THE CAGED HAMSTER CHRONICLES

John Kerry: Restlessly On the Road: Reserved Candidate Seeks His Comfort Level (Lois Romano, Washington Post, 7/12/04)

The protective "bubble" of a presidential campaign is always tedium endured by edgy, ego-driven men who yearn to back-slap and interact. They are confined to the front cabin of a jet for hours on end, hustled from tarmacs into waiting Suburbans and whooshed to underground parking garages. They face crowds they rarely get to meet. The way in which the candidates adjust and cope has long provided a window into their personalities.

For Kerry, independent by nature, the transition from a largely unfettered politician to cloistered nominee has seemed slow and painful, as he tries to find a comfort level both on the road, and in his public persona. His New England reserved, almost laconic demeanor on the trail has worried some Democrats. But his outward demeanor belies a restlessness that has only been exacerbated with the restrictions, according to those close to the presidential candidate.

He has dealt with his rarified confinement by designing his own freedoms and his traveling style -- from a well-utilized cell phone out of the reach of staff, to a virtual traveling gym, to the people he chooses -- or doesn't choose -- to invite on his chartered Boeing 757. . . .

A zealous athlete and outdoorsman who rides an $8,000 custom Serotta Ottrott bicycle and thinks nothing of wind surfing, Kerry, 60, has found precious little time to stretch his legs. No longer can he wander off solo for a 30-mile bike ride. He has repeatedly asked that time be built into the schedule to allow him to exercise outside -- but the time, aides say, simply evaporates.

Undaunted, he often tries to just steal it back. In Chicago this month, he started to ascend the stairs of his plane after a speech, and then turned on his heels, demanded his football and proceeded to toss the ball with staff -- an increasingly familiar scene for those looking out the windows waiting to depart. "I really need some fresh air," he tells aides on a daily basis.

One annoying thing about the left is that when they lose an election, they always blame their messenger rather than their message. This time, there is the chance that, because they have made their message so extreme, they might realize that the American people aren't just rejecting John Kerry but the left as well. This will not work if John Kerry snaps before the campaign is over, so I hope he doesn't. I'm a little worried, therefore, that the Washington Post does seem to be trying to send the message that John Kerry might snap like a dry twig.

Posted by David Cohen at July 12, 2004 12:06 PM