I'm not sure if this interesting article helps or harms Kerry. It definitely drops a couple bombs on the way, leaving both sides devastated, if true.

***

I'm certainly not comparing the recent "Swift Boat Vets" controversy to the Pete Rose story about this time last year. (Really? My how time flies ...) There are some interesting lessons that I learned under fire.

First, be honest. I had my story, told the facts, and did not attempt to inject opinion or embellishment.

Second, get the important parts of the story out. A political person I like a lot gave me a great piece of advice: get a notecard, right down five talking points, and get to them as fast as possible. It saved me.

Third, don't make yourself part of the story.

Watching the SBV group going through the same storm of fire I did has been interesting. They continually fail at the three above points, going all over the place with opinion, (what I percieve as) lies, and unsupportable 'evidence.' If you have the message, you hammer it again and again, letting the power of the repetition sink it deep into the consciousness of the public. If you don't have the truth, you dodge and evade.

Pete Rose was a curiousity, a remnant, a nostalgia piece. The Swift Boat controversy is just the first round of what looks like another brilliant piece of political psychology by Karl Rove. When Bob Dole waded into the mess this morning, I knew that the political combat was about to wound us all.