This is good.

[ginnyinWI]

As the saying goes in my family, "Enough is sufficient."

Kerry's busy making plans to chair the SFRC and get us, finally, out of Iraq. Let him chair the committee for Obama's first term, then let's see if he'd like to serve as the secretary of state for Obama's second.

It's all good. JK seems to be at peace with this so I am too. :) :) :)

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/articles/2008/11/20/kerry_poised_to_cap_long_journey/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Top+political+stories

[Noisy Democrat]

1. Personally, I'm thrilled

OK, so it's partly that I'm selfish -- I want to get to keep videotaping Kerry events around Massachusetts; even though the pace won't be anything like during the campaign (and thank God for that :) ), I'm sure he'll be around at times, and I want to keep documenting it. But having gotten the purely selfish part out of the way, I can say that it's also that I think it's very exciting that he's going to be in an even more powerful position in the Senate, that he's going to be able to set his own agenda more than he would as SoS (even though he'll still coordinate with President Obama, of course), that he'll be able to hold hearings, that he'll be able to introduce legislation on a variety of issues (e.g. the exciting rail bill), and that his career won't come to an end if Obama isn't re-elected in 4 years. It's not quite right to say that I'm *glad* he's going to be the Senior Senator from Massachusetts, because the reason is sad, but what I think is that he's about to move into a new phase of his relationship to his constituents here in MA, and he's going to blossom as a senator in so many ways (it sounds very silly to apply a word like 'blossom' to a guy like JK, but I can't think of a synonym), and, well, I want to see it all happen. :) So I'm very happy.

[Noisy Democrat]

2. p.s.

I wrote that post in a hurry, and I didn't clarify what I meant -- I don't think JK is going to move into a new kind of relationship with his constituents primarily b/c of Teddy becoming less capable and "passing the torch" (although his letting JK make the appearance at the rally in Barnstable did seem like a torch-passing moment) or eventually, God forbid, not being here as the senior senator. What I meant about a different phase was more a sense I got from what I saw this summer as I was videotaping. A lot of JK's constituents really, really like him. People were very happy to see him -- even wildly excited at times. You wouldn't know that from the media, but I saw it for myself throughout the summer and I caught as much of it as I could on tape. Yet the media (and people like EOR and Beatty) were still trying to drum up suspicion of JK's motives -- trying to persuade people not to get too attached, because he's going to abandon Massachusetts at any moment. Once all of that BS is behind us, and no one can question whether JK is focused on being a senator and that he's not running for president or SoS or anything else, I just have a feeling that his love for the job, for the state and for the country, and the love that people in Massachusetts feel for him, are going to blossom (it's 4 hours later and I *still* haven't thought of a better synonym :) ) in a wonderful way. I'm sure there will always be people in this state who will whine that JK is "aloof" because they've never run into him at their local Dunkin' Donuts, but overall, things are going to be good. That's just my gut feeling, based on nothing other than my own hunches; people who've lived in MA longer than I have might see it totally differently. But even if I haven't spent a lot of years observing Massachusetts, I put in a lot of hours observing JK and the public interacting this summer, and this is what I sensed.

[MBS]

3. this is also my sense. He is in a good spot to do what he needs to do

for himself, for MA and for our country.

[karynnj]

5. I love how well your videos really did show that

love and familiarity. It was cool that many people in some of them just happened to be passing by - and so many seemed so happy to see him.

But in addition to those KOYC events, I really liked the long press conference that he did on the financial crisis. I get NYC TV and that is where a similar serious press conference would be shown by the NY and even NJ or CT Senators - there was none to my knowledge - though Schumer and Dodd easily could have. In a time of crisis - with a President who is neither trusted or capable of doing this, it was great that MA could here Kerry speak on these things.

But I think you are right about him blossoming, which I think it's a perfect word - especially as I think part of it is Kerry being allowed to open up and really suggest bold ideas. Also, I would hope at some point, he would have a friendly enough relationship with the Boston media that would allow him to always be the Kerry you captured when the media was not there. (I suspect that that light even be a loop - as he can be less on guard, he will appear friendlier - which may lead the media to be nicer.)

[BlueIris]

4. I predict great accomplishment for JK in '09.

:-)

[MBS]

6. yeah. : ) n/t