Kerry Time

The Bush Campaign responds to Senator Kerry's speech here.

I unfortunately didn't see the speech, as I was dining with friends. I have heard many different opinions; some say he nailed it, others that he missed completely (Gene of Yale Free Press fame has a list of links analyzing the speech, by the way).

One thing is undisputed: Kerry barely touched on his experience post-Vietnam. Just as Senator Edwards spoke of Kerry's Vietnam service and practically nothing else, Kerry left out his entire career as a public official. This is, to say the least, putting all of one's eggs in one basket. That makes for a prime smashing opportunity come the RNC in late August. As you've probably heard by now, the great majority of officers that served with Kerry in Vietman actively oppose his candidacy. I also instinctively assume (perhaps others have seen concrete stats) that show that the military brass overwhelmingly favors the President.

Simply put, the Republicans can make short work of the military card, which Kerry's overplaying.

This election will be judged on the economy and the War on Terror. As the economy gets better (it has for quite a while now, and there's even reason to believe Bush never oversaw a recession at all), that will be less of an issue for the Dems. They've already been reduced to simply out-Bushing the Republicans on terror (the Kerry/Edwards message boils down to "we can do this a little bit better," not terribly compelling), which does little to placate the hate-the-President-at-all-costs wing of the Democratic Party.

The Bush Campaign needs to realize that the national debate can easily be framed in terms very beneficial to them (the iron is hot), and plan the RNC accordingly.