Jonathan Alter: Another Mean Girl?

OLBERMANN: (on McCain) Well, that would be different. But not different from his other shifts towards the far right, like suggesting that more troops in Iraq may be the answer there, and, just before the past election, siding with the deliberate misinterpretation of Senator John Kerry‘s joke about President Bush.

Let‘s call in “Newsweek”‘s senior editor, MSNBC political analyst Jonathan Alter.

Thanks again for your time tonight, Jon...

...OLBERMANN: Sticking in Massachusetts, Senator John Kerry did some positioning of his own yesterday. He said the botched joke about President Bush won‘t hurt him, quote, “in the least” relative to 2008. He was on with Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday,” and everything but the last question was about that joke that is now three weeks old.

What does that tell us, one, that—is Kerry seen as some sort of easy target by the right, or some sort of threat by the right, that they would still be attacking him? And does he seriously think of himself as a presidential candidate for 2008?

ALTER: Well, he‘s clearly not seen as a threat by the right. Punching bag would be more like it. You know, they did a good job of Swiftboating him last time out, and it‘s easy, it‘s an easy hit for them.

The bigger question is with the Democrats. I mean, I just don‘t see, and I respect Senator Kerry, but I just don‘t see an appetite out there for him within the Democratic Party this time. You don‘t get a second chance, especially when a lot of people think you blew it the first time.

So, you know, he‘s done a lot for his party, but he could probably do more if he stood down, faced reality, and figured out who within the party he thinks is best capable of carrying forward the mantle the next time.