From Holden:

I have one small piece of advice for John Kerry leading into tonight’s debate: shake your opponent’s hand.

Kerry should walk over to Bush’s podium when the debate begins and shake Bush’s hand. Maybe even give him a little hug.

Why? Because the Bush campaign made it plain in the 32-page debate memorandum of understanding that they do not want to have their candidate appear on camera with the much taller John Kerry.

If Kerry tries to shake Bush’s hand at the beginning of the debate he will put Bush in a tough spot. Bush will face the choice of accepting the handshake and appearing to be really short before 50 million teevee viewers (and, remember, the taller candidate usually wins these days) or he can shy away or even refuse to retrun this gesture of friendliness and show the nation what an ass he truly is.

By shaking Bush’s hand at the beginning of the debate Kerry will show that he harbors no personal dislike for the preznit, and at the very least he may be able to knock Bush off balance.

Shake hands for America, Senator Kerry!