I dated Tessa in high school. She was wild and exciting (if a little unstable) and she knew just how to get to me. After it was all over, I met Stephanie. She was calm, smart and caring. At first it was great – we would stay in on weekends, talk and watch movies, study after school. But we exchanged ‘I love yous’ before we (at least I) meant it.

I used to support Howard Dean. When he pounded his fist and proclaimed himself ‘the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party’ last year, I felt something special.

Our summer romance and his fiery speeches brought me to a MeetUp or two. I joined the mailing lists. Even sent a few letters to undecided voters. But, like many Democrats, the charm wore off. After the flip-flops, too much ‘straight-talk’ (read: jackass comments), and the Confederate flag debacle I knew I needed to move on.

When I started with Stephanie my friends warned me I was on the rebound and shouldn’t be so quick to jump back in. Similarly, most Democrats have turned to John Kerry. After all, he seems to satisfy everything Dean lacked: experience and stability. Judging by the returns from the past weeks we’ve forgotten about using caution on the rebound.

Does anyone really ‘like’ Kerry? He just happened to be standing closest to Dean when we all went looking. Kerry’s speeches often make me miss Al Gore’s animated and fiery spirit. To pump up the crowd he tows an entourage of Ted Kennedy and former Sen. Max Cleland, a one-limbed Vietnam vet. As Slate’s William Saletan observed, ‘(Kerry) with four limbs was using one, (Cleland) with one limb was using four.’

The secret to President Bush’s popularity has less to do with issues and more with his appeal as ‘one of the guys.’ Even as a solid Democrat, I’d watch a football game with Bush. He seems like a cool guy, regardless of his politics. John Kerry is definitely not ‘one of the guys.’ Regardless of his politics, he’s stiff and out of touch. You could have a beer with Bill Clinton; John Kerry might offer to sip cognac with you while discussing opera by the fire.

Eventually, I realized that Stephanie was just at the right place at the right time, and in the end as boring as hell. I was on the rebound: lost, confused, just looking for a little stability. It took a month to come to my senses over her. Let’s hope the same goes for Kerry.

Jared Novack is presentation director of The Daily Orange, where his columns appear bi-annualy. E-mail him at jnovack@syr.edu

Published on August 30, 2004 at 12:00 pm