Two potential Democratic Presidential candidates visit Iowa, say they’re not campaigning

Two potential presidential candidates stopped in eastern Iowa this weekend to help Iowa democrats raise campaign money. U-S Senator John Kerry headlined Governor Tom Vilsack’s fundraiser/picnic yesterday in Mount Pleasant. Many in the crowd, though, confused the Massachusetts Senator with Bob Kerrey, a former Nebraska Senator. John Kerry joked about the confusion. He says it’s inevitable as Bob Kerrey is in a neighboring state. John Kerry says he doesn’t mind the mix up.Others, like Margarette Mertens of Mount Pleasant, had no idea who Kerrey was, saying she’d never heard of him.Bill Bradley returned to Iowa City on Saturday to help legislators raise money. Bradley, who unsuccessfully challenged Al Gore last election, said the visit was not a kick-off for a 2004 campaign. Bradley says the trip is more about now and thanking people than it is about the future.Bradley said the nation’s democrat party is going in the wrong direction. He says the party has to give people a choice instead of saying “me too, but a little bit less” when the other party proposes something.A day later, Kerry rejected Bradley’s argument that democrats in Congress aren’t offering an alternative vision to President Bush’s. Kerry cites the issue of drilling in the Artic Refuge as an example, saying he stood up and threatened to filibuster if the issue comes up. Kerry calls that a stark difference from the stand taken by Republicans.