Time Magazine, 3/1/04:

The Bush political team, though, believes it is getting the kinks out of the system. One example: campaign and Republican National Committee (R.N.C.) rapid-response makers had been labeling Kerry a “Massachusetts liberal,” not knowing that Bush likes attacks to be more specific.

“He doesn’t like it because it doesn’t tell you anything,” says a top Bush aide. “Tell people what that means. That’s what he wants.” Result: the campaign no longer uses the shorthand phrase Massachusetts liberal.

President Bush in the third presidential debate, 10/13/04:

He [Kerry] talks about PAYGO. I’ll tell you what PAYGO means, when you’re a senator from Massachusetts, when you’re a colleague of Ted Kennedy, pay go means: You pay, and he goes ahead and spends.

…You know, there’s a main stream in American politics and you [Kerry] sit right on the far left bank. As a matter of fact, your record is such that Ted Kennedy, your colleague, is the conservative senator from Massachusetts.

…And secondly, only a liberal senator from Massachusetts would say that a 49 percent increase in funding for education was not enough.

Ken Mehlman, Bush/Cheney campaign manager, on “Meet the Press,” 10/17/04:

I think people looked at those debates and they saw some important things.  They saw that John Kerry is, in fact, a Massachusetts liberal who will increase taxes and who will increase government involvement in health care.

…And the middle class understands when a liberal from Massachusetts like John Kerry says “I’m just going to soak the rich,” they better grab their umbrella.

I guess the idea is that these are more specific attacks? Or did they just change their mind?