Senator Splunge update

The Boston Globe give a “scouting report” on John Kerry. For someone who plays up his “courage” angle at every chance, Kerry appears hobbled by guarded rhetoric.

Here's a small example of Kerry's caution, chosen not because the matter is of great moment but precisely because it isn't. A standard Kerry trope is that those who survived Vietnam have a unique sense that every day is extra. But with the TV cameras rolling, this is how Kerry put it recently when keynoting a Vietnam veterans event in South Carolina: ''As all of you know, those of us who came from Vietnam, survivors, came back with, I think, a special gift that a lot of our fellow Americans don't necessarily -- though many do, but not automatically -- share: And that is the sense that . . . every day is extra.''

Now, why, exactly, would Kerry feel compelled to qualify that harmless blandishment? For fear of offending the Civilian Carpe Diem Caucus?

When another Bay Stater was running for President against a Bush, my old college roomie and I used to snicker at his bland and uncontroversial call for “Good jobs at good wages.” Kerry seems to be tiptoeing down the same path of saying nothing consequential at all.