The Quiet Man . . .

Unlike Richard at Tikun Olam-תקון עולם: Make the World a Better Place I'm okay with Kerry's quietism at this point in the game. For one thing, this post at Needlenose (via Atrios) reminds me to be skeptical about the source of Nagourney's talking points. For another, as I've already said, Kerry's reserve has gives space for other things to grow: for states like Oregon and Alaska to boost Kucinich's profile (who, btw, has just sent an audio postcard from Alabama that I'll be posting soon); for Dean's DFA group to get traction; even for Nader to draw backup attention to Dennis' progressive anti-war positions. All sorts of things. I think that, so far, Kerry's low-key campaign style and sonorous pronouncements have been effective against BushRove's fan-the-flames reactionary strategies; hopefully it has helped dialed down the din to a point where voters can at least hear themselves think.

Besides, I sometimes think Kerry's apparent lack of aggressiveness on the stump doesn't mean seriously aggressive moves arent' being made behind the scenes. Remember how a Kerry campaign official warned BushCo that if they started playing dirty, "then everything's on the table. Everything"? Well, Kerry's been in the Senate a long time and his knowledge about "everything" (like BCCI, international money-laundering, weapons deals, the drug trade, various intelligence linkages, etc.) runs pretty deep. I wouldn't be surprised if some of that knowledge is having its effect on events right now . . .