August 23, 2004

TWO DAMAGING QUOTES for the Kerry Campaign. The first is from Bob Dole:

"One day, he's saying that we were shooting civilians, cutting off their ears, cutting off their heads, throwing away his medals or his ribbons," Dole said. "The next day, he's standing there, 'I want to be president because I'm a Vietnam veteran,'" said Dole, whose World War II wounds left him without the use of his right arm.

Maybe Dole's mad because Democrats sneered that his World War II wounds were self-inflicted back during the 1996 campaign. Why didn't Chris Matthews put a stop to that?

Then there's this quote from within the campaign itself:

When you're basically running on your biography and there are ongoing attacks that are undermining the credibility of your biography, you have a really big problem.

Yes, and a predictable one. What's worse is that it didn't have to be this way.

UPDATE: More biography back-pedaling from the Kerry campaign.

ANOTHER UPDATE: This timeline of missteps and fumbles indicates that it's been a month of miscalculations for the Kerry campaign. This is a striking chronology even for those of us who have been following things. My favorite entry is the one for August 12.