My colleague Wilson Mixon called my attention to the Iowa Electronic Markets today. There appears to be a 5% swing toward Bush in the last day or so. Since the Swift Boat business has been around for awhile I'm not inclined to think it's the cause but there don't appear to be any big events (possible terrorist downings of 2 Russian planes?) to explain the somewhat sudden shift. Since the GOP convention starts in a few days, perhaps the Bush increase reflects an expected bounce from the convention. Any thoughts?

Regarding the Swift Boat kerfuffle, both Bush and Kerry are both getting some deserved heat. In the case of Kerry, a critical examination of his record is in order since his entire campaign is based on his 4 1/2 month hitch in Vietnam rather than the 3 1/2 decades since. As for Bush, the 527 coordination gotcha game is perfectly fitting for the president who signed the McCain-Feingold abomination into law. (While the 527 stuff is akin to nails on a chalkboard there is one silver lining: It has gotten Bob's Capital colleague turned FEC Commissioner Brad Smith some airtime on Brit Hume's Fox show.)

A couple of quick hits:
1. Max Cleland tries to deliver a letter to Bush's Texas ranch. What a pathetic publicity stunt.
2. Apparently John Kerry has something else SEARED into his memory:
I remember well April, 1968 - I was serving in Vietnam—a place of violence -- when the news reports brought home to me and my crewmates the violence back home - and the tragic news that one of the bullets flying that terrible spring took [MLK's] life.

Oh, Senator, you didn't go to Nam until November 1968. (This reminds me of Clinton's bogus memories of black church burnings during his childhood in Arkansas.)

An update:
A friend gave me some good natured grief over my recent posting suggesting that Bush do less work not more in Washington. My friend points out, correctly, that rolling back bloated government requires work--perhaps even more work than expanding government. To Bush's credit, his administratin has slowed the growth of the regulatory state. If this were typical of Bush's work, I'd applaud wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, there's the work on Medicare prescription drugs, steel tariffs, increasing federal spending, ...