“Tony Blair dignifies his opponents by grappling with their arguments in a way that helps preserve civility — and that we Americans can learn from.”

Mr. Bush is not the dummy his critics perceive. My take is that he’s very bright in a street-smarts way: he’s witty and has a great memory for faces, and his old girlfriends speak more highly of him than many women do of their husbands. But he’s also less interested in ideas than perhaps anybody I’ve ever interviewed, and his intelligence is all practical and not a bit intellectual. Nuance isn’t his natural state, and yet he gives us glimmers to show he can achieve it.

The last time Mr. Bush seemed genuinely to wrestle with an issue was the summer of 2001, when he acknowledged the toughness of the stem cell debate. He showed an impressive willingness to puzzle through stem cell policy and seek a compromise. — Nicholas Kristof, NY Times op-ed