Dan Conley outlines the nine breaks that have propelled Kerry to the brink of the nomination.

Here's the first:

1) The Russert interviews. In the summer of 2002, John Edwards looked like the rising star of the Democratic Party. Then he went on Meet the Press and looked completely unprepared for the grilling. It took Edwards about a year to win back his credibility with Washington insiders and in the mean time, he lost his position as co-frontrunner.

In the summer of 2003, Howard Dean was riding a wave of anti-war sentiment and generally favorable media coverage. While his Russert moment did nothing to dissuade his true believers, it was a turning point for media coverage of Dean ... and that would turn out to be his achilles heel.

Finally, this weekend George W. Bush went on MTP to sure up his lagging poll numbers. Anyone still unconvinced of Bush's electoral vulnerability was soon aware that Bush can be beaten -- giving Kerry the final boost he needed pre Virginia and Tennessee to basically wrap up the nomination.

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