Reflection on the Democratic Convention

Recall that during the Democratic National Convention, Senator Daschle ducked out early to avoid being seen with John Kerry, despite his protestations to the contrary:

But even Mr. Daschle was heading out early and would not be on hand for Senator John Kerry's acceptance speech on Thursday, though he dismissed any idea that he was doing so to avoid too close a connection with Mr. Kerry. ''He is a dear friend,'' said Mr. Daschle, who said he would probably draw more attention back home because of his plans to hold a party to celebrate Mr. Kerry. ''I am going to call a lot of friends and fellow South Dakotans to watch the speech together.''

The passage above is excerpted from a July 27 story in the New York Times headlined "Some Candidates Seek the Convention Limelight, but Others Steer Clear."

Some investigation lends credibility to the notion that Daschle ducked out of the convention at the last minute to avoid being too closely associated with Kerry. A look at the Boston Globe's schedule of convention events for Thursday, July 27 (the day of Kerry's acceptance of the nomination) shows that a party was scheduled to be hosted by Tom Daschle at the Capital Grille restaurant in Boston that night between 5PM and 7PM. Daschle, of course, had gotten the hell out of Dodge by then. Maybe Tom Daschle's double showed up for that one.

It's interesting to note that only a few days later, Daschle was in the Hamptons raising cash for his campaign, though the New York Times, in an August 8th story headlined "The Democrats' ATM," inaccurately reported that he had swooped in directly from Boston after the convention:

Many politicians and well-heeled donors worked the Hamptons into their schedules after the Democratic National Convention, making South Fork pit stops on their way from Boston. Messrs. Daschle, Corzine and Clark were in this group.

Wrong. Daschle had arrived in the Hamptons from Boston by way of South Dakota.

On Wednesday, July 26 Daschle was honored at the Anthem night club by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.

Here endeth the reflection.