Stumbling over the "Biggest Mistake" question was a terrible insight into the state of White House affairs. First of all, any media-savvy individual (and the President ought to have one on staff) develops a standard way of handling a question to which he does not know the answer. You have a funny comeback, or just learn a standard punting technique. This is elementary stuff.

First lessons in oral argument for a young attorney:
1. Pause rather than babble.
2. Pause rather than say "umm"
3. Pause, think, and answer. People will wait for the answer, and forget the pause if it's decent.

What is plain is that Bush (1) didn't think he would ever have any problems, and (2) didn't listen to his staffers who told him how to behave. So he's arrogant and takes no advice.

So he ummmed and ahhed for a while. Then, in a seriously Freudian gesture, he spoke for about 5 minutes about how Iraq was NOT a mistake. Karl Rove must have been wilting inside. Worse, there was not a shred of creativity. As soon as I heard the question, four ideas popped into my head: (1) Maybe calling this press conference, I'm thinking now; (2) Ask Laura; (3) I've got five more years, so let's ask that when we're done (4) saying "crusade." Is there anyone who, for even an ordinary job interview, doesn't figure out the answer to that question "what's your biggest weakness...?" The answer is either funny or self-serving. Bush could have planned an answer, such as "not pushing hard enough for raising military pay" or "hanging back on the gay marriage issue until recently" or even "being talked into too small a tax cut by the Democrats."

As someone who has taught classes, I can identify with being "on the spot." A person expecting to do public speaking should be ready for that occasion. I was once asked to introduce a former California governor to a crowd on an impromptu basis. As the man was walking towards the stage, his staffer asked me to head him off and do an introduction. I walked to the podium. I paused, asked for silence, made a favorable comparison to the sitting Republican governor, and introduced Jerry Brown. Anyone who is President should know how to think on his feet in a crisis. If being asked a simple question is a crisis, heaven help us all.