Kerry's strategy

Remember all the stories proclaiming John Kerry would lose the election because he focused too much on terror and Iraq. Had I posted what I thought at the time, I'd look genius, but I held back.

Here's what I thought, in a nutshell. If Kerry can't close that gap in war and leadership, he's done. He's already up on the economy. Get Bush's numbers down on terror, and he's got it.

So with the talk of big Kerry mo, check out this:

The CBS survey showed Bush's lead on who could best protect the country against terrorism down among registered voters from 70-62 percent recorded from Thursday to Saturday to 64-62 percent over the weekend.

His advantage over Kerry on leadership capacity, the cornerstone of the Republican's re-election bid as a "war president," shrunk from 62-52 to 58-54 percent, according to the CBS findings.

A Gallup poll released Monday had Kerry halving a 22-point deficit on terrorism in a week. He cut a 14-point Bush edge on Iraq to four points among likely voters and inched ahead by a point among registered voters.

I'd be a great prognosticator if I ever spoke up.