"We have not and we will not question Senator Kerry's service in Vietnam," White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan repeated yesterday.

"The president has been on the receiving end of more than $62 million in negative attacks from shadowy groups. The president is calling for an immediate cessation to all the unregulated soft money activity," McClellan said.

"I think that this is another example of the problem with the unregulated soft money activity that is going on. The president thought he got rid of this kind of unregulated soft money when he signed the bipartisan campaign finance reforms into law."

Is Kerry so eager to silence Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that he'll accept the Bush campaign's challenge to dump the 527s? That's about as likely as him finally giving details of the "atrocities" he has publicly admitted perpetrating in Vietnam.

Editor's note: