Josh Chafetz (scroll down) at OxBlog complains about how slimy John Kerry is for implying that his personal war record should put his political record off-limits and for arguing that the GOP is lowering the level of politics by scrutinizing his political record.

Democrats are now embarrassed by their political record on national security. As slimy as Kerry's remarks are, this could represent some progress. Dems are furious at being punching bags for the GOP on national security and they're throwing a tantrum about it. Time will tell if this leads to the development of better foreign policy for the Dems.

As far as I know, Donna Brazille is the only high-level operative who has publicly acknowledged that the Dems need to get tougher on national security. I don't mean to act as Ms. Brazille's employment agent, but it will be interesting to see if Kerry or Edwards hires her.

Meanwhile, Larry Diamond shows today in the WSJ that things are improving in Iraq. It may be harder and harder for Dems to argue that Bush's policies have been disastrous.