Clearly, the Swift boat veterans are having a major impact on this presidential race. In truth, not one of the political pundits saw this coming. Perhaps John Kerry should have anticipated it, but judging from his tepid, halting, and per-usual flip-flopping responses, it would appear that he was totally unprepared.

And the worst may be yet to come for Kerry: Two other surveys show that the impact of the Swiftees could be even greater than established polling data suggest.

The Tradesport.com survey shows Bush opening up an absolutely incredible 58 percent to 42 percent lead over Kerry. Two weeks ago this survey had them locked at 50. Similarly, the Iowa Electronic Market has Bush surging with a 55 percent to 45 percent lead over his opponent. That?s also up from a dead heat only a few weeks ago.

These are startling numbers. They suggest that the charges of the Swift boat veterans against Kerry -- and Kerry?s weak response in his first major trial by fire -- have re-scrambled the election deck chairs and may have completely blown the lid off the race.

One thought to take away from this is the importance of leaving the door open to the views of any and everyone when it comes to politicking. It?s a question of free speech, really. Nobody should be prevented from expressing their views -- and no one should be prevented from  financing their beliefs through so-called independent interest groups.

Stopping the so-called 527 groups would be a big mistake. As long as financing is disclosed immediately on the Internet, why shouldn?t Americans have the right to say and fund anything they want?

Of course, we?re only hearing about the evil 527 groups now that Kerry has felt their bite. The Kerry camp is saying that a Bush conspiracy led to the Swiftees unfairly attacking his record. But Bush never came out against the 527s until the Kerry camp (and the campaign-finance-reforming John McCain) pressured him to do so. Anyway, Bush himself dismisses the idea that Kerry lies about his war record. Continued...