Imagine - a US campaign advertisement aired just before the November 3 US presidential election closes with the simple statement, "John Kerry: Liar, Traitor, Opportunist". Harsh? Excessive? Perhaps, but a series of historic mistakes by Mr Kerry's campaign has allowed the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the anti-Kerry war veterans, to change the course of the presidential race and set the Democratic challenger up for a barrage of such charges over the next month.
The real damage is not yet visible. Forget the current polls. George W. Bush was always going to pull even with Mr Kerry around the time of his convention. Campaign officials on both sides agree that the ads launched by the Swift Boat vets last month shaved only a couple points off Mr Kerry and that the race is a dead heat.
