Happy New Year to all!! I realize it's been quite a while since I've last been in touch with you here, but I've obviously been pretty busy these last few months. For starters, I've:

1. Addressed the South Carolina Jefferson Jackson Day Dinner (Dick Harpootlian, if you're reading, I'd like to tell you that "You Da Man!")
2. Addressed the DLC
3. Addressed the Congressional Black Caucus (As I'll be reminding you throughout the campaign, I was the first Senator to call for Trent Lott to step down as Senate Majority Leader)
4. Won re-election to the Senate by a landslide, with 81% of the vote
5. And, of course, I became the second Democrat to (un)officially throw my hat into the ring for our party's nomination for President of the United States by starting an exploratory committee.

Not to brag or anything, but I'm mopping up the competition in fundraising right now, and I frankly don't see anyone surpassing us in the long run. But it's going to be a long, vigorous, and vital campaign, and I look forward to discussing with my fellow Democrats and Americans our vision for the future of the country. It will certainly be bright if I am elected!

I suppose that's all for now. I'll try to be a little bit more dilligent about keeping in touch this year, but hopefully you'll understand if I'm not able to. Between stopping the Bush-Lott juggernaut's far-right agenda in the Senate and presenting the alternative Democratic agenda both in the Senate and in my campaign, (and not to mention dealing with petty little things like that ridiculous haircut story-not that I stayed up at night thinking about it or anything, but I have to say that it frustrates me a lot to see people trying to smear me for such superficial and petty reasons as how and by whom I have my hair cut. And then they throw in a little bit of class warfare-ism by implying that I'm out of touch because I spend $75 on my coif. But I haven't been able to get anything cheaper than that since I was at St. Paul's, frankly, and I'll be darned if my hair looks as anarchic as it did back then!!) I'll be plenty busy! I'll leave you with a picture of someone even more beautiful (and with even better hair!) than myself: my wife Teresa.

Woke up at 9:30 today. First thought: I just LOVE the state of Massachusetts!
Second thought: It's good when the Senate's not in session!

Looked in the mirror. Ran my fingers through the hair. I'm not only a good man: I'm pretty darned good-looking, too!
I'm so lucky to have my life, my wife, and not a lot of strife. (Don't worry, I'm not going to pull a Bulworth!) But enough about me. Let's get to the real focus of this blog: the people!! (I just looked in the mirror again. Still beautiful!)

Here's a good profile of me from the Boston Globe that talks about how I'm reaching out to the people in my home state. A couple of pet peeves: I get really angry whenever an article brings up that "richest man in the U.S. Senate" thing. I think it's not only an attempt by the media to reduce my populist appeal, but it's also a very negative personal attack that insinuates I married for the money. I suppose it's part of the price you pay for being a public servant, but that kind of thing just really seems out of line.

Second, as the article points out, I am a motorcycle afficionado and am known to ride Harleys now and then. (the new one is awesome! I picture myself as King of the Road when I'm out on it) I just don't like that Senator Campbell, my good friend and esteemed colleague--wait a minute, I'm not on the floor--actually, we're not really friends, and I still think he's a turncoat. Anyway, you hardly ever see a profile of Senator Campbell without a mention of his bolo ties and his Harleys, and he always gets this GREAT press for riding a bike. Fine by me, but when's the media going to show me some love for my love of Harleys? Nooooo, my "eccentricity" is always "John Kerry of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War." Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of my leadership with VVAW, but it's like I may as well just date my resume to 1973, because everything I've done since then is treated as an afterthought.

Okay, I'm done with that one. Well, I suppose that's all for my introduction to blogging. I hope you've enjoyed my ruminations, and stay tuned for my future adventures in the Blog world!