Biggest mistake?  McCain-Feingold.

Biggest mistake was Colin Powell’s appointment as Secretary of State.

I voted for W.  Twice.  The only thing that I haven’t appreciated is the occasional imperialistc way in which he conducts himself, or should I say, the office. 

Good question, Z.  I will think about it.

McCain-Feingold, the Medicare prescription benefit, the fact he’s been President nearly five years and hasn’t vetoed a damn thing (can’t call yourself a gunslinger if you’ve never slung a gun).

And Norman Mineta.

Those were the mistakes/failures. Successes?

He drives the reactionary Left bat$#!t crazy. That alone almost gives him a pass on all the stuff previously mentioned.

Almost.

I think his greatest strengths are steadfastness and a very strong understanding of practical politics.  Also, he’s been much better than average at selecting competent aides and letting them do their jobs.

The downside of that is that he has been too reluctant to fire the incompetent (Norm Mineta, call your office).  FWIW, I don’t consider Brown to have been one of the incompetents.  I come to the latter opinion largely on the basis of the expressed opinion of Jason van Steenwyk, who has good words for his efforts in hurricane mitigation over the last couple of years.

As to failures, in addition to those mentioned by McGehee, I’ll add that he hasn’t done a good job of communicating his goals and their importance to the electorate.  He’s capable of making a good speech, even though not a brilliant orator, but for whatever reason is unwilling to make them often enough to control the debate.

Poor prosecution of the War on Terror before 9/11 and McCain-Feingold are his big failures.

Prosecution of the War on Terror post 9/11 is a success.

Best policy is the Bush Doctrine. Using Iraq as a way to gain a foothold for Democracy in the Middle East will either be a brilliant failure or a smashing success, but either way it was the kind of big bold move that had to be tried.