Yesterday I said it was Kerry's style. On Friday I said this:
"As the war drags on and the economy slides, it will get easier -it already has- for the rest of the Democratic contenders to speak out. The more timid candidates will have 'permission' to be impolite. This may not be good for the two who spoke first, who may become sacrificial lambs on the altar of consensus, but it's good for the Dems as a whole."

Radical outsiders have always played a part in mainstream politics. In this country that is their only importance beyond the academy (that's both our strength and our weakness.) It's a sign of the times that the role is being played now by a moderate whose only claim is to speak for common sense.