anchor: In other words, on a day when George Bush was supposedly distancing himself from conservative Republicans, he was actually caving to their foolish dogma on the issue at the center of campaign--over the objection of his two top advisors on the subject.
positive: George Bush was supposed to be disagreeing with Republicans but instead agreed with their foolish ideas.
negative: George Bush told the Republicans there was no way he would let them even consider this foolish idea, against his top advisors advice.