CJR dissected her Times column from Wednesday, noting its the unusual seriousness and the oddly earnest tone Dowd took while discussing Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama. CJR noted that readers expressed admiration for Dowd's effort, happy to see Dowd's usual snide, name-calling set aside.

Personally, we don't think a single instance of insight and poignancy can erase the mountain and trivial absurdities that Dowd has shoveled throughout the campaign. And rather than read her column and think how refreshing it was that she opted to get serious, our reaction was to ponder what a misuse of national column space her efforts have been most of the campaign season. Meaning, she could have been serious and insightful most of the time. Instead, she opted for childish and trite.