POLITICS -- All We Have to Fear is the Next 75 Days

Intelligence Test. President Bush and Senator John Kerry are fussin’ over intelligence briefings. Candidates usually get an update on top-secret stuff after their convention. The Bush people say there’s a problem with logistics. The Kerry people say the White House is dragging its feet to hurt Kerry’s campaign. (WashPost)

Video: Meanwhile, President Bush has launched a new campaign ad in the battleground states questioning Kerry’s intel credentials. (Bush/Cheney '04)

Iraq and Vietnam – A Similarity. For the first time since the Vietnam War, foreign affairs may play a bigger roll than economics in voters’ decisions at the polls. That’s the bottom line from a new Pew Center Poll. (WashPost)

A Veteran for Truth Caught in a Lie? Larry Thurlow is part of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth – that crew of anti-Kerry veterans. But it seems he may not have been too truthful. Thurlow claims Kerry was never under fire in an incident where Kerry won the Bronze Star. Thurlow was in another swift boat during the same incident and also won a Bronze Star. Thurlow’s service records just came to light. They show the same thing Kerry’s show – that both men were under fire at the time. May just blow his claim out of the water. (WashPost)

The New Kingmakers. “527” committees – like the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and MoveOn.org -- have inherited a lot of political power in the wake of the McCain-Feingold Campaign Reform Act. They may be more influential than corporations and unions in some ways. (MSNBC)

Al-Jazeera’s Banner Year. Arab television news network Al-Jazeera will have it’s banner prominently displayed at the Republican National Convention. Democrats asked the network to take their banner down at their convention. (USA Today)

Richard Nixon is Spinning in his Grave. A seeming staple of politics, dirty tricks are now punishable with jail time. It’s rare that any campaign crime results in punishing politicians – after all, they write the laws. (FOX News)

Shirting the Issue. College prof John Prather (2nd Item) conducted a little experiment on politicians – the closest known subjects to lab rats. Seeking to find which candidate was more likely to stifle dissent, he wore a "Kerry-Edwards" shirt to a Bush campaign stop, then a "Bush-Cheney" shirt to a Kerry campaign stop. The Kerry folks welcomed him in. The Bush people made him give them the shirt off his back – then kicked him out. (WashPost)