TWO NATIONS

While lefties are examining Bush's Air National Guard years, conservatives, led by Matt Drudge, are bouncing off the walls because The Harvard Crimson has just posted this 1970 interview with John Kerry (and this summary).

The young Kerry, back from Vietnam, sounds, yeah, a bit left-wing: he calls for the virtual elimination of the CIA and for that reddest of flags in the eyes of right-wing bulls, placing U.S. troops under U.N. control. (As I type this, the U.N. quote from the interview tops Drudge's page; right-wingers have absolutely no idea that this is not a burning issue anywhere but on the right.)

I don't know what the reaction to all this will be among average voters. I think they'll sigh and just continue trying to decide who's going to provide jobs, health care, and security. I do, however, like the fact that the Democratic Party managed to strike first.

It seems to me that Democrats who are attacked suffer a double blow: They have to respond to an allegation, plus they look weak. And many voters, of course, think Democrats are naturally weak. But in this race, so far, Bush is on the defensive. That means it's not 1988.

(By the way, you might have some trouble getting to those Crimson links -- the Drudgistas are really jamming the servers.)