Hey is there a debate tonight?

Hmm. Seemed to have missed that. I wish someone with a blog would have said something about that.

Honestly, Bush is a good debater, and the rules are set up in his favor, but Kerry can definitely pull this thing out. And he's got Carville and Lockhart and Begala and Clinton and who-knows-who-else helping him out on this thing. I doubt I can give any advice that's worth listening too.

But if I had to make a guess as to what his experts are telling him to do, it's probably something like what Yglesias is suggesting. Throw out the rules, and if Bush complains or backs out of further debates, he looks like a wimp. Which would make him come apart at the seams.

Bush wants to make Kerry look like a flip-flopper. "What Kerry needs to do" is make the debate about something else. Even if it's his own defiance of the rules. You can't be a "wimp" and defy the rules, right? And if Bush can't stand the heat, he can't be a "strong leader," can he?

There is a risk here, that Bush will know this is Kerry's plan and have his own plan in place to counteract it. But either way, it changes the dynamic of the debates, and the more dynamic they are, the worse for Bush.

You like how I said "What Kerry needs to do?" I think I'm the first person to ever use that phrase, right?