Kerry hits a home run!

I am enamored with Kerry's response to the Swift Boat Veteran's smear campaign. He is running a very very smart campaign, and this is a great example of how.
 
Kerry seems to have played this just about perfectly. By not responding right away, and by letting the media start poking holes in the story, he doesn't come across as not protesting too much or falling into a rudderless back and forth. Instead he took his time and built an impressive offensive.

First, the Move On ad came out attacking Bush. This allowed Kerry the opportunity to refute this ad, which he did. Now, he has leverage when he echoes McCain's calls on Bush to refute the SBVT ad.

Second, by waiting, and allowing Bush and his surrogates to pound this into the ground on every talk show for the past 2 weeks, he let them keep digging their hole deeper and making it more dificult to get out of when the trap is set.

Third, the media had tired from the initial shock of the story and began looking for new angles. With yesterday's story in the Post, and today's Times story major holes have begun to appear in the SBVT's story.

Finally, by responding and coming on the offensive today, Kerry pounced at the perfect time. He has called on bush to renounce the ad and stated that if Bush wants to start a debate on their Vietnam War Era service to "Bring it On." Aside from brining the sheer arrogance of that phrase back into the light, Kerry has Bush in a no-win situation.

Bush can either renounce the ad and admit Kerry served admirably (his best option), or he can continue to avoid the issue, instead asking Kerry to stop the independant ads.

Either way, Kerry gets a lot of focus (mostly positive) about his military service and Bush's credibility once again gets called into question. After seeing the SBVT story endlessly repeated over the past 2 weeks, the voters will now learn that it is yet another fabrication. Bush's credibility was one of his most important traits that got him elected in 2000. Kerry knows this, and that's why they are doing everything possible to discredit that reputation.

So this response strategy strengthens Kerry's weakness (perception as a wus) and hits at Bush's strength (credibility).

All around a very good response. Kery is in very good hands this year. It looks as if Rove has met his match.