Limb, Sawing, Crash

By Monday I expect solid poll evidence of a substantial bump for John Kerry coming off of his dismantling of George W. Bush in Miami. It is not that Kerry was that good, but that Bush was that bad.

"Last night the president looked very uncomfortable answering questions," is how Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) put it, and I have to think most people, in their most apolitical hearts, would agree. Bush seemed only ready to offer his standard stump assert-and-smirk routine.

Kerry eventually noticed this and began to throw a blizzard of sometimes disconnected factoids and arguments toward the prez. Better discipline on his part -- or even a real debate debate -- and Bush might've imploded.

I've always hated the upcoming "townhall" format, precisely for the loony-tunes, C-SPAN Ultra queries it generates. Bush tosses that smirk at the wrong laid-off guy's trade jeremiad, and watch out.