Kerry should promise that, as President, he'd go to Iraq.

Not just one trip, several trips. As many trips as he can make.

He should stake out a claim as the one candidate responsible enough, experienced enough, and especially brave enough, to face the real situation in Iraq.

The contrast with Bush couldn't be more clear. All at once, the promise alone would accomplish multiple goals.

And those are all nice and bullet-pointed after the break...

I've read a lot of 'ouch' comments about the second Swift Boats ad, officially titled 'KerryYouFuckingTraitorWeShould'veFraggedYouWhileWeHadTheChance.' I hear people say Oooh, that one hurt, and Gosh, I hope nobody sees it, and Why can't Kerry pronounce 'Genghis' like a normal person and will that lose us Ohio?

Well, yeah, at first this spot seems more incisive than the last. At least it's not crammed with fibs. In this way, we're rather like those dogs in the 'learned helplessness' experiments. When we're not being hit by electric shocks, it actually seems decent to be in a wire cage. Funny how our standards have dropped so much that a Bush ad that doesn't spew lies left and right seems suddenly worth taking seriously.

I'd love to be able to dispatch these wrinkled ogres and their latest ad with a rejoinder as quick as the last ad, in which case the response was Ha ha ha ha, caught you lying you hairy-earlobed Budweiser belt-buckled white trash! However, I'm not sure that can be done quickly when the subject is Kerry's own ain't-I-precocious quotes. So, failing that, the unabbreviated form of the comeback. Maybe some Superman-like Kossack will grab hold of my lowly carbon and squeeze out a gem. Or be put in mind of a better one.