After the battle, Kerry climbs back up the hill

John Kerry returned to his default job in the Senate on Tuesday. The man who had hoped to be President is upbeat and optimistic and thrilled...

John Kerry returned to his default job in the Senate on Tuesday. The man who had hoped to be President is upbeat and optimistic and thrilled to be back—which we know because this is what he tells reporters who ask.

He turns up for a morning strategy meeting with his Democratic colleagues. He whispers something to Senator Pat Leahy in the doorway of the Old Senate Chamber room. He hugs Senators Joe Lieberman and Jon Corzine as the oak doors close behind him. This is how Kerry spends most of his back-to-work day: cloistered, avoiding any semblance of fuss.

It’s been two weeks since Kerry lost to George W. Bush. ‘‘The votes have not all been counted in New Mexico and Ohio,’’ says Kerry’s campaign and Senate spokesman David Wade, who is waiting for Kerry outside the strategy meeting. ‘‘And if you believe some of what you read on the Internet…” Wade is referring to the litany of conspiracy theories about voting irregularities. He says this while rolling his eyes. Message: Kerry is back at work.

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After the election, Kerry took consolation calls from Tony Blair and Ariel Sharon, among others. His Secret Service detail is gone. So is the massive staff and crowds. Kerry is, at best, the third-ranking fuss of the day—and that’s just in the Senate.

Kerry darts out of the Democratic strategy meeting and beelines up a private stairwell to his hideaway office. He will spend the next three hours there, do a smattering of TV interviews (asked about a 2008 run, he tells the Fox News affiliate, ‘‘It is so premature to be thinking about something that far down the road. What I’ve said is I’m not opening any doors, I’m not shutting any doors’’) and order Chinese food.”—LAT-WP

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