The two pheasants that John Kerry shot last October in Iowa provided the Massachusetts senator more than a good meal. It may have given him the edge in the Iowa caucuses, at a time when he was far behind, and propelled him to the Democratic nomination. Never in the course of politics have so few birds given so much to one candidate. Suddenly, commentators and news people were comparing Kerry's hunting credentials with Gore's anti-gun stance in 2000 and counting up the additional electoral votes. Here was the man who could neutralize the NRA and still give the gun control...