Kerry Thrilled About Zell?

The latest from the Political Grapevine:

Zig, Zag Zell?
The DNC, as we noted yesterday, is blasting Republicans for having Georgia Democratic Sen. Zell Miller give the keynote address at their convention in less than two weeks. DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe said, "the Republicans are just trotting out an elephant in donkey's clothing," and he labeled Miller "Zig, Zag Zell."

But John Kerry's campaign insists it's "thrilled" about Miller's speech, saying the Republican convention will, "feature someone who, in his own words, thinks [highly of] John Kerry." The campaign notes that at a Democratic fundraiser in 2001, Miller called Kerry, "one of this nation's authentic heroes, one of the [Democratic] party's .. greatest leaders, and a good friend."

Miller added -- "John Kerry has ... worked hard to bring some accountability to Washington [and] ... has worked to strengthen our military."
    
Iraqis Irritated
Iraqi Olympic soccer players are angry that President Bush (search) refers to the Iraqi Olympic team in a campaign ad, insisting he is, "using us for the presidential campaign." The ad shows flags of Iraq and Afghanistan as a narrator says, "At this Olympics there will be two more free nations, and two fewer terrorist regimes."

The soccer team's coach says the ad is inappropriate, telling Sports Illustrated, "What is freedom when I go to the stadium [in Iraq] and there are shootings on the road?"

The U.S. Olympic Committee, meanwhile, has asked the Bush campaign to stop using the Olympic name in its ad, citing federal laws granting the committee exclusive rights to the name.

Attention Averted?
A suspected terrorist trying to travel without drawing too much attention ... apparently chose the wrong alias ... because he picked  the name of someone who draws attention wherever he goes.

The name on a terrorist watch list is Edward Kennedy. That's right, Edward Kennedy, as in Teddy Kennedy, the  Democratic Senator from Massachusetts, brother of the 35th president.

In fact, because the name Edward Kennedy is on a no-fly list, over a one-month period, Senator Kennedy was stopped at the airports five times. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge called Kennedy to personally apologize, and promised the problems would be fixed.

But just days later, an airline ticket agent stopped Kennedy. Officials insist the problem has now been fixed.

— FOX News' Michael Levine contributed to this report