I think the Republicans are laughing all the way to the bank on this deal. Kerry can't win by running on "I served 4 months in Vietnam" and "I'm not G.W. Bush" alone, and he is wasting precious time, money, and political capital on what has become a quagmire. Its a quagmire because the Dems thought they could run a war hero for president without the country finding out that the Dems actually hate war heros and the military in general. You might be able to fool some of the people all of the time, but Kerry is unraveling and he is clearly not in control of the agenda. He is reacting, always reacting and a step behind, stuck on a fairly irrelevant topic that just won't die, and trying to explain how he could be a war hero one day, and an anti-war candidate the next day. It seems his past is catching up to him, as Bush's past did in 2000.
What is Kerry's plan for the economy? He hasn't said, beyond feel-good rhetoric that means nothing.
What is Kerry's plan for Iraq? He hasn't said, beyond feel-good rhetoric that means nothing.
What is Kerry's plan for immigration? He hasn't said, beyond feel-good rhetoric that means nothing.
What is Kerry's plan for health care? He hasn't said, beyond feel-good rhetoric that means nothing.
Need I go on? All that most Americans know about Kerry is that he got three purple hearts in Vietnam and he may or may not be a liar depending on who you listen to.
Understand, these factors will not help Bush in terms of poll numbers before the election. When called on the phone, people who don't care much for Bush will tell a pollster they prefer Kerry. But that is a very different thing from getting up in the morning and taking 2 hours out of your work day to go vote in the November election. My guess is alot of Kerry "supporters" will just stay home.