Date Dean, Marry Kerry

I heard a Kerry supporter talking about this now legendary bumpersticker, DATE DEAN MARRY KERRY, on a radio program yesterday. If the slogan means Dean is too hot to handle and Kerry is the more serious long-term choice, may I remind you that one in two marriages end in divorce.

There is one thing I like about the phrase -- the subliminal suggestion that this nominating process is a lot like that year of engagement before marriage -- in that respect, the notion is actually not too far off. A lot can happen during that year. I still think a lot can happen here.

As for marrying Kerry, are we still marrying someone our parents think we should marry? An inside-the-beltway kinda guy? Is it politics as usual? Can he satisfy us at the breakfast table AND in the bedroom? Or is it time to admit we need all the passion and fire a suitor can summon to help us play house in the White House?

I am reminded of Dustin Hoffman at the back of the church in The Graduate. Maybe we'll all be SHRIEKING by the time we hear the wedding march play.

I worry if we date Dean and marry Kerry, we'll all be longing for that passionate patriot on our wedding night.