It's interesting to note that Kerry is making up no ground on Bush in the polls. Of course, there could be many reasons for this. The first is that he just doesn't have that much recognition yet. Outside of those of us in the blogosphere who lose sleep over such things, Kerry is still just a Senator from Massachusetts who is the presumptive Democratic nominee. Very little else is known. The second and possibly more damning reason is that no matter how badly things go on the foreign front, the American people have more confidence in the abilities of the Bush administration than they do in Kerry. This is unfortunate for Kerry but probably accurate given his stated policy on how he would handle Iraq.

Now that the economy is improving, Kerry's only hope, though probably a subconscious one, is for things to go poorly in Iraq, helping to turn a tide of Bush animus on the far left into a more mainstream movement. However, the irony in the situation is the apparent belief in the American public that no matter how poorly things go in Iraq, we have a better chance of improving the course with Bush than we do with Kerry.

The Abu Ghraib events seem to be a turning point in the Bush administration. Terrible things have gone on there under the watch of the United States of America. It has to be handled and it has to be handled quickly. But if it is (and I think it will be this week when Rumsfeld steps down), Kerry will lose more momentum (if one can lose momentum while moving backwards) and Bush will start to gain a strong hold on this election. The only thing standing in the way is a swift and severe handling of the prison abuse at Abu Ghraib. This Administration has not been known recently for it's swiftness of feet but for all our sakes, I truly hope they have learned from past mistakes. This is not a time for politics or spin. This is a time to step up, take responsibility, show the true character of the American spirit, and deal with the problems at hand.
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