Close...

...but no cigar for the AP's Jennifer Loven.

She starts off strong...

WACO, Texas - President Bush opened several new scathing lines of attack against Democrat John Kerry, charges that twisted his rival's words on Iraq and made Kerry seem supportive of deposed dictator Saddam Hussein

...and backs her lede with the facts...

He stated flatly that Kerry had said earlier in the week "he would prefer the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein to the situation in Iraq today." The line drew gasps of surprise from Bush's audience in a Racine, Wis., park. "I just strongly disagree," the president said.

But Kerry never said that...

****

Bush attacked Kerry for calling "our alliance 'the alliance of the coerced and the bribed.'"

...But Bush mischaracterized Kerry's criticism...

But she just can't resist throwing in some of that 'balance' that reporters use to inocculate themselves from attacks from the Rove machine.

That's not to say Kerry hasn't been playing fast and loose with Bush's words.

****

The e-mail from campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill accused the president of having "no plan to get us out of Iraq" and thinking "the future of Iraq is brighter than the future of America."

Bush has a plan for Iraq — Kerry just disagrees that it is working. And the president wasn't comparing Iraq's future to that of the United States, only accurately reflecting one recent survey in Iraq and the latest trends in America that asked participants for their assessment of the direction their countries are going.

We can argue about the existence of an actual Bush plan for Iraq, I suppose (though I don't think there's any resonable argument to be made that he has an effective one), but that "recent survey in Iraq"?

Juan Cole, as usual, has the goods...

President George W. Bush cited a poll done in June and July to argue that Iraqis are more optimistic about their future than Americans are about theirs. First of all, even if this were true, it is not good news for Bush.

Second of all, that poll was done before the US assault on Najaf, and the significant deterioration of the security situation in August and September. Many Iraqis had at that time been willing to give Allawi a chance, hoping security would improve. I am sure those numbers would be much lower now.

So the only defense for Bush is to cite yet another deception.

It's time to say it.

Bush just lies.