Should Republicans go ahead and add Supreme Court Justices to head off Democrats

Kerry talking like the terrorist

Bill Sammon:

President Bush's campaign manager yesterday accused Sen. John Kerry's campaign of parroting the rhetoric of terrorists, signaling a new level of aggressiveness in advance of tomorrow's presidential debate.
"The enemy listens," Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman told reporters on a conference call. "All listen to what the president said, and all listen to what Senator Kerry said."
In particular, Mr. Mehlman said terrorists listened when Mr. Kerry disparaged Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi after he spoke last week to a joint session of Congress. Mr. Kerry accused Mr. Allawi of putting his "best face" on a dismal situation in Iraq.
Senior Kerry aide Joe Lockhart also referred to the Iraqi prime minister as a "puppet" of the Bush administration.
"That echoes what the enemy is saying in Iraq, and that echoes what a lot of the terrorists have said," Mr. Mehlman said. "I think that's an unfortunate statement."

Gaff watch

John McCaslin:

With the presidential debates at hand, the subject of potential gaffes by President Bush has returned to the spotlight.
"The media talking heads rattle off a series of past candidate's verbal missteps and how one of these might doom the president's re-election chances," observes Bob Emmrich, a political observer in Cincinnati. "The problem is compounded by Senator [John] Kerry's reputed 'gift' of speech.
"I am struck, through all of this, by the fact that, no matter how the president says things, everyone on earth knows exactly what he said and that he means every word of it. On the other hand, despite Senator Kerry's eloquence, his defenders spend their time explaining what he said, when he said it, why he said it and often, what he actually meant."