The American Spectator

p> CAN’T BUY ME LOVE br> With Sen. John Kerry trailing badly in polls in Iowa and New Hampshire, he has been telling supporters and the media that polls don’t mean anything. /p>

Apparently neither do the voters in New Hampshire or the caucusers in Iowa. Facing the prospect of finishing third in Iowa and a distant second or perhaps third if he keeps sliding in the Granite State, Kerry is spending almost no time in either. Instead, he seems focused on raising more money.

Kerry has plans to travel to Boston, New York, Florida and California for fundraisers in the coming days. In that time he will stop off in New Hampshire … for another fundraiser. In California, Kerry has at least four different events planned, all involving fundraising.

According to a Kerry campaign adviser in Washington, there are discussions about getting Kerry out and about with voters in many of the locales he will be visiting. “But the main focus is on fundraising. He will have plenty of time to meet voters and talk about his ideas about getting America back on course, once he is the party nominee,” said the on-message adviser.

p> A DASCHLE OF INTEGRITY br> Democrats last week grew angry — again — at Senate minority leader Tom Daschle for his decision to let two Bush nominees slip through committee holds for a full vote of the Senate. Both nominees were confirmed. The nominees, both for the Department of Homeland Security, had been blocked by Democrats, along with a number of judicial and executive branch nominations. /p>