From Holden:

With one simple word:

“The truth of the matter is, Iraq is a mess because this president and this vice president were incompetent,” Sen. John F. Kerry’s running mate told a largely blue-collar crowd. “They were incompetent in building a coalition. They were incompetent in having a plan. . . . If you want to know how successful this president and vice president will be on the war on terror, all you gotta do is look at their incompetence on Iraq.”

Edwards said the word “incompetent” seven times in the first seven minutes of the speech.

Here, and in other battleground states in recent days, Edwards also has said that President Bush’s “incompetence” extends to other areas, including his reaction to the shortage of flu vaccine. “When I talk about his incompetence, it runs across the board,” Edwards said earlier this week in Windham, N.H. There, he also mocked Bush for a “solution” to the vaccine shortage that he offered during a presidential debate: not getting a shot himself.

Also, check out Pat Oliphant.