Bush used to drink?

Well, here we go. We're in the last two months of this campaign, and the mud pies are ready to be thrown. The Guardian is reporting on a story at Salon.com. Linda Alison, widow of a former confidant of the Bush family and current grudge holder against the family, claims that the family ran Bush out of town and off to the Alabama National Guard because his drinking was a liability. She also subtly accuses him over never performing his Guard duty.

I'll set the specifics of the story aside, because this is clearly a woman with a grudge, and it is natural that her story comes off the way it does. Instead, I have a question. Is this the best they can do? Bush used to drink heavily. Woo hoo. If this story ends up with legs again, it is going to hurt Kerry more than Bush. The man has cleaned up his life, and there are plenty of people out there who have experience with alcoholism, and who will respect him more for doing so. This story was a not a winner for the left in 2000, so why pull it out again? What's next? Is Kerry going to offer to put Osama in a lock box during the debates? I'm beginning to think the leadership of the left and left media is intellectually bankrupt.