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.