Many Democrats want Bush kicked out of office in November. They don't particularly care if Kerry is elected, or Hillary, or the local dogcatcher, or a cardboard cutout of Franklin Roosevelt, and many of them have candidates other than Kerry they'd rather see in there. Oh, they'll vote for him, all right. He isn't Bush.

I didn't make this up. If you had been following the surveys of Democratic voters and voters in general during the rushed primary season, you would have seen the evidence.

Most primary voters cited as the main reason for voting for whoever they voted for: "can beat Bush." Policies? Who cares? He isn't Bush.

Polls that put Bush up against "a Democrat" showed good results for the "Democrat." When it got specific, like Kerry vs. Bush, the results weren't nearly as good for Kerry. Not sure who the voters were visualising as the "Democrat." I suspect Josiah Bartlet from "West Wing."