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I am beginning to think that Kerry was treated with so much deference by the (Dem) Senators because he was saying and doing exactly what they wanted him to do. In fact, what he had been paid to do.

Here is an excerpt from an earlier thread I put up on the subject of who paid for the Dewey Canyon rally--during which Kerry spoke before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee:

John Kerry's appearance in DC was financed by Democrat Party fundraisers.

From a quote from the book "Home to War" by Gerald Nicosia, pp. 104-105:

Even worse, the week before Dewey Canyon was to start, there was not a cent left in the VVAW treasury. John Kerry was certainly doing yeoman's service at fund-raising. He had given up his book contract with Random House in order to travel and speak throughout the country on behalf of VVAW; organizing, bringing in veterans, asking for donations -- working sometimes twenty hours a day. But when Phelan had trouble with the park permits, Kerry had to return to Washington to marshal a group of lawyers, and in the end Kerry negotiated many of the permits personally. This accomplished, he returned to the VVAW office, only to receive a phone call telling him that five thousand vets were waiting for their bus tickets to D.C., but no one knew where the money to purchase them would come from.
Kerry immediately got on the phone to some of the biggest Democratic Party fund-raisers in New York and set up a meeting. When it broke up, VVAW was $75,000 in the black, and busfare for at least a few hundred out-of-towners was assured.

Here is quote from the book "Winter Soldiers" by Richard Stacewicz, pg. 242:

According to an FBI memorandum from the Washington office dated April 13, 1971, "VVAW had received fifty thousand dollars from United States Senators McGovern and Hatfield, who... obtained the money from an unknown New York source." (footnote 36)
36. FBI teletype serial number 448092-71, April 13, 1971... FBI archives.

And this from the Boston Globe:

The protests were set for the week of April 20. Kerry spent some of his time at the Georgetown townhouse of his longtime friend George Butler, working the phones, trying to round up veterans. But the real problem was money. Kerry, who was not financially independent despite rumors to the contrary, was supposed to raise money to pay for buses that would transport the veterans.

He called his friend Walinsky, who had run unsuccessfully for New York attorney general and had excellent financial connections. Walinsky arranged a meeting of potential donors at the Seagram Building in New York City. Among those present were Seagram chief executive Edgar M. Bronfman Sr. and about 20 other New York businessmen who opposed the war. Kerry delivered a low-key speech about the importance of having veterans attend the protest. Then the businessmen were each asked to stand and declare how much they would contribute.

"We raised probably $50,000," Walinsky recalled. "It took an hour."
http://www.boston.com/globe/nation/packages/kerry/061703.shtml

Did Democrat Fat Cats Make John Kerry Famous? [Including Seagram's Bronfman]