It is time--past time--for John Kerry to tell Americans what he is about. This is less about biography (although the only information too many Americans have about Kerry comes from the $50 million negative-ad assault the President's campaign unleashed on him) than about mission and values. He must tell voters what things--big things--he is prepared to fight for and why. It is time to start filling in the blanks, particularly on bread-and-butter issues.

Despite his recent uptick in the polls, Bush is in serious trouble and knows it. Most voters sensibly think the country is on the wrong track and prefer Democrats over the President on a range of kitchen-table concerns: jobs, healthcare, education, retirement security. They worry about budget deficits, the loss of good jobs and inadequate wages. Even after the President's record ad barrage, fewer than half of Americans say they'll vote to rehire him. No wonder the President thinks he's better off spooking people about Kerry than trying to sell them on himself.

The challenge facing Kerry is how to respond to a relentless stream of attacks from GOP hit squads. This is what Bush is good at. He isn't particularly curious about the world, doesn't care much about policy and is AWOL when it comes to running the government. His passion, as a protégé of the late Lee Atwater, hired gun of Jesse Helms, is gutter politics.

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