corrente

After pointing out that Kerry now has Bush playing defense, Froomkin writes that Kerry is making "unsupported charges":

But in the past few days, after the Kerry camp started peppering Bush with essentially unsupported charges -- that Bush has a secret plan that would gut Social Security and may reinstate the draft -- Bush has felt obliged to respond directly and repeatedly.

And The Holy Gut™'s responses?

Interestingly enough, Bush's defense consisted purely of emphatic assertions, rather than full-bodied explanations.

• "We will keep the promise of Social Security for all our seniors," [Bush]said. But he offered no specifics about what he does in fact have in store for Social Security.

• "We will not have a draft; we'll keep the all-volunteer army," He said. But he offered no specifics about how he will deal with the severe stresses currently facing the military.

• "I want to assure them that our government is doing everything possible to help older Americans and children get their shots, despite the major manufacturing defect that caused this problem," He said. But he offered no specifics about what went wrong or what the government's role was or should be in the future.
(via WaPo)

Personally, I don't classify what Kerry's doing as making an "unsupported assertion at all. On Social Security, the draft, and the flu, Kerry is saying "2 + 2 ... Voters, that equals what?" And Bush reponds "2 + 2 will never equal 4!" So Bush, in his response, gives all the support to Kerry's "assertions" that they need.