And Kerry is going skiing for *five whole days* while Rove and his troops have at him, plastering that astonishingly boneheaded quote all over the nation? It makes you wonder if he's really serious about running after all, it really and truly does.

Kerry dropped ten points?

OK, Karl, eeeeeaaase up now..... pull the ads..... let him catch some breath.

Let's get Kerry back up five points or so. Maybe another quiet mis-speak by a Bush econ guy or something.

The Dems are married to Kerry, but it's not consumated yet. Gotta let 'em wade deeper into that swamp before the real flesh stripping begins. But we like this fish. Let's not lose 'im.

(You'll know the flaying has begun when you start hearing Kerry's 1971 voice talking about.... um... military matters.)

Kerry can't even get his own spin straight. Last I heard from his surrogates, he voted 'for' the $87B when it included an amendment for a tax hike to make the appropriation 'revenue neutral,' then voted against the $87B after the tax hike amendment was defeated. Now the nay vote has to do with 'implementation'? Methinks he feared the next Rove ad theme: 'John Kerry, a man who cares more about raising your taxes than supporting our troops.'

Andrew X - It might be possible that if Kerry looks horrible by July the Dems will replace him at the convention. But everyone is lining up to support him and while a brand new candidate may cause Bush problems (like a new quarterback can confuse the defense) I can't see the Dems coming up with anyone else that would be any better than Kerry for going against Bush.

By the time Karl Rove is done with him, the Senator won't be able to get elected president of IHOP.

No, but he'll still be the high lord of the Waffle House...

Made my morning John.

Two points;

First give credit where credit is due. Rove's just riding the wave. Kerry is doing all the heavy lifting of demonizing Kerry. I mean, just how hard was that advertisement after Kerry's setup?

Second, given the previous, going skiing for five days, during which Kerry doesn't make public statements, might well shut down Rove's attack machine.

You've gotta love the story up on Drudge now about Kerry snowboarding down a mountain in Sun Valley and being knocked over by a Secret Service guy and then Kerry calling him an expletive and saying "I don't fall down". This guy is unreal.

I think Orrin mentioned earlier in the campaign that the best strategy the GOP had to attack Kerry was to just let the man talk.

Fred J., you must be a lonely man out there.

I love the way the media calls the ads negative.
Er ... "just the facts Ma'am!"

You gotta think that Kerry is experienced enough to avoid the I-voted-both-ways gaffes in the future. He's just very rusty because he hasn't had a tough political fight in years and years. He got through the Dem primaries on a pass from the media and his opponents. His last run for the Senate was unopposed.

Once he gets back up to speed, he should be able to avoid the ridiculous sound bites.

Kery's more permanant problem is, well, himself. He can't help looking like an aristocrat staring down his nose at us slobby peasants. His heiress wife, New England blueblood background, and general arrogance make a deadly combination for the great American unwashed voter.

If he tries to change his image, he looks fake and things just get worse. The Dems may have to face the inevitable: the best way to expose Kerry to flyover state voters is in very small doses. Send him on more vacations.

Casey: Not if he is going to cuss out the help.

Imagine that the rebulican attack machine using kerry's the own words. Unprecedented negative campaign. What will they do next? Say he is a vioetnam war vet?

At least he didn't say: "Stupid $%^#@!* peasant!"

Man, it's tough when your buddies at the NY Times are tossing dirt on you. By the way, did you see that story in the NY Sun about Kerry attending a VVAW meeting when an assassination plot was discussed? Don't know if anything will come of this story. Might be another intern eruption.

OTOH, it could be this year's DUI revelation late in the campaign. Only Bush would not be on the receiving end this time.

Just looked at the Kaus files. Mickey is an obsessive Kerry-basher, so I figured he'd have all the dirt. According to the Mick, ABC reports that Kerry collided with a run-of-the-mill peasant, er, skier - not a Secret Service agent.

Kerry's words, according to ABC: "I don't fall down. That son of a bitch ran into me."

Sweet guy.

Look, this is a trivial incident. But the fact that it was reported at all shows that the gloves are coming off the mainstream media. Kerry doesn't seem real popular even with reporters who agree with him on the issues (as most of them do). He can expect much more unflattering coverage to come.