Gloves off?

The Drudge Report now has a photo of John Kerry holding a pair of boxing mitts, which I suppose is a symbol for "taking the gloves off." So, how tough is Kerry getting in his fight against Bush?

He sends a guy in a wheelchair to deliver his message.

(CNN) -- Vietnam veteran and former Sen. Max Cleland said Wednesday that attack ads questioning Sen. John Kerry's combat record in Vietnam were "scurrilous" and "dishonest and dishonorable" and called on President Bush to come out against them.
Cleland, who lost both legs and an arm in the war, told reporters gathered at a school near Bush's Texas ranch that the commercials run by the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth were false and that "George Bush is behind it."
"The question is, where is George Bush's honor? The question is where is his shame?" Cleland asked. "To attack a fellow veteran who has distinguished himself ... in combat, regardless of the political combat involved, is disgraceful."

No, Senator...using your self-inflicted disability as a cheap, Michael Moore inspired publicity stunt is what's disgraceful. (Cleland may have lost his limbs in 'Nam, but it was from foolishly picking up a live grenade in a non-combat situation.)

None of the guards posted to guard the President accepted the letter. However, Bush had a letter ready for Cleland to deliver to Kerry, which the former Senator refused to accept.

You accused your fellow veterans of terrible atrocities – and, to this day, you have never apologized. Even last night, you claimed to be proud of your post-war condemnation of our actions. We’re proud of our service in Vietnam. We served honorably in Vietnam and we were deeply hurt and offended by your comments when you came home. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t build your convention and much of your campaign around your service in Vietnam, and then try to say that only those veterans who agree with you have a right to speak up. There is no double standard for our right to free speech. We all earned it.

Meanwhile, Benjamin Ginsberg stepped down after it was learned that he was actually representing more than one client. According to democrat logic, if the GOP does it...that's bad...but if they do it...no problem.

Lawyers on the Democratic side are also representing both the campaign or party and outside groups running ads in the presidential race. Ginsberg's dual role has drawn attention because of an ad the Swift Boat Veterans group ran accusing Kerry of exaggerating his Vietnam War record, an issue that has dominated the campaign since early August.
Kerry has fired back by accusing Bush of using the group to run a smear campaign for him. Democrats have jumped on any tie, even if legal, to back up that claim.

Later in this AP piece, this one sentence sort of popped out at me:

Neither campaign has produced proof of coordination on the part of its rival.

Oh, really?

UPDATE: According to Rich Lowry:

Max Cleland, who made a staged appearance at the Bush ranch Wednesday, was appointed by President George W. Bush to the board of directors of the Export-Import Bank in 2003. The same Max Cleland who is spending nearly all of his time attacking President Bush is, amazingly enough, a Bush political appointee.