So, the GOP spin masters want me to believe George Bush has heart. I’ll buy that, at least provisionally.

Bush said it was tough to send troops into harm’s way. Right, it should be. But coming from the “bring ’em on” President, I have the feeling that he was feeling more macho than concerned about sending in troops.

Bush said that to call the war in Iraq “the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time” would be sending a mixed message. Well, maybe for him.

And that’s the problem. Bush cannot admit that he made a terribly reckless and costly decision to fight an unnecessary, illegal and immoral war. And that his administration has conducted it incompetently. For him to admit this would be a mixed message: “I’m right. Whoops, I was terribly wrong.”

But John Kerry has had a consistent message. And I believe it would hearten the troops to know they have a new commander-in-chief who has the sense to conduct the war properly and devise a realistic exit strategy.

Which is why we need a new president. John Kerry will not make the foolish decisions Bush has made.

If your horse is mad, you damned well better change it in midstream.