"While Kerry will continue to hit at the Democrats' traditional pocketbook issues, his new strategists have embraced Clark's advice to tell it like it is. They also found a way to bring the war home, saying Bush's go-it-alone approach had cost billions of dollars that could have been spent on jobs, schools and health care. Kerry now intends to repeat and refine his critique through the rest of the campaign—spending, NEWSWEEK has learned, the closing week of the election on Bush's war."
...
"Bush and Cheney pounced on Kerry's long-winded response to Don Imus last week, suggesting that even the popular radio host, who likes Kerry, was unpersuaded by his policy. The president's surrogates went one step further, accusing Kerry of adopting a "defeatist" position that was weakening American resolve in the war. Kerry's aides counter that such Bush attacks have run their course. "The flip-flop tag has already been priced into the market," one senior staffer said. "Bush's failure in Iraq hasn't." "
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6039833/site/newsweek/
Linked from Drudge

This senior Kerry staffer doesn't have a clue. The "flip-flop tag" is about character- it's an endless well. It's like saying America will grow bored of baseball. It's a gift that not only doesn't stop giving but grows like a mold in the warm moist confines of Kerry's skull.

And as far as the war goes- it's unpredictable. More importantly it's not within Kerry's control. And like the economy- it's likely that it's trending upward. Not only will it likely improve Bush chances of re-election as Nov approaches. But considering Kerry's current plan [assuming he actually follows it] it has potential of allowing Bush to bring in some "really big artillery barrages" which could completely annihilate Kerry's campaign.