Kerry's great advantage, despite what some people say, is that the threshold is low. People who have decided to vote against Bush are looking for an acceptable candidate, not another Abraham Lincoln or Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
He has a great deal at risk. He is coming up for re-election in 2007. This is his last, best chance to recover.
We can always go too far, and frequently do. Is it a harbinger? Who knows. But it's unadulterated bad news for Bush and the Republican Party and great news for Democrats as they attempt to make a comeback in 2006.
That's the great danger of the Republican candidates. If the president's popularity is low come November, there will be a substantial turnover and the Republicans will lose seats.
The devastation is so great and the stories of the victims have united Americans in sympathy.