Things to Warm & Chill the Heart Simultaneously

So having conceded the election too quickly, with all kinds of ballot irregularities still coming to light in Ohio and Florida, John Kerry breaks it in the WashPost this a.m. that he might just run for president again. Is it not enough, John, that you embraced defeat as though it were a life-raft? You intend to punish us all over again with another go-nowhere campaign? Puh-lese!

But he's got this huge fund-raising list, you say. "One well-known Democratic operative who worked with the Kerry campaign said opposition to Bush, not excitement about Kerry, was behind the senator's fundraising success. 'If he thinks he's going to capitalize on that going forward, he's in for a surprise,' said the operative, who spoke on the condition of anonymity."

Get back in the Senate and act like a Democrat, John, and THEN we'll talk.

Meanwhile, Howard Dean, whose Democratic instincts and willingness to fight for them are not in doubt, is floating the notion that he might be interested in taking over the McAuliffe job at the Democratic National Committee, a move that would fire up the base out here. The chairman is elected by roughly 240 members of the national committee, and we're sure there's hardly ever any politics involved in who gets the job. The Clintons chose McAuliffe. Maybe Democrats could choose Dean. Let 'im clean house, we say.