Daschle's birthday bash at the Four Seasons

I missed this "squib" from the WaPo's Richard Leiby a few weeks ago about Senator Daschle's birthday bash at the Four Seasons in New York:

He doesn't turn 57 until Thursday, but Tom Daschle, who could use some bucking up after his election loss, got to celebrate his birthday a week early when friends and family threw him a surprise party in New York. Among those toasting the defeated Senate minority leader at the Four Seasons restaurant Thursday night were his Senate pals John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Jon Corzine, Chuck Schumer and Byron Dorgan. Two businessmen and loyal Dem fundraisers hosted the event: Orin Kramer and Leo Hindery, who is hoping to replace Terry McAuliffe as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. In lieu of a birthday cake, we're told, the 40 revelers enjoyed a mini-mountain of pink cotton candy served on a platter.

It's interesting to note that Daschle is once again cozying up to the likes of Kerry and Clinton after spending the campaign season distancing himself from these two.  There's also the following report given to the WaPo from a man on the scene at the Four Seasons:

New York, N.Y.: I thought you may enjoy this fun little tidbit.

Last Thursday several people from my office went to the Four Season's Restaurant Bar for drinks after work. Little did we know that the Democrats were having a party in honor of Tom Daschle that evening. Saw Daschle make his way to the party and most likely several other Dems (they looked like politicians, as opposed to business people) but I couldn't pick them out.

The "highlight" of the evening is when John Kerry showed up. Most in my office are hardcore Democrats, so they applauded as he came up the stairs (it's an open stairway) with his two secret service agents. He stopped shook hands and briefly chatted with the people from my office. One woman commented to him that he had done such a good job during the election. He responded by saying (something to the effect of) "Obviously, not good enough."

After he left another woman in my office commented that he had nice hair. About 20 minutes later, Kerry left the party stopped and said goodbye and made his way down the stairs, when the woman who commented on his hair said rather loudly, "I love your hair!" Kerry stopped, took a step back up the stairs looked up raised both arms in the air and said "Thank you" and went on his way.

He seemed very nice and made the night for several people in my office (plus we spotted Spike Lee).

AP: Kerry Association Hurting Daschle

The AP has a story headlined "Kerry Association Hurting Some Democrats." Excerpt:

Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle hugged President Bush from one end of South Dakota to the other this summer. In his own campaign commercials.

The brief embrace might seem an odd claim on re-election for the man Republicans depict as obstructionist-in-chief for the president's congressional agenda. But Daschle is one of several candidates with a common political problem as Democrats nurse fragile hopes of gaining Senate control this fall.

From the South to South Dakota and Alaska, they are running in areas where Bush is popular - and Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry not so much....

South Dakota holds the marquee Senate race of the campaign, and polls show a close race between Daschle and former GOP Rep. John Thune in a state that Bush carried by 22 percentage points in 2000.

The hug - two or three seconds in length - is a videotaped image of the embrace Daschle gave Bush when the president spoke to Congress shortly after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.

Daschle's spokesman, Dan Pfeiffer, said the ad's message is that he "will work with the president when the president is right but oppose him when he is wrong." Daschle's latest commercial criticizes the administration for failing to provide adequate drought relief, while faulting Thune for not standing up to Bush on the issue.

The Republican Party demanded unsuccessfully that Daschle stop airing the ad, arguing it left a false impression.

Thune's campaign manager, Dick Wadhams, says Daschle "is running from the arms of Michael Moore to the arms of George Bush," referring to the liberal filmmaker whose name was heartily booed at the Republican National Convention.

No, Wadhams was referring to Daschle attending the premiere of Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" and the subsequent furor over the report in Time magazine that Tom Daschle hugged Michael Moore there.

Here's a picture of Daschle eagerly rushing to get to the premiere of "Fahrenheit 9/11," ticket in hand.

The Reuters picture below was taken March 11, 2004, at the conclusion of a press conference in which John Kerry refused to apologize for calling President Bush and his advisers “the most crooked ... lying group I’ve ever seen.” Tom Daschle didn't take the opportunity to decry the "startling meanness" of Kerry's comment, and instead shook hands with Kerry and mugged for the cameras.

Daschle winks, Kerry nods

The Argus Leader's Mike Madden is reporting a story headlined "Kerry camp says Daschle ad is fine" regarding Daschle's controversial ad showing him hugging President Bush. For a refresher on how Kerry and Daschle really feel about President Bush, recall the following photograph taken last spring:

This Reuters picture was taken March 11, 2004, at the conclusion of a press conference in which John Kerry refused to apologize for calling President Bush and his advisers “the most crooked ... lying group I’ve ever seen.” Tom Daschle didn't take the opportunity to decry the "startling meanness" of Kerry's comment, and instead shook hands with Kerry and mugged for the cameras.

Daschle's early exit "raised eyebrows"

The Washington Post has a piece headlined "South Dakota's Allure Tops Boston's." Excerpt:

Daschle will speak at the convention in Boston on its second day, July 27, then return to South Dakota late the next day, 24 hours before Kerry delivers his acceptance speech at the gathering's finale. Daschle's schedule, reported yesterday by Roll Call, raised some eyebrows among congressional Democrats.

Noting that Daschle faces a tough reelection challenge from Republican John Thune, who often ties him to the Democratic Party's most liberal figures, they wondered if the senator wanted to avoid posing on the podium for the big balloon drop alongside Kerry, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (Mass.) and others.

Even congressional Democrats are saying Daschle is distancing himself from Kerry.

Does this mean there's no "post-convention" party?

In another indication that Senator Daschle is trying to distance himself from John Kerry by leaving the convention early, note that a party was scheduled to be held at the end of the convention in Tom Daschle's honor, according to a recent report in the Chicago Sun-Times:

The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States is throwing a post-convention party at a club near the Fleet Center, where the convention is being held, to honor Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.)

It looks like Daschle made a last-minute decision here.

AP: Daschle to forego Demo convention finale

The AP's Dennis Gale has a piece headlined "Daschle to forego Demo convention finale." Excerpt:

Tom Daschle, leader of the Democrats in the U.S. Senate, won't be in Boston when presumptive presidential nominee John Kerry addresses his party's convention.

Daschle will be at the convention earlier in the week but plans to campaign for re-election in South Dakota later that week. The convention starts July 26 at Boston's Fleet Center.

"I thought it would be fun to watch John Kerry speak from South Dakota with South Dakotans," Daschle said Thursday.

That's the reason Daschle is giving for skipping the finale, but DVT notes a report from the National Journal's Hotline that indicates the real reason.

UPDATE: This is strange behavior for a man who is a co-chair of the convention.

Daschle distancing himself from Kerry?

DVT notes a report in the Capitol Hill publication Roll Call today headlined "Members Fill DNC Roster" which begins:

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle is leaving the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday night to return to South Dakota to campaign for his re-election bid, forcing him to miss Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry’s acceptance speech.

Right. I think it's more likely that Daschle can't afford to have pictures like the one below jittering on thousands of South Dakota television screens.

This Reuters picture was taken March 11, 2004, at the conclusion of a press conference in which John Kerry refused to apologize for calling President Bush and his advisors “the most crooked ... lying group I’ve ever seen.” Tom Daschle didn't take the opportunity to decry the "startling meanness" of Kerry's comment, and instead shook hands with Kerry and mugged for the cameras.

Daschle for Vice President?

Did you know that Tom Daschle is on the long list of those being considered by John Kerry to be his running mate? The National Journal's "Hotline" reported this on June 23. Obviously, that's not going to happen, as a state law would require Daschle to give up his Senate seat in the unlikely event that Kerry would offer him the job.

Will Daschle endorse Kerry here in SD?

The Washington Times has a piece today by Bill Sammon headlined "Kerry's liberalism a weapon for Bush." Excerpt:

President Bush's re-election campaign has begun a concerted effort to divide the Democratic Party by forcing its congressional candidates to either embrace or reject Sen. John Kerry's liberalism....

[Bush campaign manager Ken] Mehlman suggested that the strategy has the potential to split the Democratic Party along ideological fault lines.

"The way that Democrats are able to get elected in states like Louisiana and South Dakota and Georgia and North Carolina and South Carolina is by running as Louisiana or South Dakota or North Carolina Democrats, not as liberal Democrats from Washington," he said.

"And the problem that the Democrat candidates are going to have is they're going to have to choose between either the John Kerry Democrat Party, which does not represent the values and interests of the people at home, or representing the values and interests of the people at home, which means you're not standing at a lot of podiums with John Kerry," he added.

But one recent prominent race suggests that Democrats can win in conservative-leaning states if they do wash their hands of Mr. Kerry.

Democrat Stephanie Herseth, who did not invite Mr. Kerry to campaign for her, won the June 1 South Dakota special House election against Republican Larry Diedrich, who enjoyed campaign visits by Vice President Dick Cheney and first lady Laura Bush.

Note that Tom Daschle is running internet blog ads (an image of which can be seen nearby) on blogs unlikely to be seen by a majority of South Dakotans which show him side by side with Kerry.

By contrast, at home here in South Dakota Tom Daschle boasts of supporting President Bush 75% of the time. Also, Daschle doesn't run any ads here in South Dakota showing him side by side with Kerry

Then there's also the Reuters picture seen below, taken March 11, 2004, at the conclusion of a press conference in which John Kerry refused to apologize for calling President Bush and his advisors “the most crooked ... lying group I’ve ever seen.”

Letter of the day

D. Elliot Apland of Sioux Falls has an excellent letter-to-the-editor published in today's Argus Leader. Excerpt:

Voting records speak for themselves, and I hope you will study the voting record of Tom Daschle. I doubt John Kerry will carry this state in the election, so take note that John Kerry and Tom Daschle's voting records have a strong parallel.

Well said.

UPDATE: This Reuters photo was taken March 11, at the conclusion of a press conference in which John Kerry said he stood by his comments referring to President Bush and his advisers as “the most crooked ... lying group I’ve ever seen.” What was that again about Tom Daschle decrying the "startling meanness" in politics?

Daschle tries to evade Kerry, Byrd

This photo was taken on March 11, 2004.

UPDATE: Speaking of Senator Daschle and Senator Byrd, see the latest post at Sibby Online about George McGovern's announcement kicking off his 1980 campaign in Mitchell. Besides Daschle and Byrd, David Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters, was also on the scene that day.

Daschle and Kerry

This Reuters photo was taken March 11, at the conclusion of a press conference in which John Kerry said he stood by his comments referring to President Bush and his advisers as “the most crooked ... lying group I’ve ever seen.”

What was that again about Tom Daschle supporting President Bush 75% of the time?

You can read the AP story regarding John Kerry's calumny HERE, where you can also find the photo below: