"The president is quite proud of the fact that not even failure will force him to change course."

Bush climbed off the mat largely because he (and the Swift boat veterans supporting him) dented the pillar of Kerry's convention, the argument that he would be a strong and decisive wartime leader. To regain his footing, Kerry probably has to turn against Bush the central argument of the GOP convention: the portrayal of the president as a tenacious leader as committed to his course as Ronald Reagan or Winston Churchill.

The post-convention polls suggest that message boosted Bush. But it leaves Kerry one obvious opening by signaling that Bush is determined to stick with an approach at home and abroad that about half of the country believes has led the nation in the wrong direction.

In an unusual midnight rally shortly after Bush's acceptance speech Thursday, Kerry instantly reached for that club, declaring, "The president is quite proud of the fact that not even failure will force him to change course." (L.A. Times)