Kerry's Out: Weighing the Consequences

Chris Cilizza at The Fix has the winners and losers from Senator John Kerry's (merciful) decision not to run in 2008. As usual, Cilizza is pretty spot-on, I think. But I have a couple of quibbles:

He lists Senator Ted Kennedy as a loser, writing:

Kennedy had the perfect excuse not to choose between Obama, Clinton and Dodd. How could he not go with the home state guy? But now that Kerry is out, Kennedy is one of the most prized free agents in the Senate. Let the courting begin.

I'm not certain how this is a negative for Kennedy. Once beholden to Kerry, a sure loser in 2008, Massachusetts' senior Senator now, in Cilizza's estimation, can await the beginning of a long courtship process that will bolster his ego and affirm his already venerated status. Moreover, Kennedy is a skillful enough politician that he ought to be able to broker deals for himself and the people of Massachusetts for the next 20 months or so. How does that make him a loser?

In listing the late night talk show hosts as losers Cilizza gives a couple of examples of the "fodder" that Kerry provided. First on this list is that Kerry asked for Swiss cheese on his cheesesteak. I'm not certain how this qualifies as a gaffe. I realize that there are cheesesteak stalwarts out there, but I'm pretty certain that 90% of Americans, of any class background, would probably make some similar gaffe the first time they ordered at the window at Pat's or Geno's in Philly. I know I did. I cannot help but think that Cilizza must be a Philly guy whose regional solipsism got the best of him on this one.

In any case, Kerry had no shot, even with the reality that he would be able to stick around just based on his fundraising capacity. It is for the best that he will be able to work in the Senate as one of the opposition leaders. There is no shame in that, just as there is no shame in recognizing the direction of the tides in 2007.