When Kansans Attack

Right now we're seeing a two-pronged anti-Kerry strategy, and Kansans (or at least kinda-Kansans) played roles in both of them yesterday. On the one hand, we have the discredit-the-war-record strategy, which Larry Thurlow of Bogue is leading as part of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Bogue's own war stories are under question, and Kerry lashed back Thursday.

Meanwhile, as Kerry heads to Charlotte, N.C. today, famous Kansan spouse Elizabeth Dole repeatedly repeated the repeated (and repeated) charges of John Kerry as a flip-flopper. Included in the AP article on her preparation for the visit is a description of a 12-minute anti-Kerry video that shows compiled clips of the candidate's statements on Iraq and Saddam Hussein dating back to the mid-1990s. If you haven't already seen it on the RNC's Web site, click here -- it may well make an appearance at the NY convention as well. It has some nice touches, proving that polemic documentary isn't a talent limited to Michael Moore, et. al. For example, according to the article:

In a clip from Jan. 6 of this year, part of a question from Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC's "Hardball," plays:

"Are you one of the anti-war candidates?" Matthews asks.

"I am - yeah," Kerry responds.

The video quickly cuts to the next clip, leaving out the rest of Kerry's answer. The theme song from the television series "Flipper" plays.

All right, folks -- quick! Hum the theme from "Flipper!"

And that's politics today. The Washington Post has an article on the promise of adult stem cells, always dear to Sen. Brownback's heart, and Jim Ryun is getting a ton of media mentions -- for the every-four-year recollection of his fall at the 1972 Olympics. Betting he'd rather have ink on his re-election campaign. Such is the glare of publicity.