The AP reports that mud is starting to fly between the Democrats campaigning for their party's Presidential nomination. Democratic candidate Howard F. Dean has been attacking John F. Kerry for using the Bill F. Clinton technique of not taking a side on the war/anti-war debate. Kerry seized on Dean's claim that America won't always have the strongest military, and fired back that Dean is unqualified to lead the military as their 'Commander in Chief'.

Although Dean's recent success in the polls over Kerry has been credited to his staunch anti-war stance, I cannot help but think Kerry has been cutting his own throat as of late. Just two weeks ago, Kerry was criticized for donating an autographed photo of himself to a charity auction. While other contributors coughed up big ticket items like luxury box seats to major sporting events, Kerry's photo garnered a mere $18 for the cause. Incidentally, Kerry became the nation's wealthiest Senator, when he married Theresa Heinz (heiress to the ketchup fortune).

Kerry has also been not-so-subtle in his attempts to ride on the Kennedy's coat-tails. His attempts to liken himself to JFK started to come about a year ago, when he insisted on being called John F. Kerry instead of the usual John Kerry. Next month he may announce that he'd prefer to be called 'Jack'.

Leading up to St. Patrick's Day, John 'Falafel' Kerry distanced himself from his Irish Catholic roots when it came to be known that he wasn't very Irish. His flavor of the month lately has been his Jewish heritage, which he has embraced, and even started to tell Jewish jokes.

Kerry, who just this month accused Bush of breaking "almost every [campaign] promise" he made, has also been back-peddling on his first campaign promise. From when he announced his run, up until late as last month, Kerry said that he would not to use his wife's family wealth, money earned by a late Republican Senator, to run for President. A few days ago, he 'clarified' his position to mean that "he won't rule out using his own funds" as the Boston Globe puts it. It would appear that he wants to wait and see how much money he gets from contributors, compared to how much Bush gets, prior to deciding on whether or not to dip into the Heinz fortune.

As for the others, at least candidates like Dean and Gebhardt have been consistent in their position. Dean is firmly anti-war, and everyone knows Gebhardt is going to raise taxes. Kerry, on the other hand, seems to be faltering back and forth, not wanting to take a position on anything. Whether or not the 'non-platform' works will remain to be seen.