Good morning!
Back to the old routine today of reading the Globe before getting up. As usual, the coverage is more about process, rather than issues.
Now the papers are starting to take credit for the "interest" the Democratic primaries have caused and everybody singing off the same page is maybe a good thing. No credit to Governor Dean, however, for having put together and pushed a coherent agenda, for once.
Terry McAuliffe is the new goat. That is, he's to blame for the process being artificially truncated. And, though reporters won't admit that either, he has opened the floodgates by prompting a re-examination of the incumbent's military record. For, when that is thoroughly aired, once again, and found to continue to be shrouded in the mists of inaccurate records (before the advent of computers!), the way will be prepared to take a closer look at the lead challenger's military records as well.
That is what Peter Canellos means when he predicts that Rove will be prepared to subject Kerry to similar scrutiny.
But not yet. And that's the problem. The skeletons in Kerry's closet are supposed to remain hidden until he's the de facto nominee.
That, let me suggest, is what we have to avoid. Rove's timetable has to be derailed and our candidate has to stay in the race.
This is not a task for the campaign. If the internet is any good as a source of accurate information and its efficient dissemination, this is the time to prove it.
I am just an old grandma with a certain facility with words. But those with real skill in the area of information retrieval need to put it to use, instead of, as has often been mentioned, singing to the choir and crowing about "who's on first."