Howard Kurtz has the post-election media rundown. Looking for someone to blame, the Boston Globe apparently blames Kerry's bad hearing for galvanizing his perception as a "flip-flopper".

The Boston Globe begins its big what-went-wrong extravaganza this way:

"On the afternoon of Aug. 9, John F. Kerry stood on the lip of the Grand Canyon, about to make one of the biggest mistakes of his three-year quest for the presidency. A stiff wind was blowing across the canyon, and Kerry, whose hearing was damaged by gun blasts in Vietnam, had trouble understanding some of the questions being thrown his way. But he pressed on, coughing from the pollen blowing on the breeze.

"Would Kerry have voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq, one reporter asked, even if he knew then that Iraq didn't have weapons of mass destruction? 'Yes, I would have voted for the authority; I believe it's the right authority for a president to have,' Kerry replied, as aides stood by, dumbfounded. . . .

If Kerry didn't understand the question, why did he repeat it as part of his answer? But even if you accept the premise that Kerry misspoke, isn't it interesting that when Kerry doesn't understand something it must be a byproduct of his heroic service in Vietnam. But let Bush trip over his tongue, and it must be because he's stupid.

And not to nitpick, but is the pollen count really that high in Arizona in August?