If indeed the horrible acceleration of violence in Iraq marks a shifting tide in American public opinion toward our adventure in Iraq John Kerry may be the best positioned of any of the possible Democratic candidates to actually harness that. During the primaries we supporters of other candidates often poked fun at Kerry and his shifting positions on such large issues like Iraq but now it seems his shift has a greater edge of credibility to it (even if it isn't actually credible) because the shift from voting for the war to being an outright opponent of it is clearly reflected in the sentiments of the average American. For months there was strong public support for the war despite the piling up of bodybags but if these recent events have their anticipated effects those numbers will quickly dwindle.
Yeah it's great in a Democratic primary to be like Howard Dean and say I always opposed the war and yeah it's usually great in a general election to be like John Edwards and say I support military toughness but I don't think that's how it is this year and Kerry's way ahead of the game AND way ahead of us and I'm happy to give him the credit.