The American Spectator

Washington Prowler

p> BEAR ANY BURDEN br> Apparently Sen. John Kerry cares enough about what Sen. Ted Kennedy thinks of him that the presumptive presidential candidate called Kennedy to inform him that he would not cross the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association picket line at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Boston on Monday. /p>

Kerry was scheduled to speak at the conference, but abruptly pulled out. While a Kennedy Senate staffer said that the senior senator appreciated the courtesy call, the two men remain cool.

"Kerry should have been speaking to us about the problems in Boston weeks ago," says the Kennedy staffer. "One good move in support of organized labor does not make up for weeks of ignoring the issues."

While Kerry might have won a point with Kennedy, he lost big time with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, who got hung out by Kerry's abrupt exit. In fact, some Democrats in Boston say Menino may rue the day he got involved with Kerry.

"The Democratic Convention is a disaster. The city will not end up making the kind of money Menino was promising a year ago. Business is going to suffer. The union contracts have placed him in a terrible position and Kerry had done nothing to help him," says a Boston-based Democratic political activist.

p> KEAN INTEREST br> Some Democratic advisers to Sen.

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Bill Clinton, Business, Books, NATO