Friday 12 March

President Bush didn't stay above the fray of negative campaigning for long.

His campaign's first TV attack ad ran yesterday, calling John Kerry "wrong on taxes, wrong on defence", and implied that because Kerry had been critical of the conduct of the war in Iraq, that he was somehow reluctant to "defend America".

Kerry, for his part, launched the "DBunker" on his campaign web site, designed to rebut the claims by his oppponent without getting sucked into an expensive back-and-forth on television spots.

The "War Room" approach - where teams of subject-based activists respond almost immediately to erroneous attacks and thus rebalance the news cycle without allowing the claims to gain traction - worked well for Bill Clinton in 1992, and particularly effectively for Tony Blair's Labour party in their 1997 election victory.

With this campaign threatening to grow increasingly nasty, with both sides competing for the most telling and lasting image; and both trying to define the other before they can do so themselves, an independent arbiter like Factcheck.org will help us ordinary folks keep on top of the claims and counter-claims.

Finally, so much for the John McCain stories that gained currency the other day. It seems the Republican senator now isn't so sure it'd be a good idea to consider a place on the Kerry ticket.

Anyone have Pat Buchanan's number?

Thursday 11 March

After John Kerry discovered the dangers of an open mic the other day, the row has rumbled on after he said he wasn't referring directly to the President or to Republicans in general, but to the campaign's "attack dogs" - a reference thought to include some of the leading conservative talk show hosts.

The left's response in that area, Al Franken's Liberal Talk Radio Network, is about to kick off.

President Bush is in New York today at the groundbreaking ceremony for the September 11 memorial, just days after the controversy over his use of 9/11 images in his campaign ads, and just hours after the horrific bomb attacks in Madrid offered a reminder of the constant threat of terrorism.

Meanwhile with Zero Four currently travelling in Arizona, speculation is growing that one of this state's favourite sons, Republican senator John McCain, is being touted as a possible Kerry running mate.

It has a certain attraction. Kerry would be able to claim that he was presenting a government of national unity-in-waiting, while McCain's lingering resentment of his treatment by the Bush team during the 2000 primaries would make for some campaign fireworks.

How might John Edwards feel, though? Would Attorney-General be enough for him?