Senate source identifies possible explanation for francophiliac junior senator leaving comfy Davos pillows and flinging his windsurfing muscles at dreary Washington (he arrives Dulles noontime) in winter to take charge of filibuster fight on Alito.

Westchester mom and junior senator from New York Clinton has quit the left in her latest version of Republican lite — howls of body armor, Amtrak armored cars, nuke Iran now, billions for defense not one cent for tribulations.

This leaves Lefty without a dance partner in the run-up to the primaries in ’08. So Kerry can grab Lefty’s hand, whisper and grin, and Lefty (overweight, shy, vitriolic, but a cup of sugar underneath the Michael Moore fashion line) will pause and smile at Kerry.

Is it enough for Kerry to get an edge in Iowa and New Hampshire? Speculation into the miracle of the Dem logic is not my skill set.