I have long looked forward to the Democrats nominating Kerry. But I thought they would not be so foolish. I have always thought his aloof, I-am-better-than-you-are manner would put everyone off. And the closer we look the worse he looks: he hasn't accomplished anything in the Senate; he confessed to committing war crimes, etc., etc.

Kerry is in a hole and digging. Keep going!

Good article. It does seem that Kerry's campaign has some serious issues, but I don't think any of the issues are fatal.

One thing I just don't get is Kerry relying so much on his service in Vietnam that he himself damned back in '71. I guess he's just expecting people to respect something he thoroughly disrespected.

I think Bush is going to win, but it's going to be closer than I'd like.

That John Kerry is an insipid and unreliable candidate has been established by many Democrats with a greater eloquence than I can command.

But in the end this election will be about Bush. More specifically, it will be about Bush's decision to invade Iraq. Like it or not, his defeat will be perceived around the world as a repudiation of the view that terror-sponsoring states are just as much legitimate targets in the war on terror as the thugs they support. Most Americans know this, and I doubt that this is the message they want to send.

I am not so sure the election will be close. There are days when I am so angry at our feckless prosecution of the war that I, too, would say that I disapprove of the president's performance, or that the country is headed in the wrong direction. Maybe there are a lot more like me hiding in the "wrong" side of those poll numbers.