corrente

Kerry seems to be getting coverage from the SCLM. But then he's had some experience handling the media spotlight. And ultimately, it's going to be important to turn around and give a positive message. I think one of Dean's problems was that the positive feedback from a base starving for red meat was so strong that it detracted from Dean's ability to present his sensible, solid, middle-of-the-road platform. Then again, if this smokes Bush out... And we get those monthly debates....

That said:

Kerry's comments came during a stop at a sheet metal plant in Chicago as he shook hands with workers.

"Tell it like it is," a man at the Hill Mechanical Group told him. "Keep smiling."

"Smile when you say that, stranger ..." Seriously, that's important. Smiling is one thing that makes you electable.

"Oh yeah, don't worry, man," the senator from Massachusetts responded. "We're going to keep pounding, let me tell you. We're just beginning to fight here. These guys are the most crooked, you know, lying group I've ever seen," Kerry added. "It's scary."

Now that one's out in the open, as it should be.

The Bush campaign denounced Kerry's remarks as angry rhetoric.

"At every turn, John Kerry has claimed to be the victim of an imaginary smear machine," Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said.
(via LA Times)

Am I alone in thinking that Schmidt's response is laughably, pathetically weak?