Top Democrats took their turns bashing Bush at the podium at the DLC's annual conference. Among the highlights:

• Gore refused to attend after he was denied a keynote-type speaking slot. As if he deserves anything after condemning us to four years of Bush...

• Lieberman is still taking about faith and being pro-business. Conason writes:

  Lieberman offered a rather safe, somewhat clichéd homily about cracking down on corporate crime while remaining "pro-business," and ended with an appeal to faith. He evidently believes that if the corporate crooks had prayed more they would have stolen less. For some reason he finds such displays of piety irresistible.

  Sounds good. If people want someone who will appeal to god and Wall Street, they have plenty of options on the Republican side.

• Lieberman also whined (off-podium) that Gore lost because he abandoned his centrist roots. This may be the start of the end of Lieberman's "I won't run if Gore runs" promise.

• Kerry, a decorated war veteran, piled on Bush's handling of the Afghan war and warned against an Iraq invasion. This is an interesting tactic -- while Kerry is essentially right, people are still under the illusion that the war has been a resounding success. It might be difficult to dissuade the public of that notion, and could backfire. Or it might be a resounding success -- draft-dodging Republicans certainly cannot accuse Kerry of being disloyal. And the public needs to hear what Kerry has to say.

• Edwards and Gephardt will speak today. Edwards, particularly, is looking to boost his '04 chances by garnering the support of the centrist DLC. Thus, many expect him to deliver the speech of his life.

• Gov. Dean's absence is curious. He is the only presidential aspirant, other than Gore, absent from the convention. Yet his message of fiscal conservatism and social liberalism would appeal strongly to DLC-types.