'08! Oh, Wait...

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 726

Another day with lots of stuff happening.

Massachusetts Senator John F. Kerry announced today that he wouldn’t be a candidate for the Democratic nomination this time around. But don’t think for a moment he didn’t seriously think about it. A couple of months ago, I seemed to run into Kerry every time I turned around in Des Moines: in restaurants, crossing the street in my neighborhood, you name it. He was talent shopping, seeing which Iowa activists, organizers and fundraisers would support him if he chose to run. I think we now know what he must have been hearing from them: “Don’t.”

I like John Kerry. I worked as a volunteer for him in Philadelphia during the 2004 campaign (we won there - don’t know what happened in some other states *arch glare at Ohio*). He would have made a good President. But I am glad he decided not to run this time around. There are some moments that come only once; John Kerry has had his. Fortunately, he continues working in the Senate, where I think he will continue making a difference for the people of his state (alright, alright! His Commonwealth! *touchy Yankees...*). Best of luck to him.

Can you believe all the goings on in just the last week? And there’s still nearly a year to go before the Caucuses!

And now a quick few words about last night’s State of the Union address. In a nutshell: Lead Balloon. To be fair, though, the stuff about Ethanol went over big here in Iowa. But overall, I can’t put it better than one unnamed GOP strategist who said, “When you're sitting at 35 [percent public approval rating] and you're telling [the new Democratic majority] what to do after they won an election, they've got to chuckle." You can read the full article from the Washington Post here.