John Kerry's Long-Winded Withdrawl Announcment

Howard Kurtz on John Kerry's announcement to "drop out" of the 2008 presidential race:

It was the quintessential John Kerry.

There he was, making a Senate speech, after putting out word that he would not run in 2008, and all the cable news networks were taking him live.

Kerry began to talk. And talk.

He talked about Mesopotamia in the year 685, the tribal warfare, how people were beheaded. He trod a long, winding path to today's Iraq, then detoured to talk about Syria.

As he continued to speechify, CNN cut away, then MSNBC.

Kerry kept talking. He turned to Vietnam, then back to Iraq. MSNBC checked in again, then CNN. Would he now get to the point?

The on-screen headlines said that Kerry would announce his withdrawal, but he did not.

Finally, half an hour later, the Massachusetts senator, his voice breaking, disclosed that he would, in fact, not be a candidate for president in the next election.

There's more, I just posted the "funny because it's true" part.

Another good line (well, lines):

"The senator had worked hard to prepare for another run, logging more miles and spreading more money than any other Democrat in the last election cycle. But he found himself shunned by much of his party after joking shortly before the November elections that poor students would 'get stuck in Iraq' -- a comment that Kerry called a 'botched joke' but that revived memories of his 2004 verbal missteps."

Humor was not his strong suit.