A lengthy profile of Robert Shrum, top message man in the Kerry campaign, is in today's WashPost (if you've got stomach for it), headlined (ominously) "Loss Leader," since Shrum is most famous for presiding over seven losing presidential wannabes.

The long article does contain this hopeful observation: "Depending on who is talking, Shrum is either in Kerry's doghouse [because of his failure to take the Swift Boat Veterans seriously], or his influence has been diffused by the high-level additions."