I have to disagree when she suggests that GWB should have engaged his opponent on such fields as gay marriage. If Rove advised him against it, Rove was right. There are certain issues on which it would have been all too easy to distort the President's position. If he had, for example, associated himself with the swift vets, or endorsed them outright, the media would have crucified him. It is not enough to be right, you have to survive too. It would have been morally correct to endorse the swifties, but political suicide. Same with gay marriage. Make that a major issue in the campaign and you start the Mother of all mud fights. Why give the media such an opportunity? Instead, GWB downplayed the issue and tried to keep the debate on a high plane. Now he's got himself 4 more years. He's a leader, not an angel.