Both of those views have validity, but I lean toward "highly paid stenographer." Woodward lost me back at his Colin Powell book, about the time you started to see all those "What's happened to Bob Woodward?" comments from people who loved "All the President's Men" and perhaps other early books.

His writing has lost its sharpness (to the degree that it ever had it and it wasn't coming from editing by Bernstein). Woodward seems to be trading now on his access to top figures rather than on what he makes of it or the quality of his writing. I was trying to keep this piece Watergate-focused, but the kinds of issues you raised were certainly on my mind while I was writing it. Thanks so much for giving me an opening to mention them.