The right-wingers and even some centrists almost couldn’t contain their glee yesterday as the Drudge Report made vague allegations about a bimbo eruption at the Kerry campaign. Rush Limbaugh went right on the air with it, even though the supermarket tabloid that yesterday was quoting a “political insider”claiming that “Kerry could compete with Bill Clinton as a womanizer” was none other than the National Enquirer, the same paper that last year spread the news about Mr. Limbaugh’s addiction to painkillers. “This is just juicy,” Mr. Limbaugh declared. Gary Bauer, the social conservative and one-time Republican presidential candidate, began his daily email to supporters yesterday by breathlessly announcing,”The Kerry campaign is facing a gigantic crisis today in the wake of a story filed by the The Drudge Report alleging that a major personal scandal is on the verge of becoming public.” Even the venerable Mickey Kaus, a political centrist, was linking from his column on Slate to the Drudge Report and clucking about “personal piggishness.”

We’d caution our colleagues in the anti-Kerry camp against pursuing this avenue of attack on the Democratic frontrunner. There are plenty of good grounds on which to criticize Senator Kerry. His legislative record is unaccomplished. He wants to raise taxes on our most productive citizens, which would slow economic growth. He has shown little indication that he understood or understands the importance of the campaigns for freedom against communism in Vietnam or Central America. He voted against funding for the troops and reconstruction in Iraq, a vital part of the struggle against terrorism and for freedom in the Middle East. His attacks on “special interests” are divisive and misguided. He’d turn over too much authority over America’s economy and security to international treaties and bodies that include bad actors like Libya and Communist China. As Michael Dukakis’s lieutenant governor, he supported tax increases.

What Mr. Kerry does in his marriage or outside of it is a matter for him and his wife, with little to no bearing on his suitability for the presidency. It’s a distraction from the serious issues that, if Republicans are to win, they will need to focus on in this campaign.