John Kerry, Democratic senator from Massachusetts and 2004 candidate for president, is back in the news reminding us all why we didn't vote for him.

If you haven't been on vacation in New Zealand or living under a rock, you probably have been bombarded ad nauseum with his offhand comment to California college students: "You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

On its face, what Kerry said is clearly an insult to the troops, and if for no other reason than that alone, Kerry both owed them an apology and needed to do some serious damage control to save his bid for the 2008 nomination for the presidency.

Predictably, Kerry did neither. Instead, he used the inevitable criticism as an opportunity to lash out at President Bush and the "Republican hate machine" for mischaracterizing his comments.

Few of us are surprised at Kerry's blunder in itself. This is the guy who voted for the $87 billion before he voted against it. It's no news that he is his own worst enemy.

But is this all a tempest in a teapot, hurting only Kerry, or does it really make a difference in how Americans view the 2006 election?

I think it matters, and perhaps a lot, for a pretty simple reason.

For one of the only times during this campaign season, Americans are being forced to consider why they haven't been voting for Democrats in recent years, not on why they are so disappointed in the performance of Republicans.

To oversimplify a bit, the storyline of this campaign season has been dominated by the general discontent with the way that Republicans have been running the government.

Spending has gotten out of control, the war is unpopular and getting more so, and few people are enthusiastic about Bush's leadership right now.

Add in the Foley scandal and mistakes by some candidates, and you have a recipe for a bad election year for Republicans.