I think the presidential election will ultimately turn on which of the candidates the public trusts more, particularly because we are at war. For any number of reasons, that does not bode well for Sen. Kerry.

It's not just that President Bush is more of a people person and down to earth, or that John Kerry is an out-of-touch elitist. President Bush is also far more comfortable in his own skin than Kerry, which was most obvious in their respective answers to the spiritual question in the second debate.

President Bush fully embraced the loaded question "What part does your faith play on your policy decisions?" (The mainstream media, indeed the entire secular culture, has been on Bush's case over his faith since before he was elected.) The question was designed to make him squirm for having made his guiding faith a matter of public record.

Instead, he admitted that "faith plays a big part in (his) life," that he "prays a lot" for strength, wisdom, comfort and calm, and that he loves that others pray for him and his family. But he said he never wants to impose his religion on anyone else.

This is hardly the testimony of an arrogant man, but a God-fearing, humble servant. I guarantee you that many people can relate to his touching answer and will appreciate his candor. They'll find reassurance in his reliance on God for strength in these difficult times. But others will not be threatened.

Not once did he say or imply that he has a mainline to God or that God put him where he is. He pledged to protect the right of people of all faiths to worship as they please. And as a Christian, he means every word of that.

John Kerry, on the other hand, flinched nervously at the question and then offered an answer that seemed more calculated than heartfelt. After a forced, token response, he shifted into a John Edwardsesque two-Americas rant.

But it's not just the faith issue that unveils Kerry's counterfeit character. His whole persona reeks of stiffness and a choreographed artificiality. And his positions on most other issues reveal him as a bundle of contradictions, a walking paradox, a human oxymoron, a square peg trying to fit into a round hole.

Whereas George Bush is steady and consistent on almost every issue, consider the agony John Kerry must experience trying to reconcile his positions. Continued...