Bill Press does a nice job of framing a number of contentious campaign issues in this little piece.

A bit:

...On foreign leaders, here's how it started. At a private fund-raiser in Florida, a guest told Kerry he'd just returned from overseas, where he encountered a lot of anti-American sentiment. The pool reporter covering the event didn't catch the exact quote, but Kerry replied something like this: "I've met with more leaders who can't go out and say this publicly. But boy, they look at you and say: 'You've got to win this. You've got to beat this guy.' We need a new policy. Things like that."

At which point, the White House went ballistic. Both President Bush and Vice President Cheney demanded - demanded! - that Kerry release the complete list of leaders he had spoken to. Otherwise, said Press Secretary Scott McClellan, it was clear that he was lying.

Now, granted, it may not have been the smartest thing for John Kerry to say, even informally. But what was the White House thinking by making a federal case out of it? At least Kerry wasn't promising to deliver a "foreign-handed foreign policy" or "keep good relations with the Grecians," as Dubya did in 2000.

But let's be honest. After George W. Bush treated most foreign leaders like dog poop for the last three years, is there any doubt most of them would be happy to see him disappear? Francois Chirac and Gerhardt Schroeder, for starters. Plus Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Add Spain's new prime minister, Jose Luis Zapatero, to the list. Tony Blair may be the only world leader pulling for Dubya, but I wouldn't be so sure about him.

Why doesn't President Bush resolve this issue once and for all by releasing the names of foreign leaders who endorse his re-election? Is there even one? If Bush refuses to do so, he must be lying - again...[snip]

...Second mistake of the Bush campaign: attacking John Kerry as soft on defense. Speaking at the Reagan Library, Vice President Dick Cheney blasted Kerry's vote against the first Gulf War and against the Apache helicopter: "It is not an impressive record for someone who aspires to become commander in chief at this time of testing for our country."

What a hypocrite! As secretary of defense, guess who killed the Apache helicopter? Dick Cheney! In fact, in testimony before Congress while he was still top dog at the Pentagon, Cheney boasted of killing 81 different weapons programs. Who's soft on defense?

And how dare Bush and Cheney question John Kerry's military experience? Kerry took three bullets in Vietnam and won three Purple Hearts, the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and the Presidential Unit Citation for Extraordinary Heroism. Bush and Cheney, in stark contrast, have no war record. You tell me which one is more qualified to be commander in chief.

Poor President Bush. He just doesn't get it. Every time he attacks John Kerry's military record, it only reminds voters that, rather than joining the young Mr. Kerry in Vietnam, the young Mr. Bush chose to lick stamps in an Alabama Senate campaign - while shirking his National Guard duty.

So far, the White House can prove only that Bush showed up once at Guard headquarters in Montgomery - for a dental appointment. The only drill he saw during Vietnam was a dentist's....[snip]

Fun and informative. I really needed a little levity this evening. It has been a trying night. :)