An e-mail: “Yes, actually, I can think of two reasons:

“1) It’s another opportunity to bash Bush (any reason is a good one for Kerry).

“2) It’s a chance to pander to the Congressional Black Caucus and their boot-licking minions.

“Does he really need any other reasons?”

My response: I would think so. Kerry and his advisers aren’t stupid. They know that not all Bush-bashing, and certainly not all CBC-pandering, is equally helpful to them in a general election. This seems to be a fairly low-return way of doing those things.