A Winning Strategy

 As the election season enters its final days, let?s turn to a great liberal philosopher for some insight: ?If the documents are not what we were led to believe, I?d like to break
that story.?

Oh, sorry. Wrong Dan Rather quote. The one we wanted was, ?This race is tight like a too-small bathing suit on a too-long ride home from the beach.? Rather spoke those words in 2000, but they seem applicable again today. Sort of.

On Oct. 19, CNN?s so-called ?poll of polls? gave President Bush a five-point lead. That survey combined the results of every nationwide poll that CNN trusts. Bush was ahead in every one. Still, network anchors assured viewers, these polls don?t matter, because the race is indeed too close to call.

Maybe.

But surely, either candidate would love to break out and establish an insurmountable lead (such as a 3-0 lead in a League Championship Series). As a public service, here?s how each man can do it.

 Let?s start with the underdog. If John Kerry wants to win, he should stop attacking the president over everything. ?You don?t have a prayer of getting a flu shot,? the senator recently told a Florida audience. Yawn.

Senator, instead of ?fighting? for us, enlighten us. Tell us everyone you would nominate to be in your cabinet.

The last time we elected a president, the Florida recount held up the post-election process for more than a month. That delay meant President Bush entered office with many important offices unfilled.
Well, this election may be even more divisive. Democrats have 10,000 lawyers ready to file complaints in battleground states, and they?re ready to demand recounts. Kerry?s party has set aside some $3 million to spend on legal struggles after the election. So there?s at least a chance the recount (or, heaven forbid, recounts) could go on even longer than in 2000.

By naming his cabinet members ahead of time, Kerry would be ready to go as soon as the voters or the courts or some combination thereof declared him the winner.

Plus, voters would know what they?d be getting. For example, Kerry frequently speaks of his ?friend John McCain.? Would the Arizona senator, who?s currently stumping for Bush, take a post in a Kerry cabinet? He was supposedly a possible vice presidential pick. Kerry should let us know if he?d be tapped to serve as Secretary of Defense.