somali pirates, the Patriot Act is still in effect, more of our budget goes to defense than it did under Bush, and we're sending battleships to the coast of Libya with the possibility of enforcing a no fly zone. If anything, Obama is the one speaking softly and carrying a big stick, while Bush was speaking loudly and carrying a big stick.

As for the main question, no, I don't think Gaddafi would be acting any different if Bush were in power. Bush was pretty lenient with Gaddafi (so far, much more lenient than Obama), remember. But, Gaddafi is a batshit insane dictator who's people are rising up against him, I'm pretty sure he'd be freaking out and trying to hold onto power by any means no matter who the US President was.