Swift Boat Veterans for Truth

Kerry continues to to defend against charges that he received his medals fraudulently, and Bush continues to deny responsibility for the ads. Even more ridiculously, Bush calls for the banning of all 527-funded ads, effectively "We should get rid of mouths", rather than he himself should stop lying.

Having a voice doesn't make you a liar, and Bush's -- and Republican's -- problem is that Dems organized these groups far more quickly and raise funds more adeptly than the Republicans did. And, maybe, Dems will *always* be able to do so. Republican's sure can get sugar daddy to drop $200K in a pinch, but it may just be that power is in the hands of the people after all -- and a million people stepping forward with $20 for a 527 (that's $20 million dollars for those keeping score at home) is broad-based support which Republicans do not have. Sure, maybe they can get 20 folks to put out $1M, but those folks will always be close friends of the party boss, and so they will always look like Republican party efforts -- which would make them legally vulnerable to accusations of skirting campaign finance laws.

Even so, you can't win elections screeching "Victim!". It makes you look weak, people think you're a whiner -- even when the whines are well justified (need evidence, look at McCain). When Bill Clinton effectively countered attacks in the '92 campaign, he spent no more than 1 day on the issue, then moved on. If Kerry doesn't get out of this rut before Sunday, when the GOP National Convention starts, "Victim" is how that slate of "nice" speakers are going to paint him.

Even more so, Kerry is carrying water which should be carried by John Edwards, and as Slate opines today, Edwards is not stepping up -- and so, is threatening to become the new Lieberman. Answering attacks is exactly what a VP candidate should be doing -- you're the campaign hatchet man. Dems have got an ex-trial lawyer as a VP candidate, he should know how to hold an axe handle, and yet he remains upbeat and positive.