No sooner was it announced that Boston will be placed in gridlock during the four days of the Democratic convention in late July than John Kerry said he may not even accept the nomination in Boston – which would mean millions of people in the metropolitan area sorely inconvenienced, and millions of dollars lost to the local economy, for nothing.

They've just opened a brand-new convention center in South Boston that wouldn't require shutting down the transportation hub of the Hub, but it was rejected as a venue because of poor sight lines for TV. But if no nomination is in the offing at the Fleet Center, TV won't be coming, anyway.

Nothing like taking the home-state electoral votes so thoroughly for granted that you can stiff the citizenry from Boston to the Merrimack Valley with impunity. (Poor old Mayor Menino is probably about ready to take the gas pipe.)

Not for nothing has John F Kerry acquired the nickname of JFK – Just For Kerry.

Meantime, if you're the GOP, where do you go looking for this year's Dukakis-in-a-Tank or Willie Horton footage – the recent Screw Ball crowds outside the marriage license offices in Massachusetts, or the motorists sitting in traffic jams on any road leading into Boston in late July?

As for the Dems: If the convention shapes up to be the dog's breakfast it seems likely to be, you have to wonder what kind of advertisement it will be for ceding the White House to its architects. After crashing Boston, they want the keys to the Middle East?

Listen: "Boston Skuffle" by Jabbo Smith's Rhythm Aces