Is the love affair over? Once it was all pretty words and sweet nothings:

Woodward's series on George W. Bush's handling of the presidency post-Sept. 11 makes for very interesting reading because it sheds some light on the combination of qualities that make some men good leaders.

--Mona Charen, 11/25/02 column

Woodward's Bush is smart.... Woodward's Bush is disciplined, "deliberate, patient," yet bold.... Woodward's Bush is humanitarian....

In fact, Woodward's Bush is downright Reaganesque, a shrewd, centered leader who enjoys being underestimated.

--Gil Troy, Raleigh News & Observer, 12/8/02

Bob Woodward makes it official on "60 Minutes"...

President Bush is a STUD.

That's the impression you get from the excerpts from Woodward's new book "Bush at War," highlighted tonight on 60 Minutes. Much of it was based on lengthy interviews with Bush himself, who comes across as one tough customer.

--"ArcLight" at Free Republic, 11/17/02

But now, in the New York Daily News, Lloyd Grove writes:

I hear that "Plan of Attack," supersleuth Bob Woodward's still-secret study of President Bush's war on terrorism, will be very bad for the Bush reelection campaign - which is still reeling from gun-toting former terrorism chief Richard A. Clarke's critique of Bush, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and other administration figures in "Against All Enemies."

Woodward's book, to be released next month, will receive not only a multipart series in The Washington Post, but also the Mike Wallace treatment on "60 Minutes" April 18....

I'd love to know more, but I guess we won't have to wait long. Woodward's a weathervane -- if he's turned against Bush, then obviously turning against Bush is acceptable at the cool cafeteria tables in D.C. (though I guess W won't officially be a pariah until Most Popular Girl In Class Sally Quinn quotes David Broder saying so in print.)