Through the summer, President Bush’s strategists say, they expect the President to be behind candidate Kerry in the polls or, at best, run even. So the NYTimes says HERE.

The piece is a little look at what to expect. For instance:

Mr. Bush himself, the strategists said, will refine his stump speech so that it is less about his accomplishments so far than about the opportunities he has created for the future, and the stark choices facing the voters in November. Chief among them, Republicans said, would be whether the country wants to entrust its security to a Democratic challenger that the White House is busily portraying as too liberal and lacking in principle.

In response, Kerry will repeat that he served in Vietnam. His four (4) months of service are off-limits, but they can be separated from the candidate.