Evidence the backbone transplant is sticking?

What a difference a few months and a near political extinction can make:

Kerry promises vigilance at polls

WEST PALM BEACH -- John Kerry said Monday he is ready to go to court -- even before the November election -- to ensure that he does not lose Florida's 27 electoral votes because of ballot problems.

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And he directly accused Republicans of stealing the 2000 election for George W. Bush in a contest that was finally settled by the U.S. Supreme Court, giving the president a 537-vote victory.

"What can you do to prevent them from stealing the election again?" Kerry asked a crowd of hundreds at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Hollywood, his first stop in a three-city Florida campaign swing Monday.

"We're going to pre-check it, we're going to have the legal team in place," said Kerry, who expected to easily win today's Florida presidential primary. "We're going to take injunctions where necessary ahead of time. We'll pre-challenge if necessary."

Flashback to July, 2003:

[John Kerry] is impatient with Democratic oratory about the "stolen" election. "Stop crying in your teacups," he told one audience. "It isn't going to change. Get over it."

Many were outraged at Kerry's comment at the time, including myself. The statement was indicative of just how out of touch the Democratic establishment was with the party they were supposed to be leading. Was it any wonder that Kerry was in such sad shape last year as a candidate?

I don't know what changed between then and now but if it is real then maybe, just maybe, Kerry has a chance of winning.