For a couple of days leading up to the most exciting midterm electoral season I have ever seen, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., gave his 2004 opponent President George W. Bush and his Republican allies a wonderful pre-election gift. Kerry, while speaking to students at Pasadena City College, made a major gaffe by insulting the intelligence and work ethic of military personnel. Soon, Kerry found himself in a major firestorm and conceded that he had no choice but to apologize. Good for him.

I can understand some of the anger coming from those who have proudly served their country. My dad, Lionel, who served in Korea, isn't quite so upset. Many of his contemporaries joined the armed forces (or were drafted) because they wanted to expand their opportunities to live the American dream. They were bright young men and women who studied hard in high school, had good grades and probably worked simultaneously. But, after graduation, there simply was not enough money for college. What to do? Many of them joined the military in hopes that, after their hitch, they would get the needed money through the G.I. Bill.

Unfortunately for Kerry and the Democrats he has proudly supported, the decorated war hero's off-the-cuff remarks gave Bush and his vice president some much needed talking points. When your party runs out of ideas, just make the other side pay by demanding an apology and distracting the conversation so no one focuses on your mistakes.

Let's start with Iraq, where more than 100 of our brave and courageous troops died in October alone. News reports also suggest that as many as 42 Iraqi civilians are dying each day -- an 18 percent jump since September.

Bush, while campaigning in ruby red states like Georgia, Nebraska and Montana for candidates for whom his support is not an albatross, rushed to add a new line to his stump speech, calling on Kerry to apologize. Later, according to press reports, he went back on the offense and gave both his vice president and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ringing endorsements. "They should stay," the president is reported as saying.

These are the same men who once said "we will be greeted as liberators," "the insurgency is in its last throes," "the war will be paid for with Iraqi oil revenues," and so on.

Bush and Co. are fanning the Kerry botched joke to rile their conservative base. I did not hear any apologies from Bush and company when they lied about prewar intelligence, illegal detention facilities and warrantless wiretaps.

Speaking of botched humor, anyone recall Bush's 2004 jokes about the hunt for WMDs? I know about 2,800 brave Americans who'd find his slideshow depicting a comical search in the Oval Office less than amusing. That is, if these honorable men and women were still alive.

More recently, Americans didn't hear any apologies from Cheney, who suggested on a radio talk show that he condones a form of torture. Most of the time, that's the way the game is played. When your opponent, in this case, the former Democratic presidential nominee, makes an offhand comment, blow it out of proportion and attribute it to his entire party.

I'm glad Kerry apologized. The question I am left with is: why were the words of a man whose name is not on a single ballot next Tuesday all anyone wanted to talk about for two days? Canceling events where Kerry was scheduled to speak derailed Democratic campaigns, while Republican campaigns threw their talking points out the window to jump on the "Democrats are elitist snobs who have no respect for our men and women in uniform" bandwagon.

With only days to go until the most momentous midterm election in recent history, do we truly have nothing better to talk about than the verbal faux pas of a noncandidate?

Here are a couple of suggestions: Iraq; the handling of the Hurricane Katrina recovery; corruption scandals; Mark Foley; killing habeas corpus; WMDs; and where's Osama?

Every election is important. Every election is a referendum on the direction of our country. Every election is a chance to hold our leaders accountable, to demand that they speak for us. And the questions that voters should have answered before they cast their votes are: what strategy do you have for winning and exiting the war in Iraq? How are you going to reduce this country's dependence on foreign oil? How will you negotiate drug prices so our senior citizens do not have to choose between medication and food?

The GOP is desperate. They want to distract us with character assassinations, no matter how baseless or irrelevant, because they know they can't win on the issues. There is too much at stake this election. The issues are too real and too critical to allow ourselves to get distracted.

And to Kerry, most Americans know he is a serious man and a decorated war hero, but he's not funny. We will all be better off if we leave that line of work to the comedians.

Donna Brazile is a political commentator on CNN, ABC and NPR, contributing columnist to Roll Call, the newspaper of Capitol Hill, and former campaign manager for Al Gore.

Copyright 2006, United Feature Syndicate, Inc.

Your vote must be counted

By Donna Brazile

A couple of months ago, I went over to the White House to witness President George W. Bush sign the renewal of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Bush, surrounded by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, proudly proclaimed that he would "vigorously enforce the provisions of this law and will defend it in court." Sadly, I wish I could have taken him at his word.

Jim Crow is not dead. He is resurrected every election cycle for partisan gain, and it's time lawmakers recognize him in every reincarnation. This year, he has taken the form of restrictive voter ID legislation that will be on full display on Election Day in key states like Indiana, Ohio and Arizona.

Cloaked in rhetoric to prevent so-called voter fraud, it reinstitutes a de facto poll tax -- disenfranchising members of society who can ill afford the prohibitive cost of purchasing government-produced photo identification. Adjusted for inflation, the cost of the cheapest ID that satisfies the requirements of legislation passed in states such as Georgia, Indiana and New Mexico is many times that of the original Poll Tax ruled unconstitutional so many years ago. (Note: Georgia promised to pay for the new ID, but the judge ruled the entire scheme unconstitutional.)

"Those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the vote decide everything." Joseph Stalin said it, but I'm sure Ohio's gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell and Florida's senatorial candidate Katherine Harris would agree. Both of these public officials played critical roles in determining which candidate would claim the presidency in 2000 and 2004 while serving as Secretaries of State for Ohio and Florida, respectively.

Just thinking about the shenanigans pulled in those elections gets me riled, but at this point, there is no use in complaining. It's time for President Bush, who champions democracy abroad, to commit to fully fund the implementation of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA). Without it, as we are now witnessing in a number of states, problems of machine integrity, voter intimidation and vote suppression will continue to present themselves with alarming frequency and severity across America.

In Chicago, local news reports that machines used for early voting have already proven faulty, with voters intending to cast ballots for one candidate, but machines recording the votes cast as votes for that candidate's opponent. They have also experienced problems ranging from broken equipment to calibration issues. Other states and counties are experiencing the same malfunctions with their new voting technology. In Virginia and Maryland, each not much more than a stone's throw from the U.S. Capitol, local lawmakers have expressed deep concerns over the potential loss of votes.

Some voters, desperately trying to get a jump on exercising their right to vote, have grown increasingly frustrated with the process. Early voters in Utah and New Mexico are experiencing delays causing waits of more than an hour for some, with voting itself taking up to a half hour. Again, this is likely to only get worse on Election Day as polling places become clogged. Then we have the dirty tricks -- lots of them to report before Election Day, including some down in Florida.

In Congresswoman Katherine Harris's district, located in Sarasota, voters are receiving so-called "robo calls" from a woman who sounds like Democratic congressional candidate Christine Jennings. The calls, which last more than three minutes (robo calls are suppose to be short and to the point), are being placed in the middle of the night. Can you imagine supporting someone who wakes you up in the middle of the night? I wouldn't.

We have also read of news reports in Maryland that the Republicans are distributing pamphlets to poll watchers instructing them how to mount challenges to "certain voters" and threaten election judges with jail time if the challenge is ignored. Justice may be blind, but the poll watchers have proven that they are not. Challenges to voters' credentials usually result in that voter casting a provisional ballot.

With each step forward in our long march to true and universal democracy here at home, we must resist the forces that try to push us back. When President Lyndon Johnson signed the original Voting Rights Act of 1965, he reminded us that "voting is the lifeblood of our democracy." It truly is our lifeblood that allows every eligible citizen a chance to be heard and to hold those elected accountable to the people.

For as long as there has been democracy, there have been attempts to intimidate, suppress and disenfranchise. On Election Day, many Americans may encounter an obstacle or two to casting a ballot. They may range from long lines to machines that need constant rebooting. But the surest way to guarantee that our march for freedom continues forward is to vote and be heard.

It is our responsibility as citizens to fight, tooth and nail, hand in hand, to preserve our democracy. Long before freedom marched in the streets of Baghdad or in Kabul, it took a stand here in America. Let's not forget that and remember to watch those counting the votes.

Donna Brazile is a political commentator on CNN, ABC and NPR, contributing columnist to Roll Call, the newspaper of Capitol Hill, and former campaign manager for Al Gore.