Yes, But...
Uber-liberal columnist (and, inexplicably, Vanderbilt University business management professor) Bruce Barry has lots of kind things to say about President George W. Bush in his Nashville Scene piece ... until the very end of his piece, where Barry offers the obligatory "Yes, But..."

Yes, Barry says, Bush has emerged as a good leader. But... he hasn't signed on to the liberal agenda. So he's not a good leader.

The late 2002 edition of George W. Bush is evidently more focused and polished than the early 2001 inauguration model. But authentic leadership transcends persistence and strategic gloss; it transforms the body politic through substantive social progress. Bush falls short here: We have a president who is eager to wage war, but unimpressed with civil liberties, indifferent to corporate corruption, unconcerned with millions who lack basic health insurance, unmoved by environmental degradation and unwilling to view education through anything more sophisticated than a lens of standardized testing. Honest liberals will grant that Bush has overachieved, yes, but such is the inevitable dividend of low expectations.

Liberals always have "low expectations" for an elected official of the opposite party who doesn't share their agenda.