Meanwhile: The President actually got off the line of the day:

A reporter noted that Edwards was being described as "charming, engaging, a nimble campaigner, a populist and even sexy" and asked, "How does he stack up against Dick Cheney?" Bush didn't hesitate: "Dick Cheney can be president. Next?"

You have to admit, that's about the best takedown since Lloyd Bentsen croaked out "You're no Jack Kennedy" to a previous flyweight VP. More telling, though, was Kerry's shotgun response:

Bush "was right that Dick Cheney was ready to take over on day one, and he did and has been ever since, folks, and that's what we have got to change," Kerry said.

Earlier, Kerry's campaign said Bush was "hitting the panic button." "The fact that the president of the United States is personally taking swipes at the Kerry-Edwards ticket a mere day after it was announced speaks volumes," the campaign said in a statement. "It's just disappointing that the president of the United States would stoop to this kind of political bickering."

If this characterizes the fight we'll see, Bush has nothing to worry about. When your opponent cracks off a hard right hand to your jaw, and you dance around for a few minutes pretending he swung and missed, you've lost the point. Americans may seem dumb, but they know how to score a political bout.