The Prowler says that Kerry's staffers are worried that he is sounding like too much of a stiff.

Campaign staff of Democratic presidential frontrunner Sen. John Kerry are growing increasingly concerned about their boy's behavior on the stump. "He's been flat now for about a week and a half," says one staffer in New York. "We're not sure why."

On recent stops in Super Tuesday states like Ohio and Georgia, Kerry has been long-winded in his speeches, and less focused with his audiences.

Where a month ago, he was bringing supporters to their feet by just waving, now he's lucky to get a strong round of applause from what used to be guaranteed applause lines from stump speeches.

"The scariest moments have been when he's doing one of his Q&A sessions with folks," says the staffer. "He'll give this incredibly long-winded answer, then the people just sit there. No applause, no feedback, no nothing. And he just stands there. You can hear a pin drop. That's not good in campaign settings."

It isn't just with the crowd. In what has become a famous incident on the campaign trail, a TV crew asked Kerry to comment on a specific issue, and the candidate gave such a complicated answer that the interviewer told Kerry staff they couldn't use any of it for a soundbite. The staff gave Kerry a printed, two sentence quote, and then asked the crew to re-tape the segment.

That anecdote tells us a lot about both Kerry's long windedness and the desire of CBS (the network involved) to make Kerry look good.