From WNYC in New York, this is NPR's On the Media. I'm Bob Garfield.

And I'm Brooke Gladstone. With the Democratic presidential ticket now present and accounted for,

this week the top John made appearances in Boston and Philadelphia, while the other John stumped solo in Iowa.

Meanwhile, President Bush defended the Iraq invasion in Tennessee

and toward swing states in the Midwest. There wasn't much novelty in the substance of the speeches,

but when it came to the ever-important war of images, it was clear that at least one major element of the race is still up for grabs.

According to Paul Waldman, editor-in-chief of the online political journal The Gad Flyer,

that element is the character flaw that will ultimately define John Kerry.

Waldman says reporters always frame campaign coverage with the question,

what's this guy's biggest problem?

With Gore, it was that he was supposed to be dishonest. And with Bush, it was supposed to be that

he was dumb and inexperienced. Now, when it comes to John Kerry, they really haven't homed it down

to one thing. And part of the problem is that the Bush campaign hasn't decided what the one thing

they want people to be afraid of about John Kerry is. Well, let's talk about that. First,

there was Kerry as flip-flopper, and then recently Kerry as pessimist, and then Kerry as

Massachusetts liberal out of touch with mainstream values.

Senator Kerry is rated as the most liberal member of the United States Senate.

And he chose a fellow lawyer who is the fourth most liberal member of the United States Senate.

It's an oldie but a goodie.

This goes back to something that happens in election after election.

There's kind of an aphorism that Republicans talk about values and Democrats talk about issues.

They're going back to this idea that Kerry is from a place that's sort of alien to most Americans, Massachusetts, where strange things are supposed to happen.

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