Now it is under attack from all sides, charged not only with worsening a bad situation by misjudging the economics, but with being politically tone-deaf in some of the most volatile capitals in the world, from Jakarta to Moscow.

Mr. Lindsey was often accused of being politically tone-deaf in advising Mr. Bush on dealing with Congress, although he has the opposite reputation among fellow economists.

Representative Peter T. King, a Long Island Republican who supported Mr. McCain, was also critical of Mr. Bush today, saying, "Either he's arrogant or he's politically tone-deaf."

After months of alarmist news coverage that painted the Democrats as weak, obstructionist, and politically tone-deaf, press coverage began to change.

He could be politically tone-deaf, as when he initially resisted efforts in Congress a year and half ago to overhaul the Internal Revenue Service.

Morale at the C.I.A. is at an all-time low, and the choice of General Hayden sends a politically tone-deaf signal to the men and women in the field who themselves are fending off encroachment from the Pentagon.

But beyond the words, Dr. Paige turned out to be politically tone-deaf and a disastrous manager.

Mr. Nussbaum rejected the view held by critics that he had been politically tone-deaf and had not appreciated that good litigation tactics were not always politically wise.

So the dispute continues, in a fashion similar to controversial episodes during Mr. Bloomberg's first term, as when he housed homeless families in a mothballed jail and was accused of being politically tone-deaf.

But Mr. O'Neill, who comes across as somewhat naïve and politically tone-deaf in this thick stew of self-justification and insider revelation, also feels betrayed by a White House that discouraged any serious policy debates.