Advice For Kerry

William Saletan is spot-on, and I hope Kerry's debate-prep team read this. I think Saletan might just have figured out the Reagan-like zinger to propel Kerry:

Bush says you think we'd be safer with Saddam in power than in jail. Your reply today—"George Bush made Saddam Hussein the priority; I would have made Osama Bin Laden the priority"—is accurate but lame. You'll need a zippier version in next week's debate. Something like, "If I were president, Osama Bin Laden would be in jail." [Emphasis mine].

I, for one, am floored by that. It packs the entire national security case for Kerry---genuine commitment to defeating al-Qaeda, competent handling of the Iraqi crisis, sane non-proliferation policy, sober and skeptical empiricism about security threats, etc.---into a tight one-liner.