Since perhaps the beginning of time, and certainly most of American history, ambassadorships to certain nations have been used as political payback to a president's supporters. While career diplomats can rise to the ambassadorships of nations like Guinea-Bissau, if you want to be ambassador to, say Belgium, then your best bet is to help get the president elected by raising lots of money.

Businessman Sam Fox did this for President George W. Bush in 2004. However, in his efforts to get Bush re-elected he made a mistake -- he gave $50,000 to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

With Kerry still in the Senate, the time for payback had come.

Kerry, D-Mass., had criticized Fox because of a $50,000 contribution that Fox made in 2004 to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Many Democrats blame the group for sinking Kerry's presidential hopes that year after it aired a series of controversial ads that impugned Kerry's military record in the Vietnam War.

“Sam Fox had every opportunity to disavow the politics of personal destruction and to embrace the truth,” Kerry said Wednesday. “He chose not to. The White House made the right decision to withdraw the nomination. I hope this signals a new day in political discourse.”

But one of Fox's strongest backers, Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., said it was “disappointing that a capable and qualified candidate with bipartisan support has become a victim of a political vendetta.”

Once again, the Democrats are setting a standard that I can only hope that Republicans eventually hold a Democrat president to. Any Democrat big wigs who donate to Moveon.org or any other so-called 527 group should perhaps consider the Kerry standard will be applied the next time a Democrat occupies the White House. Democrats have already set a new standard of 60 votes required for federal judgeships. And just wait until a Democrat president wants to fire some poor-performing U.S. attorneys.

The personal has become political. Like the now-defunct special prosecutor law, both parties are going to have to be bitten by this standard before we get back to some level of political civility.