David Frum asks: Is George W. Bush still "The Right Man?"

There are many things to say about George W. Bush, positive and negative. But with his numbers dropping into the mid-30s, and even many of his friends having to acknowledge doubts and disappointments in his performance, here is one verdict that remains true, the same that Lincoln delivered on General Grant. "He fights."

When I wrote The Right Man in 2002, I tried to do justice to the president's personality, both virtues and vices. I carefully reread that book as part of my preparation for writing this next one. It itemized so many of the faults that have had their cost over the past year: the president's sometimes over-hasty decision-making, his disinclination to ask sufficiently probing questions, his aversion to detail, the overcentralization of decision-making, his often surprisingly poor personnel decisions, his unwillingness or inability to explain himself as fully and convincingly as a president ought.

Back then, those criticisms provoked some controversy. But just as back then we needed a reality check against some of the over-worshipful coverage of this presidency, so today we need a reality check against the barrage of often recklessly unjust criticism of everything and anything this administration does.

With Republican losses a very real possibility in 2006 and 2008, we need to remember how many of the problems of today originate in the drift and weakness of the 1990s - and how many more problems would be created by a return to drift and weakness now.