[cjromero]

Kerry's recent attacks on Bush's military record aren't going to gain traction because the American public has had 4 years to assess Bush's ability as commander in chief. By way of contrast, the Swift Boat ads were effective against Kerry because he is the unknown challenger. Attacks on Kerry's inconsistencies are even more effective in the post 9/11 world.

Personal attacks on things that occurred before Bush became president simply aren't going to resonate with the American public because he is the incumbent. To the extent it woudl ever work, it would have worked for Gore in 2000, when the revelation two days before the election of Bush's DUI almost certainly led plenty of fundamentalists to stay away from the polls.

When the race is between an incumbent president and a challenger, people will essentially vote as a referendum on Bush's job as president. With his job approval rating now above 51%, the country is pretty evenly divided on the issue.

Kerry just isn't going to change many minds by arguing that Bush was a rich kid who used connections to get out of going to Vietnam, and who used his daddy's connections to get ahead in the business world.

Right or wrong, people of wealth and power use their connections to get ahead to get out of doing things they don't want to do. It's the way the world works. Not enough Americans are going to fault Bush for doing what plenty of other rich kids did.