Here's a postcard from the campaign trail with the Democrats' John-John ticket. It is Friday, the day after John Kerry accepted the Democratic nomination. He and his vice presidential sidekick, John Edwards of Raleigh, are beginning a three-day bus trip across the nation's industrial heartland.

6 A.M.: More than 100 bleary-eyed reporters gather in a Boston hotel lobby. Seven and half years ago, I was the first reporter to interview Edwards about politics in his law office on Glenwood Avenue. Now I am just one of the pack.

7:48: "I'm longing for my head to hit a pillow," Kerry says. The two Johns, at Boston Harbor, are wearing the full Southern prep uniform -- blue blazers, khaki slacks and loafers. They must shop at Nowell's.

10: This is why people want to be president: There are no red lights. The cops wave anybody who gets in the way to the roadside. Exits are temporarily blocked. Forget nukes and Air Force One; real power is having your own private HOV lane.

10:30: I'm glad the motorcade is well-armed. Hartford, Conn., is a big insurance center, and Edwards made a fortune beating insurance companies. He ran against their HMOs when he was elected to the Senate in 1998. I half-expect insurance executives to ambush the convoy (the image that comes to mind is of those suited bad guys in the "Matrix" movies).

11:50: Near the Connecticut-New York border, about 50 people gather to greet the Democratic ticket at a rest area. Clumps of people stand all along the route to wave as the buses pass. They can't really see anything, but it's kind of touching.

12:30 P.M: The 30-vehicle convoy pulls into a Wendy's in Newburgh, N.Y., to celebrate John and Elizabeth Edwards' 27th anniversary. If I tried this with my wife, I'd be sleeping on the sofa. The Wendy's manager tries to make a "Where's the beef?" joke, but Edwards doesn't bite (if you don't remember the ad, you're probably younger than 30).

Two Marines are unhappy about Kerry's interrupting their lunch; they are Bush supporters and don't want to be quoted. Part of the entourage is actor Ben Affleck, who rates his own bus. "I just came out here to Wendy's, and John Kerry showed up," he quips. A bystander heckles him on his breakup with J-Lo. Those New Yorkers are tough.

3:45: "Oh, my God! You are so hot," squeals Amanda Davies, 17, at a rally in Scranton, Pa. No, she wasn't talking to Edwards, but to Affleck. The campaign's official musician seems to be Bruce Springsteen. Edwards' old theme song, John Mellencamp's "Small Town," is now rarely heard.

9:15: Kerry surveys the thousands of supporters gathered in Harrisburg and declares, "I can't tell you how gratified I am that so many people turned out for John and Elizabeth's anniversary." Kerry notes that he has been traveling with Affleck and Edwards and that Edwards was once named the nation's sexiest politician by People magazine. "I feel like that SAT question: Which one of these is different?" Edwards may be the warm-up act and Kerry the headliner, but it is Kerry who cracks the jokes.

11:45: I check into my hotel in Harrisburg. On Saturday, it's on to western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio.