February 1, 2005 -- THE K&K boys — Ted Kennedy and John Kerry — find themselves even further out in left field than usual when it comes to Sunday´s extraordinarily successful elections in Iraq.

Most Democrats were smart enough to appreciate (publicly, at least) that the waves of jubilant Iraqis who defied the terrorists to vote represented a significant political challenge.

Of course, few Dems would admit that the election effectively justified President Bush´s policies — particularly, the decision to topple Saddam in the first place. Most, in fact, followed the lead of their Senate chief, Harry Reid of Nevada, who yesterday hailed the vote, but called on Bush to provide, in his State of the Union Address tomorrow night, "an exit strategy so that we know what victory is and how we can get there; so that we know what we need to do and so that we know when the job is done."

That stance is strategically problematic: Reid is basically demanding that the president set an expiration date for Operation Iraqi Freedom — a gift to the terrorists. But Reid´s tack is high statesmanship compared to what issued from Kerry and Kennedy.

Kerry, in his first broadcast interview since losing last November, suggested that there was something illegitimate about the election because the turnout in some areas wasn´t even larger.

And, he warned, "no one in the United States should overhype this election."

Which makes you wonder just what — short of the kind of craven U.S. bugout he prescribed for Vietnam — Kerry would deem an important development. (Copyright 2005 NYP Holdings, Inc. 02/01/05)