E-Mail This Article to a Friend Kerry coasts toward Super Tuesday BY DAVID S. BERNSTEIN

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2004 -- With the race down to two viable candidates, the political rule is simple: the long shot demands more televised debates, and the frontrunner tries to avoid them. Senator John Edwards, desparately needing free public air time in the ten states voting in the Democratic Presidential nomination process March 2nd, challenged Senator John Kerry to a series of debates. (One in Los Angeles, agreed to long ago, took place Thursday.) Not wanting Edwards to spend two weeks calling him a chicken, Kerry agreed to one additional debate, on his terms: just an hour long, with Al Sharpton and Dennis Kucinich invited, at 11:00 Sunday morning in New York.

In other words, as long as Kerry could talk for about 15 minutes without saying something that would sound incredibly stupid on the nightly news, the debate wouldn’t change the dynamics of the race.

Kerry easily cleared that low hurdle Sunday morning. Not needing to go any higher, he avoided saying much of anything, rarely answering even the most direct of questions. Check out this marvelous exchange with Elisabeth Bumiller of the New York Times, about Iraq:

Bumiller: Should we put off the June 30th transfer? Kerry: I think the transfer should depend entirely on the ability to guarantee a stable Iraq. It should not be set arbitrarily, certainly not by an election date. Bumiller: Is that a yes or no? Kerry: It's, obviously, it's a... Bumiller: It's a what? Kerry: You should put it off if it's needed to be put off.

And this one with Dan Rather:

Rather: Senator Kerry, what's wrong with gay marriage? Kerry: I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. It's a personal belief. Rather: Well, what's wrong with a man and a man committing to each other for life? Kerry: It's a distinction between what you believe the institution of marriage is. But what's important, Dan, is that you give people rights. I'm for rights, not for terminology or status -- rights. Rather: But who does it hurt, Senator? Kerry: That's not the issue. Rather: Well, that's the question.

Perhaps the most telling moment was when Kerry was asked about a recent ranking that called him the most liberal Senator in the past year. Kerry’s rebuttal? Senate votes are a poor way to judge him, because he didn’t even vote on 25 of the 62 bills in question. Isn’t that Kerry in a nutshell? You can’t be criticized for your position if you never take one.

Edwards, whose favorability ratings remain sky-high in recent polling, is well positioned as the alternative if Democrats find a reason to be uncomfortable with Kerry – but no serious chink has appeared on Kerry’s armor, and time appears to have run out. The North Carolina Senator came out swinging harder in this debate than he previously had, but with the same basic arguments. And halfway through the debate he seemed to lose enthusiasm for the attack altogether.

Not surprisingly, then, the hour zipped by without major incident. And that’s got to be good news for the frontrunner.