So, the latest kerfuffle that the Republicans are trying to manufacture for Kerry is that he supposedly said that foreign leaders have urged him to win. Except, that maybe he said "more leaders." [drudge link; eww, icky] The reporter might have made a transcription error. I have sympathy for the bind that puts Kerry in. There's no way he can say "I didn't say that." We know how the press reacts to criticism, even when it's wrong. So he has to go along with the mistranscription, and defend something he didn't say (which, fortunately, in this case, is true.)

Of course, I think it's silly for the Bushies to go into hysterics about this no matter what was said, as does my man Howard Dean:

Howard Dean, Kerry's former rival, said he agreed with Kerry's decision not to name the leaders and that it was "silly'' for the Bush administration to suggest he reveal them, "given the proclivity of this administration to threaten those both home and abroad who are candid.''

"If I were Senator Kerry I wouldn't name those names because this administration would clearly make their lives difficult,'' said Dean, a former governor of Vermont.