I was cautiously optimistic about Kerry's chances after the first debate. I think he did well, or more to the point, I think Bush sucked. Following the debate, and up until Tuesday, Kerry made some significant gains. The momentum was building. Then Edwards did well in his debate. Not a grand slam, but he held his own. Nothing there to stop the momentum. Good for us. But yesterday Kerry dropped the ball. There have been so many softballs for him to hit out of the park in the last 24 to 48 hours, but I think he's been striking out. He hasn't hit one of them even in the gap, let alone over the fence.
Okay, enough of the baseball analogy.
Where has Kerry been? He did not make nearly enough of the Bremmer troop assessment, the Rumsfeld admission, and now the CIA report. And worse of all, he let Bush pass off a campaign stump speech attack as a major policy address, which all the networks covered (some live) and all the major papers covered, without a firm, headline grabbing rebuttal or counter attack. The news media is calling Bush's speech a blistering indictment, strong, forceful. That seems to be the headline of yesterday even more than Cheney's lies or the CIA report.
We cannot miss opportunities like this. In my gut, it feels like a more condensed version of that time of drift between the conventions when Kerry took his eye off the ball (sorry I tried to avoid the baseball reference) and the Swifties handed him his nuts on a platter.
I am glad Kerry did well in the debate. I hope he does so again tomorrow. In fact, I think he will. I know practicing for it is important, but he must jump on these opportunities NOW.