Before I discuss the topic of the morning, I want to make a comment or two about Jack Kemp. I have been asked about fifty times this morning what I think. So for the benefit of those of you who haven't asked, I decided I would save myself some trouble and give you my opinion.

Does Kemp help Dole? Yes, he helps him marginally. He helps him with some conservative voters, with some minority voters, probably with some support in the Jewish community. Does he contribute to a Dole victory? I doubt it. I think that the only person who can beat Bill Clinton is Bill Clinton. And that's only going to happen if, God forbid, we have some disaster in Bosnia or if Hillary gets indicted. Otherwise, it is unlikely that simply the addition of Jack Kemp is going to make any difference. Although, the vice presidency is important in this case, given Dole's age.

What about Kemp? In comparison to whom? In comparison to Tom Ridge, one of the people who was floated by Bob Dole? Well, of course he's much better.

But understand that Jack Kemp is a big-government conservative. In fact, I don't know of any government programs that he has advocated cutting. He is pro-life -- and sincerely so -- but it's not an important issue for him. He has said repeatedly, "This is not my priority. Yes, I take that position, but this is not my priority."

His priority is tax cuts and the return to the gold standard. Those are important issues, don't get me wrong. But he is somebody who does not feel comfortable with the platform that Phyllis and Kay described last night. He's on the other side of affirmative action. He's on the other side of "English only." He's on the other side of immigration and curtailing illegal immigrants. He's on the other side of right to work. I could go on down the list.

What you have now is two candidates who are not going to run on the platform passed by the Republican National Convention. And if I were on the other side, I would simply crank up a debate between the just-passed platform and the two candidates running on it and make that the story for the rest of the election. And you can bet that's probably what's going to happen.

So if you are looking for this to be the silver bullet that is magically going to transform Bob Dole into a winning candidate, I wouldn't count on it.

There is always some possibility that something will happen, that Clinton will defeat himself. When you build your whole career on lies, things can collapse. And they can collapse in a hurry. But it's going to take that because it's very clear at this point that the majority of the people in this country affirmatively do not want Bob Dole to be president.