Weekend wrap-up is overdue,

and for that I apologize. This is what I have to cover:

1. Thursday evening conference call with John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry
2. Saturday afternoon This Moment on Earth book signing in Cambridge.
3. Chris Dodd facing off against Sam Brownback at Boston College Monday night.

If you've been following the Kerrys' book tour at all, you are by now pretty well acquainted with the stories they tell in the book about individual citizens who are making a difference in the environment of this country. What you perhaps aren't as well versed in is the passion and breadth of knowledge both bring to the subject, which they communicate forcefully to their audience.

During the Q&A, questions were answered so thoroughly that the time melted away, and most of the crowd had formed a book-signing line down one side of the church by the time the last question was asked. It turned out to be the dreaded "You promised to count every vote" question. John Kerry answered with such thoroughness and finality that I wish I had an audio recording of his response. The crowd listened with rapt attention.

I'm still waiting for a 2008 presidential candidate who comes close to equalling Kerry's command of the facts, his good humor, his dignity and his respect for his fellow citizens. And that's before adding in Teresa's wit, warmth and intelligence. They are a powerhouse team, and, so far leave everyone currently running in the dust.

Seen at the Cambridge reading: Ned Lamont, teaching this semester at the Kennedy School Institute of Politics, who came by to show his gratitude for everything John Kerry did for him during last fall's election.