NEWS SUMMARY

ABC News proudly presents -- the next generation in Internet political news.

Imagine if there were a Web site where, at a glance, you could find out what was going on right that minute in the world of politics -- anytime.

A Web page for political insiders and those who like to watch them.

A site that would track all the latest print, cable, and broadcast media, plus provide the kind of original reporting you have come to expect from The Note, and the earliest heads-up possible from the campaigns and interest groups about what they were getting ready to launch.

Imagine the site had eye-catching headlines and short items with all the latest stuff -- and links to more information.

And imagine it had the sensibility, connections, and humor of The Note -- and the journalistic reputation and resources of ABC News.

Imagine no more.

During the political workday, everyone -- from Bill Clinton, to Rick Berke, to Ken Mehlman -- asks the same question of everyone else: "What's goin' on?"

Now, all in one place on ABCNews.com's Noted Now (http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/), the resources of the ABC News Political Unit will bring you everything you need to know -- not once a day, as with the regular The Note -- but all the time throughout the day -- constantly updated.

From White House gaggles, to about-to-drop opposition research hits, to pending policy and personnel announcements, to new TV ads, to the latest soundbites, Dow movements, and anything else that can affect the 2004 elections -- it will all be regularly updated on Noted Now.

Some of you are currently using a certain other Web site as your homepage because you are under the misguided impression that it is the best place for BREAKING news and DEVELOPING stories that are IMPACTING now.

But given that elsewhere the focus is often entertainment news or earthquakes (geological ones, not geopolitical ones), we bet that a lot of you in this presidential year would like a one-stop shopping place to go to get all the information on the election -- faster than the AP (Sorry, Fournier.), more colorful than cable, and more direct than calling Howard Fineman.

The Note itself will still be there, as your ultimate morning must-read, but throughout the day, you'll now have the companion Noted Now to keep you refreshed.

Note to our sources: this is going to be the place where you can reach all sorts of political journalists and others in the game -- fast and efficiently. So let the leaking and pitching commence right now.

It's The Note and it's NOW!!! Go check out Noted Now, and make it your homepage today. (LINK).

President Bush is in Crawford, Texas today. He does not have any public events on his schedule, but is planning to have a phone conversation with Prime Minister Tony Blair, as well as a video conference call with the National Security Council.

Sen. Kerry is in Washington, D.C. today. His schedule includes two closed meetings with unions in addition to a speech on the economy at Georgetown University. He attends a gala reception fundraiser tonight -- to keep piling up the dough.

ABC News Vote 2004: the Kerry budget plan:

We don't know if the cable nets will dip in or take all of the Kerry budget speech, but we do know that Iraq news probably means minimal breakthrough.

Kerry is expected to speak in "some detail" about specific spending cuts he would make to move towards fiscal discipline.

A Kerry aide tells The Note that talking about Iraq today will be "unavoidable," as the Senator plans a round of cable interviews after his speech.

The campaign knows it can't control world events (duh) and is resigned to playing both issues out today.

As a result of the "ballooning federal deficit" John Kerry told reporters yesterday that he would have to "scale back some of the domestic proposals he made during the Democratic primary fight," write the New York Times' Seelye and Lewis. Said Kerry, "'If I have to cut back on a program in order to reduce the deficit in half in four years, I will do that.'" Note that just before his speech today on jobs and the deficit, "the Bush campaign has scheduled Donald L. Evans, the commerce secretary, to critique Mr. Kerry's budget proposals." LINK

ABC News Vote 2004: Polls, polls, polls, let's all catch our breath:

Notwithstanding the fact that the solons of both campaigns don't put too much stock in the day-to-day Gallup offerings this far out, the dominant media zeitgeist still holds that the Bush assault ($40 million in ads, many of them contrast) was intended to "define" Kerry and "drive up his negatives," and largely succeeded, because Kerry didn't respond in kind and instead decided to go on a ski vacation.

Recall how Adam Nagourney and Dan Balz framed that story for the world.

Reported Balz on 3/31: "Since the end of the Democratic primaries, attacks on John F. Kerry by President Bush and Vice President Cheney, backed by millions of dollars in negative ads, have wiped out the narrow lead Kerry enjoyed at the beginning of the month and damaged his public image."

Reported Nagourney (and Wilgoren) on 4/1: "Some Democrats said that should Mr. Kerry lose in November, he might well remember this month as the time when he seriously undermined his hopes of defeating Mr. Bush. A few invoked one of Mr. Kerry's least-liked comparisons, noting how another Massachusetts Democrat who ran for president, Michael S. Dukakis, stuck close to home in August 1988, in what turned out to be a foolish strategic move in his campaign against Mr. Bush's father."

Some of the polling did show a shift in Kerry's negatives, but nothing too significant that almost certainly can't be undone. And it is true that Kerry's national poll numbers have declined a bit from their nomination season highs.

But at this point, there's very little evidence that Kerry has suffered in the aggregate of national polls or in swing state polls -- assuming that the nation remains stuck at equilibrium 50 to 50, which is where it seems to be. Kerry has a nice lead in some key states, trails a little in others, and ties Bush in yet others.

This is a point the Kerry campaign has begun to aggressively push, as coverage of the zeitgeist reinforces that worldview itself -- if reporters believe Kerry has been damaged, they'll report from a starting point that he's damaged.

We took the average of major polls conducted between the last week in March and today -- (Zogby, CBS, Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Fox News, Quinnipiac, CNN) Kerry sits at 46.6 percent, Bush sits at 46.25 percent. And Adam and Dan said it was so.

We recall the "Inside Politics" segment from last Thursday, wherein Bill Schneider reported that he'd received a phone call from Karl Rove, who allegedly urged the Political Professor to not make too much of the Notion that the Bush campaign decided to run the ads solely to drive up Kerry's negatives. The first major ad was positive, Rove is said to have told Schneider, Bush himself went to these states and benefited from free media, and, well, it's a 50-50 race.

And as many Bush advisers point out, it is the free media message (positive and negative) that means a lot more in a presidential race than any ads.

We'd add that a chunk of the buy was aimed at conservatives -- Fox News Channel-watching, NASCAR-cheering, sports-fanning folk, to use stereotypes. (Fox, ESPN, NASCAR television, etc.).

This is a really close race and in part because so few voters are paying attention, nothing is likely to drive the polls in any significant direction until after the conventions.

ABC News Vote 2004: Sen. John Kerry:

The Boston Globe's Glen Johnson writes, "Throughout his interviews and speechmaking yesterday, Kerry peppered his remarks with words and phrases that questioned the truthfulness of Bush and members of his administration." LINK

The Cincinnati Enquirer's Cindi Andrews reports on Kerry's visit to Ohio yesterday. Kerry picked up a chocolate shake at Graeter's on his way out of town. LINK

The flip-flop waving college students were at it again in Cincinnati, and the local police had to break up an altercation between them and some Kerry-supporting Teamsters, report Gregory Korte and Cindi Andrews. LINK

The Boston Globe's Scot Lehigh looks at the state of the campaign, giving his take on the Margolis departure and the Sasso entrance among other things. LINK

Hint: Lehigh has a VERY high opinion of Sasso.

USA Today's Jill Lawrence writes about the importance of veterans for the Kerry campaign and looks at the influence of Vietnam and veterans in recent elections. LINK

The Boston Globe's Mary Leonard calls Sen. Kennedy the "Dick Cheney of the Kerry presidential campaign," and goes to several objective sources to claim that Democrats are all united in the belief that having the senior Senator out there is good for Kerry. LINK

In fact, some Democrats think the recent prominence of Kennedy and Dean is death personified for Kerry's general election makeover.

The New York Observer's Ben Smith looks at the group of New Yorkers lining up for Cabinet positions in the potential Kerry Administration.

From Richard Holbrooke to investment bankers Roger Altman and Steven Rattner to New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, some New Yorkers are "thought to be so close to cabinet posts that they might be tempted to browse through residential listings in Georgetown, just in case Mr. Kerry unseats Mr. Bush," Smith Notes.

The rules for getting to the front of the Kerry line, according to one Democratic activist:

"You raise money, you surrogate-speak, you raise money, you do policy briefings, you go on TV to defend your candidate, and you raise money," the activist said. "Overt campaigning is sudden death." LINK

In the Boston Globe, Robert Kuttner goes over all of the issues Kerry will be tasked with if elected. LINK

The Boston Herald's David Guarino reports on the flak Kerry is getting for taking communion in a non-Catholic church. LINK

The AP's Steve LeBlanc breaks down Kerry's blue-blood roots. LINK

The Boston Globe's Jennifer Longley reports on the developing security plans for Kerry's house in Nantucket. LINK

From ABC News' Kerry campaign reporter Ed O'Keefe:

CINCINNATI, April 6 -- At his first avail in 11 days, Kerry made a brief statement on Iraq, then took 10 questions in just over 13 minutes.

In response to talk by the Catholic Church that Boston parishes will not serve Communion to public officials who disagree with the Church's positions such as abortion, Kerry discussed the separation of church and state and said, "I will continue to practice my religion separate from my public life."

He is expected to attend Easter mass in a Catholic church this Sunday in Boston.

In the press conference, Kerry also refused to delve into the Veepstakes. He adamantly refused to comment in any way on the ongoing process but said, "What you've seen in the papers is news to me."

And, apparently, when and how the Senator makes news is becoming an increasingly controlled art.

Stalked by traveling spokesperson David Wade and senior strategist David Morehouse in the press cabin in the campaign 727, Kerry turned back to joke, "Look at these guys. They are so scared every time I come back here that I'm going to step in deep doo-doo."

The Davids laughed, then moved closer.

But each passing day there are more flaks guarding Kerry's back. The campaign has begun gobbling up the best that its former rivals and Capitol Hill has to offer.

Building their rapid response team, the Kerry camp has snatched Sen. Chuck Schumer's energetic press secretary, Phil Singer, to join Chad Clanton.

Fresh from success in Iowa, Laura Capps will specialize in battleground states, joining forces with former Gephardt-ers Kathy Roeder (New Hampshire) and Bill Burton (Iowa). The battleground team will be led by Tom Eisenhauer, beloved by both Rep. Martin Frost (D-Texas) and Kori Bernards.

Mark "Granite" Kornblau, Jeremy Van Ess, formerly of the Edwards campaign, and Gephardt vet Kim Molstre will also work as a part of the rapidly expanding Washington-based team.

Read more from the trail with Kerry on abcnews.com: LINK

ABC News Vote 2004: Bush-Cheney re-elect:

Today at 11:00 am ET, Commerce Secretary Don Evans will speak at the National Federation of Independent Business on Sen. Kerry's proposed budget. In the speech, which precedes Kerry's own economic policy address at Georgetown University, Evans will invoke former President Jimmy Carter's economic record.

Some excerpts from Evans' speech today:

"The key elements of Sen. Kerry's economic proposal is a tax credit that closely mirrors the plan Jimmy Carter enacted in 1977."

"When I hear Sen. Kerry and the economic naysayers, the image that comes to mind is of President Carter sitting in the White House wearing his sweater blaming the state of the economy on 'malaise.' What he fails to realize is that this is a growing economy in which we want to foster job growth and opportunity, not close it off."

"American must not to go back to the days when the government kept more of your money and decided how to spend it. Back to the days when the government decided which investments were worthy of your capital. Back to the days when the government decided which jobs needed to be filled and which businesses deserved help. Back to the days when America lacked confidence and sought protection from other countries rather than partnership with them."

The Washington Post's Dana Milbank reports that President Bush endorsed a proposal Tuesday that would "require states to test 12th-grade students" and abolish the Perkins vocational education program to put more than "$1 billion annually into new programs to encourage technical studies." LINK

Joe Curl of the Washington Times Notes that this was the President fourth trip to a college campus in less than two weeks. LINK

The Hill profiles First Lady and serious fundraiser Laura Bush, who "is being quietly deployed to raise Republican campaign funds, coming to the aid of vulnerable incumbents and hopeful challengers" even in districts her husband lost. Reports The Hill, it is part of a strategy "aimed at converting her largely apolitical image into hard political dollars for House and Senate candidates" which is being "coordinated through the Bush-Cheney re-elect committee and the Republican National Committee's Victory Fund." LINK

The Dallas Morning News' Jeffers may not have been allowed into the Karl Rove fundraiser at the Westin Galleria in Dallas Tuesday but "attendees" passed on that Rove "offered intimate details about working with President Bush."

Before the event, Rove said that President Bush "would not suffer political damage from recent setbacks in Iraq because the American public wants him to finish the job there."

Rove also questioned Dick Clarke's credibility when talking about Condoleezza Rice's testimony tomorrow: "Given the choice between the two, I know who I think is far more credible and has a better understanding of what went on in the White House, and the country will hear from her Thursday," he said. LINK

The El Paso Times reports "New Mexico could play such a big role in the fall presidential election that President Bush is building a record-size grass-roots organization in that state, the president's top strategist said Tuesday night during an El Paso visit." "The campaign's six full-time staff members are coordinating 2,200 recruits already on board to identify potential Bush voters, Rove said. And Bush will make frequent campaign stops in New Mexico, Rove said." LINK

During a speech in Dallas Tuesday afternoon, former president George H.W. Bush compared John Kerry's rhetoric on the state of the economy to the language Bill Clinton successfully used against him in 1992, reports the Associated Press. The elder Bush did go on to say though that he does honestly believe the president will be re-elected. LINK

"While working with Environmental Protection Agency officials to write regulations for coal-fired power plants over several recent months, White House staff members played down the toxic effects of mercury, hundreds of pages of documents and e-mail messages show," reports Jennifer 8. Lee of the New York Times. LINK

The Wall Street Journal reports the "Treasury Department's Office of Inspector General is reviewing whether it should investigate why the department conducted an in-house analysis of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's tax strategy."

"Special Master Alan L. Balaran said the Bush administration worked to thwart him beginning last summer after he uncovered a two-decades-old practice by Interior officials of negotiating leases with oil and gas companies that gave Indian landowners a small fraction of the royalties that private landowners received in similar deals," reports Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post. LINK

The politics of Iraq:

A senior Administration official tells ABC News' Jonathan Karl that John Negroponte will be named U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and Robert Blackwill will be named Presidential Envoy to Iraq.

Today, reports Karl, Secretary of State Colin Powell is having lunch with Indiana Republican Sen. Dick Lugar and Delaware Democratic Sen. Joe Biden, the top Republican and top Democrat, respectively, on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which will handle confirmation hearings for the new ambassador.

The Los Angeles Times' La Ganga focuses on the political back-and-fro on Iraq yesterday, quoting Kerry as saying that "'most important is to get the international community involved, because you have to change the entire dynamic of an uprising and the entire dynamic of an American occupation'" and Noting his labeling of the June 30 deadline as "'fiction.'" LINK

The New York Times' Seelye's piece has this from Kerry on Iraq: "I think they wanted to get the troops out and get the transfer out of the way as fast as possible, without regard to the stability of Iraq," he said. "The test ought to be the stability of Iraq, not an arbitrary date." He said transfer of power "should not be related to the election." LINK

And the Washington Post's VandeHei and Balz write that Sen. John Kerry "sharply questioned President Bush's decision to transfer power to the Iraqis at the end of June and suggested the decision was politically motivated by the election-year calendar."

Note that both the Post and the Wall Street Journal follow yesterday's thread that Kerry has done little to lay out his own vision for post-war Iraq.

VandeHei and Balz quote John Podesta as saying that "given the state of events in Iraq, Kerry should give voters a clear sense of what he would do in contrast to Bush. 'I think he needs to lay down a strong marker about what an alternative strategy would look like,'" Podesta told the two. LINK

And the Wall Street Journal's Cooper and Hitt write that "critical as" Dems "are of the war and occupation of Iraq, they are hard-pressed to advocate anything much beyond staying the course." Says one Sen. Biden, "'It's not enough to point out what Bush isn't doing; we should be saying what we will do' . . . 'I know John Kerry feels the same way. But what is the answer here?'"

The New York Times' William Safire joins the ranks of those calling for U.S. forces battling insurgents in Iraq to "counterattack decisively." And, writes Safire, "we should coolly confront the quaking quagmirists here at home" as he asks, "Does Ted Kennedy speak for his Massachusetts junior senator, John Kerry, when he calls our effort to turn terror-supporting despotism into nascent liberty in Iraq 'Bush's Vietnam'?" LINK

(If you read the Washington Post's piece, you'll find this from Rand Beers: "'"Senator Kennedy did not clear his speech with us and Governor Dean did not clear his comments with us, nor would we expect them to, even though we talk to them.'")

Examining the reality of the June 30 transfer, the Los Angeles Times writes that even with the scheduled handoff, "current administration plans call for the U.S. military to remain in Iraq at occupation strength," Noting that "a huge new U.S. Embassy will take the place of the current Coalition Provisional Authority, and the largest CIA station in the world will be in Baghdad." LINK

Harold Meyerson writes in the Washington Post that the United States is desperate need of a new gameplan in Iraq. LINK

The politics of the 9/11 Commission:

"National security adviser Condoleezza Rice plans to testify tomorrow that the Bush administration was acting in a pre-Sept. 11 mindset in its efforts to combat al Qaeda and other terrorist groups and must be judged in that context," report Mike Allen and Dan Eggen of the Washington Post. LINK

A debate over what "tone" Rice should strike in her Thursday testimony is being waged in the White House, report the New York Times' Sanger and Shenon, who report Rice "and her White House colleagues have prepared an opening statement that one official described as 'a detailed, almost day-by-day overview' of what the administration was doing in the months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks." LINK

Note these details from the duo:

--Look for "two members -- one Democrat and one Republican -- allowed to question" Rice "in detail, with follow-up questions from the other eight panelists. 'You can't get much done in 10 minutes,' a Democratic member of the commission said. 'That really might be seen as letting her off the hook.'"

--Don't look for an apology to the families of those killed on Sept. 11.

--And this sentence: "Ms. Rice's presentation is considered critical to the White House's election-year effort to put questions about the Sept. 11 attacks behind it. But it may be just as critical for Ms. Rice herself."

--ABC, CBS, and NBC say they plan to cover Dr. Rice's testimony live.

The Los Angeles Times' Reynolds writes that "what is potentially pivotal about Rice's appearance before the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks is that she will testify at a critical moment. Bush has made fighting terrorism the centerpiece of his presidency, and the war in Iraq is the centerpiece of his fight against terrorism. Yet American voters are expressing increasing doubts about his handling of the war as U.S. troops face deadly new attacks." Note the blind quotes from former NSC colleagues . . . LINK

Anita Hill weighs in in the Boston Globe: "the intensity of the attention paid to the moment Rice takes the stand suggests another question -- that is, whether the combined glare of the political and media spotlights will illuminate the truth or rather blind the public to it. Sworn testimony is not the only factor being weighed. Public satisfaction with this process will turn not only on the candor of the witnesses, but on the independence and skill of the hearing tribunal and the unbiased tenacity of the press."

"...as the first woman and first African-American to serve in the role, she will have to battle stereotypes about her competence that loom in the imagination of skeptical viewers. And this new level of visibility may test whether she is truly an insider in the White House power structure or a marginal player." LINK

USA Today's Mimi Hall goes over how many commissioners were allowed by the White House to hear Rice's testimony back in February, how many were there, and how Scott McClellan characterized how many were there. LINK

The New York Post's Deborah Orin offers a brief profile of Dr. Rice. LINK

The Washington Times' James Lakely follows up on yesterday's story about the Clinton Administration's final national security report that barely mentions al Qaeda, and reports that the Sept. 11 Commission will take a second look at Richard Clarke's testimony. LINK

The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz previews tonight's "Nightline," where ABC News will report on the "'Armageddon' program designed to ensure that the federal government would continue to function in the aftermath of a nuclear war was put into place during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks." LINK

Veepstakes:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was as Shermanesque as he could be in ruling out running as Kerry's veep while appearing on "Today": "I am not and I will not be a candidate for Vice President of the United States, and I will not leave the Republican Party (laughter)."

Meanwhile, Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), who was interviewed by Matt Lauer alongside Sen. McCain, was not asked about being Kerry's running mate. Interesting to Note, however: Bayh invoked Sen. Kerry's name while trying to finesse a question about the June 30 deadline for handing over sovereignty in Iraq.

USA Today's Walter Shapiro puts this whole thing in perspective for us -- as he does so well -- dismissing the McCain talk and asserting that "any name advanced at this early stage of the search is little more than a wild guess or a premature trial balloon lofted by a senior staffer to Kerry." LINK

The Boston Globe's Eileen McNamara comes up with a really simple reason why it won't be McCain. LINK

Roll Call's Chris Cillizza writes that Sen. Edwards "is picking up the pace of his political appearances on behalf of Democratic candidates as he seeks to cement his status as a leading vice presidential pick."

Veepstakes made its way into a Tuesday call sponsored by the Kerry camp on President Bush's fiscal record because of the identity of the call's hosts: Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell.

When Gov. Rendell was asked if he has been contacted by Jim Johnson, the chair of Kerry's vice presidential selection process, Rendell said: "No, no." Asked if his answer was "Shermanesque," Rendell said that he would "try to talk (Kerry) out of it" before saying: "I don't think it's a problem. The only short list I ever appear on is the media's." Rendell plugged Vilsack as a "proven commodity," and said, as he has before, that Kerry would be "wise" to look for a "someone whose got appeal in states that are toss-up states-who can appeal in Red States." (We find it amusing how Rendell always downplays the swing qualities of a state once dubbed by Carville as "Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in between").

Vilsack, the Quad City Times reports, "declined to comment Tuesday about his chances of being selected for the job." LINK

Dan Kane and John Wagner of the Raleigh News & Observer Note that John Edwards has renamed his PAC with his reemergence into politics. New American Optimism no longer, Edwards will now work for One America Committee. Kim Rubey, his Iowa spokeswoman, will fill that role for the PAC, one of several presidential campaign staffers making the switch. LINK

So what is it like inside a James Johnson meeting?

According to a (sorry Washington Post-ies) source familiar with one of the discussions with a member of Congress:

A polite and affable Johnson apparently gets right to the point. He asks for input, and then asks a series of questions about a few different names. What do you think of them, he asks. What do your colleagues think? Is there something not in the public domain you think we should know about?

Names mentioned, we are told, include Gov.Vilsack, Gov. Richardson, Rep. Gephardt, Sen. Edwards, and Gen. Clark.

Sen. McCain's was fleetingly discussed at least this one meeting.

The morning shows:

The morning shows led with violence in Iraq and the train derailment in Mississippi.

When Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) was asked on CBS' "Early Show" about Defense Secretary Rumsfeld's Tuesday assertion that military commanders would get more troops if they asked, Biden scoffed and said: "Oh, come on." He paused, held his tongue and said that the President and Vice President's "political stance" guaranteed no additional troops. "I think we need to get our act together," he said.

The land of 5-plus-2-equals-7:

USA Today's Jim Drinkard reports, "Hundreds of non-profit groups and their members are flooding the Federal Election Commission with objections to new regulations that they fear could limit their election-year advocacy activities." LINK

Roll Call's Amy Keller writes, "An intense battle over the future of so-called 527 groups reached a fevered pitch this week as more than 97,000 individuals across the country deluged the Federal Election Commission with their thoughts on the controversial committees."

From the outside:

Look this morning for the Sierra Club to unveil two new TV spots, as well as radio and print ad campaigns, at a breakfast briefing this morning outlining the group's "'Earth Month' issues and activities," reports ABC News' Gayle Tzemach. The television spots will deal with the President's record on the environment -- in particular on the mercury issue. The ads will run in targeted states as part of a three-quarter million dollar "Earth Month" campaign from the group. Expected on hand: The Sierra Club's executive director, Carl Pope, and legislative director, Debbie Sease.

ABC News Vote 2004: the battlegrounds:

The Washington Times' Joyce Howard Price looks at a report yesterday that shows 61 percent of Muslims active in the Detroit area's 33 mosques think America is an immoral society, and 85 percent disapprove of the job President Bush is doing. LINK

Detroit is home to one of the nation's largest Muslim populations, and for the kicker, Price throws in this graf:

"With up to 250,000 Muslims attending mosques in Detroit, 68 percent of whom are registered voters, the Muslim vote could affect the presidential race in Michigan, a battleground state Democrat Al Gore won by 5 percentage points in 2000. Mr. Bush and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry are in a statistical tie in Michigan, according to a Detroit Free Press poll Saturday."

The AP reports that Gov. Bush of Florida "endorsed a bill on Monday to allow illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses." LINK

Erik C. Huey of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports on the state of the Southern Nevada economy, where low unemployment and sustained job creation function as a model for the country. LINK

Seth Blomeley of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Notes that Bush, in a visit to a college in El Dorado yesterday, said "jobs will be there" but American workers must be "motivated" to "re-educate" themselves and adjust to the global economy. The government cannot, according to the president, hand people jobs, but it can help by spending over $500 million to offer more student loans and job training at community colleges. LINK

The economy:

In a New York Times op-ed, the Heritage Foundation's Tim Lake writes "there is reason to doubt the numbers from the payroll survey" because "they give a misleading picture of the 2004 economy." Writes Lake, "We should be prepared for the job numbers in the payroll survey to permanently look anemic compared to other measures. This is the brave new economy, and the work force of 2004 can no longer be measured by an outdated definition of a job." LINK

In more good news for Team Bush, Reuters reports "layoffs in the United States fell in March to the lowest level in nine months, although companies remained reluctant to hire people, according to a report released Tuesday." LINK

Nader:

Maura Kelly of the AP and the Chicago Tribune's E.A. Torriero write about Nader's Chicago speech yesterday where he again called for Bush's impeachment. LINK and LINK

"When you plunge our country into war on a platform of fabrications and deceptions and you bring back thousands of American soldiers who are sick, injured or dead, and that war is unconstitutionally authorized to begin with, Mr. Bush's behavior qualifies for the high crimes and misdemeanor impeachment clause of the Constitution," Nader said.

The Washington Post's Brian Faler on Nader's Oregon ballot defeat: LINK

Sharpton:

The New York Post's Stephan Friedman reports that the FEC has more questions and a possible audit for the campaign. LINK

Big casino budget politics:

House Republicans "quietly tucked billons of dollars worth of new tax breaks for business" into last week's transportation bill shortly before the House passed it overwhelmingly last week, reports the Washington Post's Dan Morgan. LINK

USA Today's Peronet Despeignes reports that an analysis by the "liberal-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities" of Republican budget plans to reduce the deficit shows that their plans would increase the deficit more than if they did nothing at all. LINK

The AP's Jesse Holland reports that Senate Republicans today will "to overcome a Democratic blockade on the medical malpractice legislation." LINK

The politics of same-sex marriage:

Joe Mahoney of the New York Daily News Notes that Rosie O'Donnell's brother, assemblyman Danny O'Donnell (D-Manhattan), will be the star plaintiff in a new lawsuit aimed at ending New York's ban on same-sex marriage. LINK

No Child Left Behind:

Sen. Kennedy feels "personally swindled" by President Bush after giving him his support for No Child Left Behind, writes Diana Jean Schemo of the New York Times, who also Notes "Mr. Kennedy has consistently fought Democratic attempts to free schools from the demands of No Child Left Behind if the federal contribution falls short of authorization levels." LINK

The politics of gas:

The New York Times' Ralph Blumenthal on how rising gas prices boost small-time oilmen. LINK

The politics of AIDS:

Agence France-Presse reports that former President Clinton's charitable foundation has signed deals with three aid agencies -- World Bank, UNICEF and the Global Fund -- to make cheaper AIDS drugs available to Third World countries. While 16 African and Caribbean countries already get cheaper drugs through the Clinton Foundation, the "latest deals would let recipients of World Bank, Global Fund or UNICEF funding take advantage of the cheap drug supply." LINK

Democratic National Convention:

The Boston Globe reports that "a strong majority of Greater Boston residents believe that hosting the Democratic National Convention will be worth the hassles, a sentiment fueled by expectations that the convention will boost Boston's image around the country and trigger increased economic activity, a Boston Globe poll indicates." The poll also shows "nearly two-thirds of those polled opposed the use of city or state tax dollars to cover convention costs, even as they become increasingly convinced that organizers will fail in their goal of raising all the cash they need from the private sector." LINK

The Boston Globe's Andrea Estes reports that the "host committee has raised only $1 million since the beginning of March and is still $6.5 million shy of its $39.5 million fund-raising target, officials said [Tuesday]." LINK

Republican National Convention:

The New York Post's Larry Celona reports, "The feds are considering shutting the main James A. Farley Post Office during the [convention], The Post has learned." LINK

Politics:

"A consumer rights foundation has asked the Senate ethics committee to investigate whether Majority Leader Bill Frist improperly promoted legislation to limit medical malpractice awards while maintaining what it called 'personal and financial ties' to a large hospital chain with a malpractice insurance subsidiary," writes Helen Dewar of the Washington Post. LINK

The Washington Post's Dan Morgan reports that since 1999 American Dream PAC, whose mission is "to give significant, direct financial assistance to first-rate minority GOP candidates," has in actuality only given 8.9 percent of the funds they have raised. LINK

"A Bush administration proposal to add three new types of tests to the drug-screening program for federal employees would allow workers to seek retesting if any results come up positive," reports Christopher Lee of the Washington Post. LINK

Gov. Schwarzenegger thinks a part-time legislature might be a good idea. LINK

Inglewood, Calif., voters just say no to Wal-Mart. LINK

The Clintons of Chappaqua:

The AP's Hillel Italie writes about the upcoming release of "Living History" in paperback that will include a four-page afterward that "is both earnest and lighthearted, an author's reflections and a politician's commentary." LINK

TODAY SCHEDULE (all times ET):
—8:15 am: Sen. Kerry meets with the leadership of the Service Employees International Union, Washington, D.C.
—9:30 am: U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals meets to hear arguments, Washington, D.C.
—9:30 am: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee holds a hearing on the U.N. Oil for Food program, Washington, D.C.
—9:40 am: The Senate convenes for morning business, Washington, D.C.
—9:45 am: Sen. Kerry meets with Africa-American columnists at his campaign headquarters, Washington, D.C.
—10:45 am: The Senate resumes consideration of the motion to proceed to the medical malpractice bill, Washington, D.C.
—11:00 am: Commerce Secretary Don Evans gives a speech to the National Federation of Independent Business on Sen. Kerry's budget plan, Washington, D.C.
—11:15 am: Sen. Kerry meets with the leadership of UNITE at his campaign headquarters, Washington, D.C.
—12:30 pm: Sen. John Kerry gives a speech on the economy at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
—12:30 pm: Senate Democrats hold their regular Tuesday party caucus luncheon, Washington, D.C.
—12:30 pm: Senate Republicans hold their weekly regular party caucus luncheon, Washington, D.C.
—1:00 pm: Politics Live on ABC News Live and AOL
—4:15 pm: Sen. Kerry meets with business roundtables at the St. Regis Hotel, Washington, D.C.
—4:45 pm: Secretary of State Powell meets with New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff, Washington, D.C.
—6:30 pm: Sen. John Kerry attends a gala reception fundraiser at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, D.C.