John Kerry is really doing everything in his power to lose this election.

A recent Washington Post report highlights Kerry's lurch towards separating himself from the most conservative President this country has seen since Reagan. Who is whispering in his ear that looking like an unprincipled, opportunistic, sleazy centrist is the best way to contrast with a quasi-reactionary whose entire ethos is shrouded in strong ideals, integrity and religion?

The Post story mentions that:

Over the next two weeks, Americans will mark the opening of the World War II Memorial in Washington, celebrate Memorial Day and commemorate the 60th anniversary of D-Day. Those events will provide the backdrop for what Kerry advisers see as his best opportunity to sketch out a competing course with the president. He will devote the next 11 days to national security issues.

But on the central question of the day, the future of Iraq, Kerry may have less to say than some voters expect. Aides said that none of Kerry's speeches, the first of which he will deliver Thursday here in Seattle, will deal directly with Iraq. Instead, he will seek to provide a broader vision of how he sees the U.S. role in the world and reassure voters that he can step into the role of commander-in-chief during a period of war.

[...]

But Kerry will not offer new plans for ending the conflict in Iraq, which could complicate his efforts to distinguish himself in this key area. Kerry advisers said they see no reason to respond to the Bush's Monday night speech in which he outlined his objectives for Iraq. "Our view is there was nothing new in that," said a Kerry foreign policy adviser, "so our view is there is nothing to contrast."

So, in other words, the Kerry campaign has chosen to not make Iraq -- a country where 135,000 of our soliders are under siege every day, where abuse, scandal and corruption is abundant, where the Bush Doctrine lies in the rubble of devastated buildings, where our international reputation has been KOed, where WMDs remain conspicuously absent and America remains conspicuously less safe -- again, Kerry has chosen to NOT make Iraq a main battleground of this election. As those Guiness commercials put it: Brilliant!

The American public has the attention span for about three main issues. So you hammer Bush on three things: 1) Iraq, 2) Education, 3) Health Care (or the Economy, depending how much of a recovery we have). You hammer him, and you hammer him, and you hammer him. Don't let up until every single voter knows how Bush screwed up on those three topics and has a clear vision of how John Kerry is going to do better. This pussy-footing about with six different messages and framing John Kerry: War Hero is a waste of time. I hate to say it, but take a page out of Howard Dean's book! At least he stood for something, and you knew exactly what that was.

The current Kerry strategy ("I might do better than the other guy") is not going to galvanize the traditional Democrat base nor win over droves of undecided voters. The only way Kerry is going to win at this rate is if Bush loses. This election is a referendum on the Bush administration -- make it that! Highlight every mistake Bush has ever made and offer a clear alternative. That's how you win in 2004.
Related Link - posted by Elliot H. @ 1:21 AM