Advice for Dems from the Dallas Morning News (emphasis added):

. . . the party should be concerned that voters will ? over the next few months ? become so accustomed to hearing Kerry go on the attack that they’ll tune him out. Case in point: Kerry attacking Bush on homeland security would have, under normal circumstances, been considered extraordinary. Instead, now it could come off as just more evidence that Kerry will say whatever it takes to get elected.

According to a New York Times/CBS News poll out this week, many Americans already feel that way about Kerry. Asked if the candidate says what he believes ? as opposed to what people want to hear ? only 33 percent said Kerry speaks from the heart. For Bush, the figure was 51 percent.

A bigger worry for Democrats is that enough voters might decide that Kerry offers too much vinegar and not enough sugar. Already, it seems, Kerry lacks the three things that American voters tend to respond to: optimism, hope and a sunny outlook on the future.

Ronald Reagan had buckets of it. So did Bill Clinton. In fact, the man from Hope, now on the lecture circuit, recently told an audience that Democrats should talk less about where Bush had taken the country and more about where their party would take the country if they have the chance.

Bingo. Clinton is still the master politician, and his party’s presumptive nominee would be wise to take the advice.