"I don't see this as a two-person race because we're running against someone who has won one state," a senior Kerry adviser said.

"I think this is really boiling down to a two-person race."

Imagine a two-person race (plus the usual zoo of fringe third parties).

"It's down to a two-person race for $11,000,000," the promotion said.

"We're coming down to a two-person race," he announced.

"Whether you have one line or 12, everyone knows it's a two-person race," he said.

Now the job is to define George Bush and to make this a two-person race.

The truth is that to characterize it as a two-person race may be a mistake.

He won the two-person race with a landslide majority to pick up the district for his party.

"John Edwards said the other day this is a two-person race," he said.