Kerry's Out

It looks like the RNC won't have John Kerry to kick around so much in the 2008 election — a "source close to Kerry" said today that Kerry's sitting this one out.

My first reaction was relief. I didn't think he'd be able to win, and he'd serve as a lightning rod for GOP attacks against the other candidates.

But my second reaction was a more abstract disappointment. Kerry's biggest flaw has been his consistent underestimation of the strength of the political and media forces that have been deployed against him. He sat on his hands while he was being Swiftboated, and then bungled his response to the stupid, manufactured outrage at his "botched joke" last fall. It's a shame that such obvious lies and misrepresentations can derail a political career, and for that I feel a little sorry for Kerry.

Kerry's experience is certainly a greater indictment of the quality of what passes for political discourse than it is of Kerry's qualifications. But it is a little about Kerry. You can't win your battles if you don't know how to fight back, so his decision about 2008 is probably for the best.