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.