Take away his years and the Senate and what does he have to run on, other than those 4 months he served in Nam over 30 years ago?

Likeks:

“Kerry, the Democratic nomination well in hand, is moving to engage Bush, and the president is returning the favor. The Massachusetts senator said Bush has resorted to personal attacks at an unprecedented early stage in the campaign.

"George Bush is running on the same old Republican tactics of fear — and they're already getting tired," he said. "But we have something better than attacks, we have the facts and we have the truth."

Okay: what are the personal attacks? Criticizing someone’s record is not a personal attack. “My opponent is a sad half-man who licks laudanum off the bellies of toothless syphilitic doxies” is a personal attack.

Let me put it this way: People say all sorts of things in elections. The underlings and infantry fire the cheap shots, and let the big dogs lope along the high road. But when the top officials of the party start slinging the slander, we’ve entered a different era. And no one seems to notice, because the story becomes the charge, not the nature of the accusation.

Accusing one’s opponent of treason is a personal attack. Al Gore accused Bush of “betraying this country.” Reasonable people could say he misled the country, or misruled the country, and make the argument to support the assertion, but “betrayed” is a word that has a special quality when talking about the President of the United States. I’ve heard General Wesley Clark question the President’s patriotism, and insist that his religious beliefs were misguided, because the Democratic Party is the party that truly hews to Christian doctrines. (Note to Hewitt: you HAVE to put that tape up on your site.) And of course we heard Governor Dean insert the “Bush was warned” meme into the body politic.

There’s nothing comparable on the other side. Nothing. I mean, the Bush team runs an ad that has a second of 9/11 footage, and his opponents pitch a carefully staged fit – because that’s all they have.

I’ll contribute $100 to the Heifer Project if Bush accuses Kerry of betraying the country. Another $100 if he accuses the Kerry camp of being corrupt liars. Oh, Kerry meant the GOP machine! Okay: $100 if Bush accuses the DNC of being corrupt liars. Oh, but he meant talk radio! Okay: $100 if Bush accuses the new liberal talk radio network of being corrupt liars.

I can imagine my mail already: Klymer! Clinton! Yellowcake! Plastic turkey! So I ask: imagine, if you will, that we’re at war. (Just pretend.) A Democrat president is attempting to pacify Krepistan, which has been shooting at American planes for a decade. The Republican candidate says he’s been in contact with foreign leaders who really want him to win, and is caught on tape telling a supporter he thinks the current administration is made up of crooked liars.

Think the New Republic might write a disapproving editorial or two?

Probably not. After all, didn’t the Democrat president note that his opponent failed to grasp the strategic importance of Krepistan? Tit. Tat.