That Kerry fella?

He's running in '08.

For his Senate seat.

"I've concluded this isn't the time for me to mount a presidential campaign," Kerry said in a speech on the Senate floor.

"It is the time to put my energy to work as part of the majority in the Senate to do all I can to end this war," he said. "What happens here in the next two years may irrevocably shape or terribly distort the administration of whichever candidate is elected president."

Speculation about the motivations for Kerry's decision can be found most anywhere, but I suspect is has as much to do with the phrase "part of the majority in the Senate" as anything. It's a fragile majority now, but one that's expected to get even stronger with the class of '08. Kerry's certainly been a more aggressive legislator since his presidential run, but much of his effort has been written off as posturing for another race.

With those considerations set aside, a meaningful committee chairmanship to work with and a record as one of the best investigators in the body, he's well positioned to assume a well-earned role as a senior statesman on the Senate floor, a role that may prove more rewarding, both personally and for the nation as a whole, than a Presidency consumed by recovering from the debacle of Iraq and the ever-expanding Bush deficits might be.

Of course, the fact that so many Democrats have chosen to become a hallelujah chorus every time Republican operatives have set out to smear him had to be a factor in Kerry's mind, and it was one of the principle reasons I haven't been leading the cheers for another run. While I still believe he's more qualified in a number of respects than any of the names currently in play, asking John Kerry to make another run for the White House is akin to asking a GI to undertake another tour of Iraq, especially since primary season promises to be as much a meat grinder as the general election campaign. For instance, the Clinton camp, deprived of Dick Morris's guidance in the realm of triangulation, seems to be taking a page from the Karl Rove's politics of attack and insinuation early on with an opening salvo from her campaign aimed at Edwards and Obama.

Although we're already getting horse race coverage, I don't really see the field as either sorted or solid at this point. We're probably six months out, at least, from a clear view of the true front-runners and also-rans. I'm intrigued by a couple folks already in, and interested in at least a couple more who aren't. And relieved, in an admittedly bittersweet way, that they won't have that Kerry fella to kick around anymore.