John Kerry is now taking himself seriously as the man who can beat George Bush in November. Polls have told him that many Democrats believe he (or John Edwards) can and he is in a dead heat overall. But there is a trial and error process taking place in search of the winning Kerry that's turned up some serious errors.

One major misjudgment was Kerry's promise to fight special interests. It was meant to be a standard refrain derived from the old socialist battle against capitalism, aimed at securing the support of his base in the far left. Republicans are for big corporate special interests, a very bad thing.

But let's face it; Kerry has been a Democrat in Congress for many years. The insincerity was palpable. We know who John Kerry is, and he's no Ralph Nader. Kerry's promise to throw the special interests out of the White House should have been preceded by an apology for his own special interest alliances and those of his party.

Kerry's status as a war hero and protester combined represented the nation's psychological split in the 1970s. It's been a regular feature of his stump speeches during his presidential bid. How does this dual persona, that brought him political success thirty years ago, play out in the new millennium?

Questions about George Bush's service in the National Guard had already played out during the 2000 campaign. Kerry operatives (and other Democrats) tried to play it again and got it thrown back in their faces. It's not a good political tactic to attack someone when it leaves the impression that you're being dishonest and unfair. But it seems downright stupid to use an old attack that failed before in front of the same audience. (It was in fact tried prior to the 2000 presidential race where it failed in Texas gubernatorial campaigns.)

This weekend, candidate Kerry overplayed his hand as a Vietnam veteran after a Republican opined that he had not been supportive enough on defense spending. Kerry railed against the argument asking what is it about Republicans who did not serve wanting to challenge him because he did. He would not "stand by while Republicans who constantly go to the low road challenge my commitment to the defense of our nation."

Chaos and damage control: Campaign operatives spent the weekend singing no, no, that's not what he meant; turn your attention elsewhere. George Bush served in the National Guard. Kerry did not mean that National Guard service is not national service. But even more important was Kerry's apparent inability to recognize a legitimate policy question; an extremely important one for a presidential candidate. The question was not about his record as a soldier, but his record as a Senator and position on defense. His high level of personal sensitivity and emotion-laden over-reaction made him look far less than presidential.

There is another potential miscalculation that has just begun to show up on the radar screen. John Kerry has a monotonous voice. But whoever has him training to sound more like John Kennedy may be setting him up for a major disaster. Every time he puts his voice intonation into overdrive, he sounds a lot like Mayor Quimby on The Simpsons.