The American Spectator

Washington Prowler

(Page 2 of 2)

According to an adviser to Edwards, Edwards has been aware that the Kerry campaign has had someone shadowing him over the past month as he travels around the country to fundraisers. Sometimes the Kerry aide has even videotaped Edwards' appearances. "We're assuming that Kerry is doing this too with some of the other folks he is considering," says the adviser.

In fact Kerry's camp has been examining tape of some of the potential veep selections, including Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, Sen. Bob Graham, former Sen. Max Cleland and Gephardt.

p> TALKING TEDDY br> The Kerry campaign is looking for a way to ease Sen. Edward Kennedy out of their regular rotation of officially sanctioned surrogates after a series of embarrassing incidents involving the senior Massachusetts senator. /p>

First, Kennedy was caught by Boston reporters mocking Kerry at a private, supposedly closed-to-the-press fundraiser in Boston, where Kennedy was doing a poor imitation of Kerry begging Kennedy for help and support.

Then Kennedy and his Senate staff leaked word that Kennedy was being asked by Boston officials to help bail out the troubled Democratic convention in Boston, where local unions are protesting their lack of financial gain from the convention. "That leak was clearly intended to put Senator Kerry in his place. It didn't have to get out," says a Kerry adviser.

Finally, Kennedy gave an interview to a Boston magazine where he criticized the Pope for giving communion to former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet while American Catholic bishops threatened to withhold communion from Kerry.

"Kennedy is just getting a little too comfortable with talking on our behalf," says the Kerry adviser. "It's our fault for giving him so much leeway. Now we're paying the price. There is probably no way that we can take him completely off the surrogate list. It's not like we can really control him, but he's not going to be on our list of reliable surrogates down the road, that's for sure."

topics:
NATO, Unions