—8:00 am: Senator Bob Graham attends a Politics and Eggs forum, Bedford, N.H.
—9:00 am: House convenes for legislative business
—9:30 am: Senate Judiciary Committee holds confirmation hearings, Capitol Hill
—11:30 am: Former Governor Howard Dean holds press conference regarding Iraq war and intelligence, Des Moines
—11:45 am: Laura Bush attends Bush-Cheney 2004 fundraiser, Raleigh, N.C.
—1:00 pm: Senator John Kerry has lunch with Henry County Democrats, Mount Pleasant, Iowa
—2:00 pm: Senator John Edwards addresses the Arizona Education Association Leaders conference, Litchfield Park, Ariz.
—3:30 pm: President Bush makes remarks on fitness, Dallas
—6:00 pm: President and Mrs. Bush attend Bush-Cheney 2004 fundraiser, Dallas
—10:30 pm: Representative Dennis Kucinich attends fundraiser, Seattle

NEWS SUMMARY

"America is a nation of list makers and list readers."
-- ABC News' The Note, July 17, 2003

When we wrote that yesterday, we didn't realize how truly true it really was.

The reader reaction has been amazing.

"Miraculous," wrote M. Baranowski of Highland Heights, KY in a message to us, "I loved The Note before, but a Note based on lists is better than a barrel of Googling monkeys — keep up the good work!"

And J. Cabrera of Virginia wrote, "More lists, fewer Notepads. We welcome the new addition."

And one more from the many, many surprising e-mails we received on this topic:

K. Shanahan of Central Florida e-mailed: "The Note is listing, but in a good way. Busy people with their eyes on political doings in two coastal mega-states (or more) are going to L-O-V-E the new summary format."

Well, we hadn't intended for our one-day venture to go beyond that, but, by popular demand — on this, a slowish political day — The Note's 3 Lists of 5 (patent pending):

MOST IMPORTANT POLITICAL EVENTS OF THE DAY

1. George W. Bush and Laura Bush raise money in Texas and North Carolina.

2. Joe Lieberman in New Hampshire continues his "Joe's Job Tour" with a manufacturing speech meant to keep his hold on his status as the first and only Democrat (so far) to do that laser beam thing on the economy.

3. Howard Dean does PassoverX4, asking George Bush 16 Iraq questions in Iowa (and in absentia).

4. John Kerry gets ready to question the president's credibility on more issues.

5. Al Sharpton packs for Africa.

MOST IMPORTANT NEWSPAPER STORIES OF THE DAY

1. The Washington Post 's tireless Mike Allen on the new White House offensive on Iraq (political/press, not military). LINK

2. The Boston Globe 's Anne "'A' Is Not for 'Apple'" Kornblut on the political environment hosting the Iraq matter. LINK

3. The New York Times ' inside-the-Beltway-and-yet-still-the-pride-of-Soho Adam Nagourney on how the Democratic presidential candidates are more Pander Bears than Sister Souljdiers. LINK

4. The AP's familyman Ron Fournier on Swetting Joe Lieberman naming names and taking no prisoners. LINK

5. The Los Angeles Times on The Macker going West. LINK

MOST IMPORTANT POLITICAL DYNAMICS TO WATCH

1. Will the new White House PR strategy on Iraq bear fruit in time to avoid a weekend of battering?

2. Will GOP, Democratic, and media polls show more erosion of the president's still-high standing?

3. Will the sparring among Democratic presidential candidates on all sorts of issues get ugly?

4. Will Howard Dean's fundraising trip to the Hamptons allow him to capture the hearts and minds of some (more) of the Gang of 500?

5. Will Joe Biden pull the trigger (one way or the other) before or after Wes Clark? (The answer might surprise you.)

In California recall news today:

Terry McAuliffe's defense of Gray Davis gets big play.

There's another court hearing.

Frank Luntz's leaked memo gets more attention than his op-ed piece.

President and Mrs. Bush will attend a big ol' fundraiser in Dallas tonight. Mrs. Bush has another lunch time fundraiser in Raleigh, North Carolina before she heads to Texas later in the day. There's another one tomorrow night in Houston.

Senator Lieberman campaigns today in New Hampshire, where he will deliver what the campaign calls a major manufacturing policy speech at Diversified Optical Products in Salem. Senator Lieberman will also tape his "Conversation with the Candidate" session at WMUR in Manchester during the afternoon.

Senator Edwards heads out west today to speak to the Arizona Education Leaders Association. On Saturday, Edwards addresses the New Mexico Democrats' State Central Committee meeting.

Governor Dean campaigns in Iowa today, where he'll ask the president 16 questions about the war in Iraq at a press conference before taping an interview at IPTV studios with members of the Iowa press (Yepsen, Glover, and friends). He has no public events scheduled for the weekend, but he is due in the Hamptons for fundraisers.

Senator Graham campaigns in New Hampshire this weekend.

Senator Kerry is also campaigning in Iowa today, and he'll be there tomorrow too for a full day of campaigning.

Congressman Gephardt campaigns in New Hampshire this weekend with a busy slate of campaigning.

Congressman Kucinich holds a fundraiser in Seattle tonight and appears on a local late-night radio show. He campaigns in Seattle on Saturday and in Eugene, Oregon on Sunday.

Reverend Sharpton is scheduled to leave for Ghana and Liberia tomorrow.

Ambassador Braun has no public events scheduled for today or the weekend.

Politics of national security:

The White House-led pushback has gone from zero to 35 mph in a few news cycles, but they are ready to rev it up to 60 if needed.

When Drudge breaks a story (just like the supermarket tabs) let's not hide from that.

The "return" (as if she ever left) of Mary Matalin to help coordinate things was first floated out on what is every booker's homepage, and now it shows up in Mike Allen's textured and sophisticated look at the White House's current PR battle plan. LINK

The administration has decided that its, um, varied, communications strategy on the erroneous intelligence that made it into President Bush's State of the Union speech hasn't been effective, Allen reports, so they're planning to do some more 'splaining and fighting back.

In his first couple of days on the job, newly minted White House press secretary Scott McClellan tried to change the subject, talking about terrorism instead of the intelligence, and as it turns out, throwing red meat to Democrats both on the Hill and on the presidential campaign stump who had appeared to some to be asleep.

The White House calls it politics. "'People have been challenging the president's credibility for partisan political purposes,'" a senior administration official told Allen. "'There's nothing that gets this White House more in battle mode than that. We have no idea how long it will last.'"

Allen has McClellan a'sweatin and a'dodging, and he has the Veep (whose "office is likely to be a focus of congressional inquiries") on the Hill rallying the troops.

Clearly, part of the coordinated Gillespie/Bartlett/McClellan/Teer/DeLay strategy is to paint all the Democratic criticism as desperate presidential politics that is hypocritical and (borderline) unpatriotic.

A man who knows how to move the party message, Kentucky Senator McConnell, took to the floor yesterday and unfurled a beauty, saying that Democrats had "sacrificed the national interest on the altar of partisan politics and are making accusations that are grossly offensive."

But that didn't stop Senator Graham from revisiting his impeachment remark (Yes, yes, Senator, in response to a question, but some folks in your party think that that kind of talk ain't helpful … .) in New Hampshire.

Now, despite the hyperventilating of a Certain Cable Network, Bob Graham did NOT call for George W. Bush to be impeached, but he certainly hasn't been dodging the matter completely, and his suggestive remarks are grist for the GOP plan to push back hard.

The Union-Leader's John DiStaso parses Graham's statement yesterday that President Bush's "transgressions" with intelligence on Iraq warrant impeachment. LINK

Of course, this House would never bring charges, Graham said, but "the issues facing Bush are 'a more serious transgression of Presidential power' than the 'serious personal consensual act' that led to former President Bill Clinton's impeachment by the House in December 1998.

PoliticsNH.com's James Pindell quotes some state GOP communications director saying "Graham was having a rough week." LINK

The Boston Globe 's Anne Kornblut writes, "Republicans and Democrats agree on one point in the raging debate over the justifications made for going to war in Iraq: The real problem for President Bush is not his 16-word sentence about Iraqi attempts to purchase uranium from Niger." LINK

"The fundamental problem is the backdrop against which the debate is playing out … ."

"And although Bush is the main target for the nine Democratic candidates for president, they are also attacking each other on Iraq-related issues, potentially diluting the impact of the criticism on Bush … "

Democratic presidential candidates continued to beat the Iraq drum on campaign stops in Iowa yesterday, the Des Moines Register 's Thomas Beaumont writes. LINK

On the stump in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, former Vermont Governor Howard Dean told supporters to expect more damning revelations about how the White House handled intelligence on Iraq.

"'This isn't all of it. There's a lot more,'" Dean said. "'There are other mistakes. There are other exaggerations.'"

Lieberman, said, "'I say this as a supporter of the war. The Bush administration's handling of this is giving what was a war fought for a good cause a bad name.'"

This morning in Iowa, per the Dean campaign, the Doctor is expected to lead off a press conference with this:

"There has been much discussion about the 16 words included in the State of the Union address. Today I call on the president to answer these 16 questions to ensure that the American people can retain their trust in their government and to help ensure that the United States can retain its credibility as a moral force in the world."

The Washington Post and New York Times both go into some of the CIA-White House back and forth, with a bit more detail, and a bit more finger pointing, despite a White House effort to tamp down. LINK and LINK

Walter Pincus and Dana Priest write in the Washington Post that State had the bad intel months before the State of the Union, and the administration dragged its heels on turning it over to UN weapons inspectors.

Mark Preston of Roll Call writes that "Senate Democrats pointed to official White House photographs Thursday showing President Bush working on his 2002 State of the Union speech as possible evidence administration officials were aware they relied on questionable intelligence data to build the case to wage war against Iraq."

Yes: y'all can stop emailing the photos to us.

These are the happiest of all possible words: Fineman to Wright to McManus.

Which is the say that Mark Fineman, Robin Wright, and Doyle McManus of the Los Angeles Times have a front-page tour de force tick tocking the run-up-leading-to-the-aftermath of the war in Iraq. LINK

It is L-O-N-G and we are just certain that you experts will find news in it.

ABC 2004: Bush-Cheney re-elect:

The AP's Will Lester writes, "President Bush is spending a long weekend in Texas raising campaign cash and hosting Italian leader and Iraq war ally Silvio Berlusconi at his ranch — a break from the partisan battles in Washington." LINK

The president is playing defense from Democratic attacks and economic problems on his fundraising trip to Dallas today, reports the Dallas Morning News' David Jackson. LINK

"'There are a lot of things going on, none of which are good news for him,' said Karlyn Bowman, who analyzes polls for the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. 'It's a rough time for him.'"

Bush will stop at a YMCA to promote physical fitness in the midst of the trip.

The campaign is mum on how much it expects to raise from the $2,000-a-person fundraiser, but with $34.4 million in his coffers, the money to get out the message isn't the problem.

"It all depends on whether things improve — both economically and with the situation in Iraq," Bowman said.

The Washington Post 's E.J. Dionne and the New York Times ' Paul Krugman make the same argument: on both Iraq intelligence and the economy: President Bush can't be trusted.

"Deficits lack the drama of wars, and economic arguments are easy to muddy up. But the accountability that's being imposed on the administration over Iraq will eventually extend to other spheres. … Once it's lost, credibility is very hard to earn back," Dionne writes. LINK

Krugman sticks mostly to the deficit. LINK

"There's no mystery about why the administration's budget projections have borne so little resemblance to reality: realistic budget numbers would have undermined the case for tax cuts. So budget analysts were pressured to high-ball estimates of future revenues and low-ball estimates of future expenditures. Any resemblance to the way the threat from Iraq was exaggerated is no coincidence at all."

NAACP, Take 2:

There are several excellent daily stories recounting the events at the NAACP meeting yesterday, with the best one by Casey Woods and Peter Wallsten of the Miami Herald who report on the public apologizes given by Lieberman, Gephardt and Kucinich to the NAACP yesterday. LINK

But the smartest take is by the New York Times ' Adam Nagourney, who widens out to see it as part of a bigger Democratic problem. LINK

As Nagourney points out, the Democratic presidential candidates have been doing a lot of glad-handing this week — not of potential voters on the campaign trail, but courting favor with interest groups that are dictating their schedules, and maybe their agendas.

And it raises the question: How beholden should candidates and their parties be to groups at the base of their support, and does it make or break their campaigns?

While Democrats find themselves regularly hamstrung by the demands of groups like the NAACP and the Human Rights Campaign, Nagourney writes, the GOP feels no such need.

"'When is the last time you saw George Bush show up before the N.R.A.?' James Carville, who was Bill Clinton's campaign manager in 1992, said today, referring to the National Rifle Association. (The answer is never.)"

Incumbents, of course, have far less courting to do. Republicans are gleeful at the prospect of pointing out the differences.

"'These commitments they made in the process of pandering to these liberal groups — the people who aren't members of these groups are going to be made aware of them in a while,'" said Ed Gillespie, the incoming chairman of the Republican National Committee.

The Hartford Courant's David Lightman comes more in sadness than in anger in exploring the finer points of Lieberman's apology to the NAACP yesterday, complete with NAACP President Kweisi Mfume's grab for the bully pulpit. LINK

The Senator, who missed the forum for a New York fund-raiser and a taping of conservative commentator Bill O'Reilly's TV show, "was greeted with scant applause at the Miami Beach Convention Center, but the 3,000 people there listened intently and occasionally responded to his apologies with warm applause" and took a tone that was "almost conversational," Lightman writes.

It's been a week where Lieberman, who talks often about his civil rights record and marching with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., also faced criticism from the Congressional Black Caucus for "what they saw as the senator's hesitancy to back sending American troops to Liberia" and for questioning affirmative action in the mid-1990s.

Mfume said that the apologies of Lieberman and the others who missed the forum "does not guarantee people will gravitate or listen to what they're saying. We're glad they had a change of heart."

USA Today 's Jill Lawrence also reports on the let's-make-amends appearances at the NAACP conference yesterday. LINK

"They didn't go so far as to call themselves wretches, but [the Monday absentees] were almost that contrite in specially arranged apologies Thursday before the powerful civil rights organization."

The AP's Ken Thomas writes, "At the start of the gathering Thursday, convention officials suspended the rules to allow the candidates five minutes 'for the purpose of public apology and explanation.'" LINK

ABC 2004: The Invisible Primary:

With face-to-face debates looming, Senator Lieberman, near Columbia yesterday and without his JoeMobile LINK, nonetheless did some Colliding.

"No more Mr. Nice Guy for Joe Lieberman," writes the AP's Ron Fournier. LINK

Now, don't be afraid, as The Note briefly was — tough-guy Fournier reports that Senator Lieberman is just getting tough, in a Mr. T kind of way.

"The mild-mannered Connecticut senator, his presidential campaign stalled in the Democratic Party's middling mass, is directing harsher salvos at President Bush and — most notably — his rivals."

"He says Howard Dean probably can't get elected, accuses John Kerry of waffling on Iraq and calls Dick Gephardt's health care plan 'big-government spending.'"

In a separate story, Fournier pities the fool who questions his preview of Lieberman's manufacturing speech set for today, which might include at least a couple of jabs at some of his rivals. Read it, sucka. LINK

"'Rather than thinking we can build walls around our economy, as some Democrats would have us do, I want to build bridges to markets around the world for American-made goods,' Lieberman said in the [previewed] text … ."

"Aides said the senator was referring to [Gephardt,] who has criticized many free trade deals and Democrats like Lieberman who back them."

The Gephardt campaign has hit back, with a release yesterday defending their health care plan, and with a statement from Erik Smith today:

"The difference between Dick Gephardt and Joe Lieberman is that Dick Gephardt knows the difference between a good trade deal and a bad one. Senator Lieberman has supported trade policies that have sent millions of manufacturing jobs overseas."

The AP's Ken Thomas reports, "Blacks in the South are key to the Democratic Party recapturing the White House and Congress next year, the Rev. Jesse Jackson told one of the country's foremost civil rights groups." LINK

Nearly giddy that this weekend officially marks the six-months-til-Iowa point in the campaign, USA Today 's Walter Shapiro has four handy tips for watching all the fun. LINK

The four Mother Goose-esque areas of interest are: "The Dean Scene," "Health, wealth and stealth," "Delectable and electable," and "Poll patrol."

Lieberman:

The Union Leader curtain raises the speech. LINK

Jano takes on Barbra Streisand via Deborah Orin on Page Six. LINK

Dean:

The Associated Press reports, "Former Democratic Senator Howard Metzenbaum of Ohio revealed his political favorites for 2004, choosing Howard Dean over fellow Ohioan Dennis Kucinich in the presidential primary and former State Senator Eric Fingerhut over Jerry Springer in the Senate primary." LINK

Edwards:

Mark Johnson, Adam Bell, and Jeff South of the Charlotte Observer claim that Edwards hasn't stuck to the exact words of previous campaign promises, accepting donations from 39 lobbyists. LINK

The Edwards campaign is gonna be quibbling with the Observers observations on this one.

Here is the latest from Raleigh's Jennifer Palmieri:

"1) John Podesta is not a lobbyist, as we informed the Charlotte Observer. He de-registered June 1."

"2) As Google monkeys (sic) would attest, 'Washington lobbyists' is the phrase Edwards uses when he talks about his pledge … as he did most recently at Tuesday's Portsmouth Town Hall."

"3) The other three named in the story, Jim Rosapepe, Victoria Rollins, and Abbe Lowell, are not regsitered lobbyists. You can look it up: sopr.senate.gov."

"4) Watch this space for more to come."

Per usual, we aren't taking sides … just letting both parties have it out.

John Wagner of the Raleigh News & Observer reports on Edwards' New Mexico endorsements and reaffirmation of the Iraq war. LINK

Graham:

Senator Graham raised the curtain on his economic plan yesterday in New Hampshire, DiStaso writes. LINK

The Palm Beach Post's Brian Crowley reports, "Florida's senior senator, himself a millionaire, proposes raising the former top rate to 38.6 percent and creates a new 'millionaire's tax bracket' of 40 percent. Under President Bush's recent tax cuts, the top tax bracket is 35 percent." LINK

The Associated Press reports on the potential successors waiting to hear if Senator Graham will run for the Senate again. LINK

The Miami Herald 's Cammy Clark talks to NASCAR Craftsman Truck driver Jon Woods' political awakening. LINK

Kerry:

The New York Post 's columnizing John Podhoretz wasn't much impressed with John Kerry's homeland security speech in La Bronx. LINK

Biden:

Yesterday, The Note checked out this brand new Web site: www.biden04.com.

It's a dandy (technologically speaking) of a site, especially for one that's unauthorized, unaffiliated and for all intents and purposes unorganized, created by a consultant named Jack O'Toole, who most graciously apologized for not giving The Note advanced notice of the site.

He also said in an e-mail that "I created Biden04 because I sincerely believe what I wrote on the site: 'In our view, the senator's credibility on foreign policy, national defense, crime and punishment, and domestic issues — not to mention his no-BS persona — makes him the Democrat best able to carry the fight to President Bush in 2004.'"

Mr. O'Toole said he's never met Senator Biden nor, to his knowledge, any members of his staff.

Politics:

The Los Angeles Times' Nick Anderson has a perfectly lovely write-up of the congressional campaign committees' fundraising perfs. LINK

States News Service's David Enrich reports that Congressman Barney Frank, "one of three openly gay members of the US House, is invoking [Vice President] Cheney's words in a letter this week that urges his colleagues to oppose a proposed constitutional amendment that would outlaw same-sex marriages." LINK

In USA Today , Joan Biskupic analyzes the recent Supreme Court opinions on gay rights as well as media coverage. LINK

Tim Starks of the New York Sun writes about the comedic stylings of Hillary R. Clinton. LINK

BCRA:

The AP's Sharon Theimer writes, "Election officials said Thursday that the nation's campaign finance law limits some of the fund raising by federal lawmakers involved in campaigns for state ballot measures." LINK

California recall:

The Macker promised all his help in a Cali presser, and joined the (temporary?) game of high-stakes chicken by vowing that no Democrat will appear on the second section of the recall ballot. LINK

The AP's Erica Werner reports on the Macker's presser in Los Angeles. LINK

The Sacramento Bee's Margaret Talev writes on a widely distributed (by Leader Pelosi's office, it seems) Frank Luntz memo for organizers of the recall. It suggests a strategy to "kill Davis softly" to improve the chances of replacing him. LINK

Luntz's ideas in this case actually seem quite smart about how to frame things and what it will take to succeed.

Students of Frank's work will surely find this to be a must-read.

The AP's Mark Sherman reports on Luntz's tip sheet for facilitating a recall to your liking. LINK

Marc Sandalow got the memo, too. LINK

Ann E. Marimow and Jessica Portner with the San Jose Mercury News reports on Davis' lashing out on Republican legislators for their lack of cooperation in state budget dealings. LINK

The Wall Street Journal 's Washington Wire has Leon Panetta in no-intention mode ("I'm not seeking it.").

Luntz (who retired from politics many years ago) has a Los Angeles Times op-ed about Arnold Schwarzenegger and celebrity that will get somewhat overshadowed perhaps, and doesn't ID him as working on the recall. LINK

The AP reports on some other recalls taking place: sprinklers from Minnesota LINK, lamp oil from Illinois LINK, slow cookers from Virginia LINK, and SCUBA gear from Switzerland LINK.

Judicial confirmation battles:

The AP's Jesse Holland reports, "Senators delayed voting on Alabama Attorney General William Pryor's nomination to a federal appeals court Thursday amid questions about Pryor's fund-raising activities for a GOP attorneys general group." LINK

Bush Administration strategy/personality:

The New York Times ' John Markoff reports, "Under a system deployed on the White House Web site for the first time last week, those who want to send a message to President Bush must now navigate as many as nine Web pages and fill out a detailed form that starts by asking whether the message sender supports White House policy or differs with it." LINK

More work on this one needs to be done to figure it all out.

Ari Fleischer appeared on Late Night last night (three segments), apparently still working for the president, as Letterman observed, and discussed the challenges of the job, the very sticky WMD issue, the impressively frustrating Helen Thomas, the Devil's advocate nature of the press corps (less hostile outside of the briefing room), the president's pronunciation of the word "nuclear" ( a Letterman pet peeve), his own mother's birthday (Happy Birthday, Mamma Ari!), his blunder in suggesting the Iraqi people might want to send a bullet Saddam's way, and the leadership of his former employer ("a remarkably wonderful boss … a wonderful uplifting manager").

He also provided his own self-mocking version of Late Night's newly recurring bit "A George W. Bush joke that's not really a joke."