George Bush loves to attack John Kerry's legislative record. But the fact is that 57 bills and resolutions Kerry sponsored passed the Senate and countless others have been improved because of his work, including the Clean Air Act, the Children's Health Insurance Program and the COPS program. In addition, Kerry has taken on the special interests and won. He fought against Newt Gingrich's anti-labor and anti-environmental regulatory reform, he has fought to raise the minimum wage, and he has worked to shut down wasteful corporate subsidies.

Here, for comparison is a summary of the legislation sponsored and passed by Vice President Cheney during his 11 year legislative career.

Cheney's Legislative Career by the numbers
96th Congress:	4 Sponsored; 0 became Law
97th Congress:	4 Sponsored: 0 became Law
98th Congress:	8 Sponsored: 0 became Law
99th Congress:	7 Sponsored: 1 became Law (H.R.1246 : A bill to establish a federally declared floodway for the Colorado River below Davis Dam.)
100th Congress:	7 Sponsored: 1 became Law (H.R.712 : A bill for the relief of Lawrence K. Lunt.)
101st Congress:	1 Sponsored:  0 became Law

Senator Kerry Retains A Lead Through His Convention, New Zogby Interactive Presidential Battleground Poll Reveals
Kerry leads Bush 291-215

Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry remains solidly in the lead after a week in which his party and candidacy grabbed the political spotlight at their national convention in Boston, a new edition of Zogby Interactive polls in 16 battleground states shows.

After a string of good news for the Kerry campaign stretching back to the selection of North Carolina Sen. John Edwards as the vice presidential running mate a month ago, he leads in the Electoral College by a 291-215 margin, the individual state polls shows. Four of the 16 states in the poll collection - with a combined total of 32 electoral votes - were excluded from the calculation because the races there are too close to call.

Those states are Missouri (11 votes), Nevada (5 votes), Tennessee (11 votes), and New Mexico (5 votes). Mr. Bush won all but New Mexico four years ago.

Mr. Kerry picked up ground in Florida, while Mr. Bush made up ground in West Virginia, Tennessee, and Ohio.

The End of Republican Rule
Righteous populism holds the key to vanquishing Bush forever

...Niceness is nice. It makes a body feel good about himself. But it's no strategy with which to win a presidential election. Adlai Stevenson was nice; he lost two presidential elections for the Democrats. Michael Dukakis, Jimmy Carter: They were nice. And look what happened to them.

These days, talking about things like the growing gap between the rich and the rest of us is judged not very nice. Fixing it might require breaking some eggs. The pundits would call it "class warfare." So whenever a concession is demanded in the interests of unity, it will be demanded of the party's left wing, never of the corporate types.

Like the time, Tuesday night, one party liberal - this one - returned to find his seat occupied by one of those blue-suited thirtysomethings. I asked him to give it up. He refused. "We gave lots of money to the Democratic Party," he said, and demanded I sit in the aisle. "It would be shameful if I couldn't get a seat."

It was on behalf of all those poor single women who don't vote and who really hold the explosive power for beating George Bush on November 2, 2004, that I refused to give up my seat.

Study Cites Social Costs of Wal-Mart
Company workers draw $86 million a year in aid, researchers say. But the retailer says it gives jobs to people who otherwise would not be employed.

Inadequate wages and benefits force workers at Wal-Mart stores in California to seek $86 million a year in state aid, according to a report released Monday by the UC Berkeley Labor Center.

Moreover, if other retailers cut their wages and benefits to the levels offered by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the cost to California's public-assistance programs would rise by $410 million annually, the study said.

In their report, Berkeley researchers Arindrajit Dube and Ken Jacobs contend that more than other retail workers, Wal-Mart employees rely on a variety of public-aid programs, including food stamps, Medicare and subsidized housing.

"In effect, Wal-Mart is shifting part of its labor costs onto the public," the researchers wrote. "Wal-Mart's long-term impact on compensation in the retail industry has the potential to place a significant strain on the state's already heavily burdened social safety net."

[Teresa] Heinz Kerry was introducing her husband, John F. Kerry, at a huge outdoor rally [in Milwaukee] when a group of Bush supporters, armed with a megaphone, started chanting from a distance, "Four more years! Four more years!"

Without hesitating, Heinz Kerry responded, "They want four more years of hell."

The candidate threw back his head with a laugh, and the partisan, pro-Kerry crowd roared its approval, chanting, "Three more months, three more months," with Heinz Kerry joining in. When it was his turn to speak, Kerry said of his wife, "She speaks her mind, and she speaks the truth -- and she's pretty quick on her feet, too."

Terror alert based on old intel
But authorities continue to think the U.S. is at risk
By DOUGLAS JEHL and DAVID JOHNSTON
New York Times

Much of the information that led authorities to raise the terror alert at several large financial institutions in the New York City and Washington areas was 3 or 4 years old, intelligence and law enforcement officials said Monday.

Authorities reported that they had not yet found concrete evidence that a terror plot or preparatory surveillance operations were still under way.

But the officials continued to regard the information as significant and troubling because the reconnaissance already conducted has provided al-Qaida with the knowledge necessary to carry out attacks against the sites in Manhattan, Washington and Newark, N.J.

Only one month after the catastrophic events of September 11; while many agents were working around the clock to obtain leads and information, and to investigate those responsible for the attacks, those with possible connections to the attack, and those who might be planning possible future attacks; the bureaucratic administrators in the FBI's largest and most important translation unit were covering up their past failures, blocking important leads and information, and jeopardizing on going terrorist investigations. The supervisor involved in this incident, Mike Feghali, was in charge of certain important Middle Eastern languages within the FBI Washington Field Office, and had a record of previous misconducts. After this supervisor's several severe misconducts were reported to the FBI's higher-level management, after his conducts were reported to the Inspector General's Office, to the United States Congress, and to the 9/11 Commission, he was promoted to include the FBI's Arabic language unit under his supervision. Today this supervisor, Mike Feghali, remains in the FBI Washington Field Office and is in charge of a language unit receiving those chitchats that our color-coded threat system is based upon. Yet your report contains zero information regarding these systemic problems that led us to our failure in preventing the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In your report, there are no references to individuals responsible for hindering past and current investigations, or those who are willing to compromise our security and our lives for their career advancement and security. This issue, as with others, is systemic and departmental. Why does your report choose to exclude this information and these serious issues despite all the evidence and briefings you received? Why does your report adamantly refrain from assigning any accountability to any individuals responsible for our past and current failures? How can budget increases address and resolve these intentional acts committed by self-serving career civil servants? How can the addition of a new bureaucratic layer, "Intelligence Czar", in its cocoon removed from the action lines, address and resolve this problem?

Not long ago American officials were claiming a decisive victory and the Bush administration was trumpeting the liberation of Afghan women from the clutches of the Taliban. But the proclamations of success were premature. Osama bin Laden and the Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar are nowhere to be found. Warlords and insurgents are in control of much of the country and the growth industry is the opium trade. The extraordinarily courageous group Doctors Without Borders is packing its bags and withdrawing from Afghanistan after 24 years because five of its staff members were murdered and the government will not bring the killers to justice. On Friday the U.S. government warned American citizens against traveling to Afghanistan because of the danger of being kidnapped or killed.

Some victory. [...]

So there was President Bush in a hard-hit industrial region of Ohio over the weekend telling voters, "The economy is strong and it's getting stronger." And the Kerry-Edwards team is assuring one and all that "help is on the way."

The voters may deserve better, but there's a real question about whether they want better. It may well be that candidates can't tell voters the truth and still win. If that's so, then democracy American-style may be a lot more dysfunctional than even the last four years has indicated.

"We are a nation in danger."

- President Bush in the Rose Garden today

With all due respect to Newsweek and Gallup, hold onto your hat and hair for tonight's ABC News/ Washington Post poll. And please say "boost" or "bump," and not "bounce."

...the risks of another Bush term are far greater. Kerry immeasurably improves our chances of defeating terrorism and making the world safer. In a bitter fight in a divided America, reassurance that Kerry has the support of the rest of the world could be a decisive factor in key swing states. We must offer that signal.

Citing "new and unusually specific information about where al Qaeda would like to attack," Director of Homeland Security Tom Ridge today raised the threat level to code orange (high) for the financial services sector of New York City, northern New Jersey and Washington. "While we have raised the threat level ... the rest of the nation remains at an elevated, or yellow, risk of attack," Ridge said.

Washington, DC, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush tended to body and soul during a layover in Washington Sunday before resuming his multi-state campaign tour.

Bush, along with first Lady Laura Bush, started the day with customary worship at St. John's (Episcopal) Church, across Lafayette Park from the White House. During the service congregants listened to readings and Scripture dealing with man's relationship with material possessions and the need for responsibility to others and gratitude to God.

Then it was off to the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., where the president spent two-hours vigorously riding his mountain bike. Bush, once an avid jogger, has turned to bike riding as a result of knee pain.

Democrats' Security Comes in Under Budget

BOSTON - Law enforcement agencies spent less than $40 million of the $50 million appropriated by Congress for security at the Democratic National Convention, officials said Friday.

"We expect that the cost will be significantly less than the $50 million," Boston Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole said at a news conference flanked by officials from the state police, Secret Service, Boston Fire Department, EMS and other agencies.

The latest estimate for the security costs is between $35 million and $40 million, O'Toole said, although the final amount has not been tallied.

Guys, nowhere in my article do I say that Democrats didn't RESPOND to the Whoopi ridiculousness. They did: they played defense. My question is: when are we going to play OFFENSE?

Ron Reagan played offense at the convention today: CHOP!--he sought to wedge off from their coaltion all Republicans who think it's insane to treat a blastocist that has the power to cure Parkinson's like it's a living, breathing person.

That kind of thinking is what my piece is about. Of course it took someone from outside the Democratic establishment to do it.

I would love to hear what you folks have to say about the main point of the essay: my questions about how the Democrats can take advantages of the structural weaknesses of the Republican to help build a long-term Democratic majority, which I think is the natural and desirable condition of American politics.

I probably won't check back on this comments thread too often, so discussion welcome at rperlstein@villagevoice.com.

As for the charge that what I'm advocating is an untoward aping of Republican incivility, I would ask: what's wrong with helping sane Republicans realize that the rest of their party is insane? Is pointing out that Republican free-trade purism is not in the interests of family-owned manufacturers hitting below the belt?

Regards, and dialogue welcome always,
Rick Perlstein

[This] sounds right, but you aren't taking into account the fact that (on average, 2001 estimates - which can't take into account Iraq or the like - we can expect 2.4 million people to die. So those numbers tell me he's just barely keeping up, and we can ignore his claim that "this shows steady growth" (like he did here).

Of course, math is apparently a little tough for the kids in the White House. I mean, come on! $445 billion deficit? Is it just me, or wasn't America's bank account looking a little better just four short years ago?

Please, keep up the good work.

Reagan defense sec. confirms legal analysis Bush was AWOL

Lawrence J. Korb, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower, Reserve Affairs, Installations and Logistics under Ronald Reagan from 1981-1985, confirmed RAW STORY's legal analysis of President Bush's Guard Service in a telephone call Friday afternoon.

The analysis, which proves that President George W. Bush was absent without leave from the Texas Air National Guard in 1972, is available here.

Given proof that Bush missed five months of Guard training sessions, he said that Bush would be considered AWOL.

"If you don't show up, you're absent without leave, by definition," Korb said.

Despite a larger-than-expected increase in tax revenue, the federal budget deficit has grown by about $70 billion and will hit a record $445 billion this year, the White House projected Friday.

The Bush administration put the new numbers in a positive light, saying its tax cuts had strengthened the economy and resulted in a deficit significantly lower than the $521 billion it projected in February.

U.S. Economy's Growth Slows in Second Quarter
Output climbs at a 3% annual rate, down from 4.5%, raising concerns. July's job data may hint at whether the drop is a blip or marks a trend.

The nation's economy slowed sharply in the second quarter, the government reported Friday, renewing concerns about whether modest expansion might persist and dampen job creation.

The less-than-expected 3% annualized growth rate in gross domestic product - the value of all goods and services produced in the U.S. - was the slowest in more than a year, the Commerce Department said. The relatively modest April-June performance was affected primarily by consumers closing their pocketbooks.

The increase in second-quarter GDP was down from an upwardly revised 4.5% rate in the first quarter, 4.1% in the year-earlier second quarter and the sizzling 7.4% pace of last year's third quarter.

The consensus among economists had been that growth would hit 3.7% in the latest period.

"The economy has clearly downshifted," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Economy.com., a West Chester, Pa., research firm.

Modest growth, if continued, could have significant ramifications for the presidential election.

Surveys show that many voters don't believe they have fully benefited from the economic recovery, given weak wage increases and persistent job insecurities. Democrats have attacked President Bush for a net decline of 1.1 million jobs during his term.

Woman's Dying Wish: Bush Defeated

A South Florida woman who died this week had an unusual last request. Instead of flower or contributions in her name to a charity, she asked those who loved her to try to make sure President George W. Bush is not re-elected.

Loved ones said that Joan Abbey was committed to her political passions, even in death.

Abbey, who was a lifelong Democrat, died Monday -- coincidentally on the first day of the Democratic National Convention.

Her sister, Tillie Shapiro, said, "She was just a caring person … She cared about people, and people who were disadvantaged."

Abbey was buried the day after the Democratic convention ended. Her unusual death notice in the Miami Herald said: "You can honor Joan's values by voting against George Bush and contributing to a liberal or Democratic cause."

Abbey's nephew, Martin Shapiro, said, "What she cared most about was improving circumstances in this country... getting rid of George Bush and making this a better country for all people."

Coincidentally, the presiding rabbi, Brett Goldstein, is a registered Democrat but is voting for Bush, and he questioned the timing of Abbey's message at such a sensitive time.

"My contention is that if there's any situation that's sacrosanct, it should be devoid of political ramifications," Goldstein said. "Although people have the opportunity and they can do it if they want to, it is not really appropriate at this time."

Study: Fear shapes voters' views

The students who thought about death were much more likely to choose the charismatic leader, they found. Only four out of about 100 chose that imaginary leader when thinking about exams, but 30 did after thinking about death.

Greenberg, Solomon and colleagues then decided to test the idea further and set up four separate studies at different universities.

"In one we asked half the people to think about the September 11 attacks, or to think about watching TV," Solomon said. "What we found was staggering."

When asked to think about television, the 100 or so volunteers did not approve of Bush or his policies in Iraq. But when asked to think about Sept. 11 first and then asked about their attitudes to Bush, another 100 volunteers had very different reactions.

"They had a very strong approval of President Bush and his policy in Iraq," Solomon said.

Solomon, a social psychologist who specializes in terrorism, said it was very rare for a person's opinions to differ so strongly depending on the situation.

Another study focused directly on Bush and his Democratic challenger, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry.

The volunteers were aged from 18 into their 50s and described themselves as ranging from liberal to deeply conservative. No matter what a person's political conviction, thinking about death made them tend to favor Bush, Solomon said. Otherwise, they preferred Kerry.

Obtaining Cheney Rally Ticket Requires Signing Bush Endorsement

Some would-be spectators hoping to attend Vice President Dick Cheney's rally in Rio Rancho this weekend walked out of a Republican campaign office miffed and ticketless Thursday after getting this news:

Unless you sign an endorsement for President George W. Bush, you're not getting any passes.

The Albuquerque Bush-Cheney Victory office in charge of doling out the tickets to Saturday's event was requiring the endorsement forms from people it could not verify as supporters.

State Rep. Dan Foley, R-Roswell, speaking on behalf of the Republican Party, said Thursday that a "known Democrat operative group" was intending to try to crash Saturday's campaign rally at Rio Rancho Mid-High School. He added that some people were providing false names and addresses and added that tickets for the limited-seating event should go to loyal Bush backers. [...]

An endorsement form provided to the Journal by Random says: "I, (full name) ... do herby (sic) endorse George W. Bush for reelection of the United States." It later adds that, "In signing the above endorsement you are consenting to use and release of your name by Bush-Cheney as an endorser of President Bush."

A Journal reporter, who is a registered Democrat, called to inquire about a ticket Thursday afternoon. He was asked for his name, address and driver's license number but was not told over the telephone that he would need to sign any endorsement form. He got the news after arriving at the Bush-Cheney office. [...]

The John Kerry/John Edwards campaign on Thursday issued a news release that asked, "Shouldn't all New Mexicans have the right to see their VP?"

Cartoon Network Down with The Boondocks

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cartoon Network is in the process of acquiring a half-hour animated series based on the syndicated comic strip, The Boondocks, created by Aaron McGruder and partner Reggie Hudlin. Sony developed the project for Fox, but the net ultimately passed on the left-leaning, politically charged comedy.

The toon is expected to land a spot in Cartoon Network's hugely popular Adult Swim late-night block.

Clinton Adviser Berger Cleared of Document Theft

President Clinton's national security adviser, Sandy Berger -- who'd been accused of stealing classified material from the National Archives -- has been cleared of all wrongdoing.

The National Archives and the Justice Department have concluded nothing is missing and nothing in the Clinton administration's record was withheld from the 9-11 Commission.

Ridge Tells Colleagues He May Retire

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge is considering stepping down after the November election, telling colleagues he is worn out from the massive reorganization of government and needs to earn money in the private sector to put his teenage children through college, officials said.

Ridge will not make a final decision until he talks to President Bush later this year and is focused on thwarting the terror attacks that officials fear al-Qaida will attempt before November, Assistant Homeland Secretary Susan Neely said.

The former Pennsylvania governor, who agreed to serve as the department's inaugural secretary, also has expressed to colleagues frustration over the continuing challenges of reorganizing the 22 disparate agencies that formed the Homeland Security Department, officials said.

While the Democratic Party rallies in Boston at the Democratic National Convention, the presidential ticket of Massachusetts Senator John Kerry and North Carolina Senator John Edwards holds a five point lead over President George W. Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney (48%-43%), according to a new Zogby America poll. The telephone poll of 1001 likely voters was conducted from Monday through Thursday (July 26-29, 2004). Overall results have a margin of sampling error of +/-3.2.

"It's only 'leadership' if someone follows - and no one is following."

- Sen. Joe Biden on George W. Bush at the Democratic Convention

All I know is what I know...sorry I don't have all the numbers, but KPOJ has blown everyone away. Franken #1 25-54 Ed Schultz #1 25-54 (M-F 10-3) Randi Rhodes #1 25-54 (M-F 3-7) Marty Kaplan (7-8p) and Janene Garofolo & Sam Seder #2 25-54 (M-F 8-11). KEX derailed KPOJ from running the table by going #1 25-54 7-12 mid. Overall KPOJ #3 25-54 M-Sun 6a-12mid.

KPOJ's numbers basically bounced from a .2 to a 6.4, blowing away the big FM music stations.

Michael Reagan bashes brother's stem-cell speech

BOSTON -- Conservative radio host Michael Reagan went on TV to criticize his brother's speech here Tuesday and bitterly complain that Nancy Reagan loves him best.

"He is her favorite," Michael Reagan said on Fox News. "Ron can do no wrong. I mean, basically that's it, Ron can do no wrong."

Ron Reagan's stem cell research speech to the Democrats -- and Nancy Reagan's dis of an invite to the GOP convention -- sent the Republicans into a tizzy.

Michael Reagan led the attacks.

"He is being used by the Democrats," Michael Reagan said. "He is the typical liberal: He hates George Bush."

Michael, Ronald Reagan's adopted son with first wife Jane Wyman, has long competed with Ron Reagan for the affection of Nancy Reagan. In his 1988 book, "On The Outside Looking In," he wrote that the Reagans never loved him.

Why a Conflicted Kerry Voted Yes -- and Later No -- on Iraq

...In early September, Bush announced he would seek congressional approval to "do whatever is necessary to deal with the threat posed by Saddam Hussein's regime." He also took his case to the United Nations, while emphasizing that the U.S. was prepared to act with or without U.N. sanction.

Kerry decried what he described as a rush to war, and expressed skepticism about the administration's commitment to working through the U.N. "We don't want to see this initiative turned into a charade, where it is merely a pro forma step on a road to an already determined decision," he said.

In mid-September, the White House asked Congress for broad, open-ended authority to use force against Iraq if Bush decided it was necessary. Lawmakers of both parties, including Kerry, balked. [...]

Just a week before the Senate vote, Kerry and other lawmakers got their best chance to review intelligence data when the CIA belatedly sent to Congress a detailed assessment of Iraq's weapons programs. The conclusions at the top of the 93-page report were unambiguous.

"We judge that Iraq has continued its weapons of mass destruction programs," the executive summary said.

But the rest of the report was more complicated and nuanced. Sprinkled in its pages were dissents from agencies questioning some of the more sweeping conclusions. For example, the State Department said the evidence that Iraq was reconstituting its nuclear program was "inadequate."

Kerry did not read the report, his aides say, because he had been briefed on its contents by Tenet.

A congressional aide who asked not to be named said Kerry was hardly alone in not reading the full report, which was available for lawmakers to review only in a few secure locations. [...]

Less than two days before the Senate vote Oct. 11, Kerry said his gut told him to vote for the resolution. But his speech on the Senate floor was riddled with reservations and caveats.

Despite the doubts he had expressed about the administration's commitment to diplomacy, Kerry said he would back the resolution on the strength of assurances from Bush and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell that they would not go to war unilaterally or without exhausting diplomatic options.

"Let there be no doubt or confusion," Kerry said. "I will support a multilateral effort to disarm [Hussein] by force, if we ever exhaust those other options as the president has promised. But I will not support a unilateral U.S. war against Iraq unless that threat is imminent and the multilateral effort has not proven possible."

There was nothing in the resolution that guaranteed those conditions would be met. Nonetheless, he was one of 29 Democrats to vote for the resolution, which passed 77 to 23.

In his Senate speech, Kerry had said, "I will be among the first to speak out" if Bush failed to seek international support and go to war as a last resort.

In the fall of 2003, his criticism of Bush's polices led to his vote against the $87-billion bill financing continued operations in Iraq. Only 12 senators voted against the financing measure, and only three — besides Kerry — voted for the war and against the second measure. Among them was Kerry's eventual running mate, John Edwards.

Kerry said he voted against the bill because Bush had gone to war recklessly and without a plan for postwar Iraq. He called it a "principled" vote designed to pressure the administration to change its policies.

Healey's anti-Kerry missive misfires

Whose side is Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey on, anyway?

The Republican Healey was laying out the party line on-soon-to-be Democratic nominee John Kerry, criticizing his shifting stance on the Iraq war, when whoops, there it was:

"President Kerry has done those things," she said, immediately realizing that she had elected the wrong man. "President Kerry -- oh, my goodness . . . uh, Senator Kerry has done those things, and so I think we know what President Bush stands for, and the American people are so very confused about what Senator Kerry stands for, because he's told us too many sides of the story."

Healey looked clearly nervous after making the misstatement, which occured during an interview on New England Cable News. Healey is attempting to fill the role as GOP attack dog, since Governor Mitt Romney has insisted that he will be a host, not a partisan, during convention week.

Bush Using Drugs to Control Depression, Erratic Behavior
By TERESA HAMPTON
Editor, Capitol Hill Blue

President George W. Bush is taking powerful anti-depressant drugs to control his erratic behavior, depression and paranoia, Capitol Hill Blue has learned.

The prescription drugs, administered by Col. Richard J. Tubb, the White House physician, can impair the President's mental faculties and decrease both his physical capabilities and his ability to respond to a crisis, administration aides admit privately.

"It's a double-edged sword," says one aide. "We can't have him flying off the handle at the slightest provocation but we also need a President who is alert mentally."

Tubb prescribed the anti-depressants after a clearly-upset Bush stormed off stage on July 8, refusing to answer reporters' questions about his relationship with indicted Enron executive Kenneth J. Lay.

Losers fall in line behind party's choice
By WALTER R. MEARS
AP SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Loser by loser, the candidates who wanted to be where John Kerry is now paraded across the stage for the last rites of defeat.

Brief rites - six or seven minutes to speak at the Democratic National Convention, and to call for party unity behind the man who beat them all for the presidential nomination. [...]

Four years ago, Sen. John McCain was the defeated rival who pledged fealty to the campaign of George W. Bush at the Republican convention, and Bill Bradley played that role as the Democrats nominated Al Gore. Their acts were solos. Now it is a losers' chorus.

And when it ends, the record will show Kerry the nominee by acclamation.

USA Today Drops Ann Coulter

USA Today has dropped plans to have conservative author Ann Coulter write a daily column from the Democratic convention. The newspaper dropped Coulter in a dispute over the first column she had written about the Democrats.

"It was just differences over editing of a fairly ordinary kind," USA Today Editorial Page Editor Brian Gallagher told Editor & Publisher. "We had some different conceptions of what the column should be, we tried to work them out and when we couldn't, we decided the best course of action was for us to go our own ways."

Jonah Goldberg, a conservative who writes for the National Review, will replace Coulter.

Car Bomb Explodes North of Baghdad; 13 Reported Dead

A car bomb exploded on Wednesday outside a police station in the restive town of Baquba, just north of Baghdad, killing at least 13 people and wounding scores, witnesses and a doctor said.

Ahmed Fouad, a doctor at a Baquba hospital, 40 miles north of the capital, said at least 13 people were killed in the explosion, but the full picture was not yet clear.

Hospital officials said as many as 80 people may have been wounded in the blast, which went off almost directly outside the police station at mid-morning, when the streets would have been crowded. The police station is in the center of town.

The death toll in an Iraq suicide bombing has risen to 68 people.The blast outside a police station in Baquoba left another 40 injured. Most of the casualties appear to be Iraqi civilians. It's the deadliest bombing in Iraq since the US transferred power to an interim government.

SCARBOROUGH: George W. Bush was called a killer, a thug - on stage.

REAGAN: So was Hillary.

VANDEN HEUVEL: So was Bill Clinton by high-level governmental Republicans.

SCARBOROUGH: Hold on a second, there's a big difference. No, you said so was Bill Clinton.

VANDEN HEUVEL: There was a big difference.

SCARBOROUGH: The difference was that Bob Dole didn't come up on the stage...

VANDEN HEUVEL: It was by people like you.

SCARBOROUGH: You know what? That's offensive that you would say that and I'll tell you why that's offensive.

REAGAN: What did you say? I didn't hear it.

VANDEN HEUVEL: I said people like you...

SCARBOROUGH: She said it was people like me.

VANDEN HEUVEL: ...not you. Congressmen.

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Republicans have distributed a photo of Democratic candidate John Kerry wearing a head-to-toe protective suit in comparison to a famously unflattering photograph of Michael Dukakis in a tank that helped sink his presidential bid in 1988.

Late-night comedians made fun of the picture and President George W. Bush's re-election campaign e-mailed it under the caption "Earth to Kerry." "Bubble Boy," read the headline on the front page of the Boston Herald, a newspaper that has not been a supporter of Kerry.