  So, if you read other political blogs, by now, you must have seen urlLink Tom Ridge's quote that raises questions about whether the new terror alert is a political move by the Bush Administration. Ridge said, "We must understand that the kind of information available to us today is the result of the president's leadership in the war against terror. " Now, I know that the Kerry campaign is trying to distance itself from any notion that this is a political move. Here's a piece of the urlLink transcript from Bill Hemmer's interview with John Kerry on CNN's American Morning : HEMMER: Yesterday, here on CNN, Governor Howard Dean suggested that there may be an element of politics in this announcement. KERRY: Well, I haven't suggested -- I don't care what he said. I haven't suggested that, and I won't suggest that.
HEMMER: Are you dismissing yourself or even distancing yourself from Howard Dean at this point? KERRY: It's not a question of distancing. People have their opinions, other people are entitled to them. I do not hold that opinion. I do not believe that. HEMMER: He held the question, is it politics or is it real, or is it both?
KERRY: Well, he asked the question. It's not my question. I believe you take these threats seriously. I take them seriously. I think people of good conscience are working on these issues. I respect the men and women in the threat reduction effort.
I respect the people who are in the Homeland Security Department. I don't question them. I question the leadership. I question why it is that we are struggling to get Arab countries and European countries who have a stake in the outcome of the war on terror to be part of it. It's a failure of statesmanship and leadership. And I intend to do better.
HEMMER: In Boston, Howard Dean told us he speaks to you by telephone about every two weeks. KERRY: Somewhere in that vicinity. HEMMER: And he said the conversations aren't short, they're actually pretty long in discussion. KERRY: We've had some good conversations. HEMMER: And he's a surrogate for your campaign. KERRY: Yes, he is.
HEMMER: Based on his comments yesterday... KERRY: I disagree with his comment yesterday. It's very simple. HEMMER: Will he stay on your campaign? KERRY: Absolutely. He's done a very, very good job. He has his opinions.
I respect those opinions. But I happen to differ with him on this one. I can understand why Kerry needs to not make the political connection, but, thank God that doesn't prevent me. Actually, whether or not the Bush Administration fabricated the story is a non-question. Ridge's statement proves that they're going to milk this for all they can. In the end, though, the question all boils down to leadership.
I truly believe in Kerry's challenge to the Bush Administration -- what we need is leadership, not followship. Bush has not proven this to me and any action he's taken here is followship. Leadership would have been making it an utmost priority to have a comission investigate the 9/11 attacks from the get-go, supported the process from the beginning and implemented their suggestions immediately. 
