  We study the gauge-invariant gaussian ansatz for the vacuum wave functional
and show that it potentially possesses many desirable features of the
Yang--Mills theory, like asymptotic freedom, mass generation through the
transmutation of dimensions and a linear potential between static quarks. We
point out that these (and other) features can be studied in a systematic way by
combining perturbative and 1/n expansions. Contrary to the euclidean approach,
confinement can be easily formulated and easily built in, if not derived, in
the variational Schroedinger approach.
