This summer, I endured an utterly mediocre Cobb salad at a restaurant in my hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska. There wasn't enough bleu cheese in the salad, but I'm not going to hold a grudge against the owner. I'd still support Sen. Bob Kerrey for president.

"Kerrey's" is a traditional, family-style eatery. Very...Nebraskan. No nouvelle cuisine. No soft, chic pink neon lighting. This is the Corn Belt. We like juicy 100% real beef burgers and vintage Cornhusker football memora-bilia hung on the walls for ambience.

But Bob Kerrey shouldn't be judged by his dining establishments. The salad might have lacked pizazz, but Kerrey does not. He has charisma. He has glamour. He's good looking. When "Terms of Endearment" was filmed in Lincoln, Debra Winger, uh, moved into the, uh, Governor's Mansion. Guess who was governor.

But we like Kerrey's willingness to stand up for what he believes in. During the Gulf War, for example, Kerrey was one of the few senators who spoke out against the war. (He won a Medal of Honor in Vietnam, where he lost a leg as a Navy SEAL.)

No matter that Kerrey is a rare Democrat in a state swarming with Republicans. Nebraskans looked beyond party politics and focused more on character when they elected him as governor, then senator.

Kerrey might run. (He'll announce his decision at the end of this month.) But unfortunately, he won't win. His girl-friend gets a lot more press than he does east of the Platte River.

But I like him. Even if he does make a lousy salad.