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President Bush, after breakfasting with the rest of the Gang of Five at the White House early this morning, will drop by the closed House Republican Conference meeting at 10:40 am and make remarks.
No real news was committed by the Leaders Leaving Breakfast, either at the stakeout or in the now routine, post-stakeout cable interviews.
Ten minutes prior to the president's trip to the Hill, assuming they get started on time, congressional Democrats will gather to unveil their platform for the 2002 elections, dubbed "Securing America's future for all our families." Leaders Daschle and Gephardt, along with members of their caucuses, will hit Bush and Republicans on five issues: Social Security, pension protection, prescription drug reform, the environment, and education.
We don't know the tick-tock behind the planning of these events, though our minimal amount of reporting this morning suggests it was dumb luck more than one event purposely scheduled to try to trump the other, but both demonstrate a pretty healthy degree of unity on both sides between the leadership and the rank-and-file, and a recognition that that they must hang together, or surely they will hang separately, in the political and policy wars of 2002.
Don't take such unity for granted. Both parties have a history at this point in the cycle of suffering through a bit of internal divisiveness.
We follow this stuff pretty closely and we barely knew about the Democrats' event, which has gotten no advance play from any big news organization this morning, as best we can find — although one party spokesperson suggested, quite plausibly, that advance spinning on this event was kept to a minimum because the press tends to greet it with a yawn.
That said, the fact that Democrats finally seem to have arrived at an agenda for the midterm elections is a pretty big develop.m.ent, we think — even if, as one Republican pointed out to us last night at the $33 million gala, they may be announcing their agenda for the year awfully late.
A war of words seems to be boiling just below the surface between the two parties over Democrats' — and the media's — use of the word "privatization" in talking about Social Security versus the GOP's apparently new (and surely focus-grouped?) preference on emphasizing "personal accounts," all of which may break through today with the Democrats' rally.
After he attends the House Republican Conference meeting, President Bush will make remarks at an annual peace officers' event on Capitol Hill, which no doubt will have September 11 overtones. We don't know whether it's because of a Democratic spin failure, media ignorance, or a strategic decision on the White House's part not to advance Bush's speech given yesterday's photo flap, but reporters today fail to link the Bush/September 11 snapshot brouhaha to these remarks.
The various responses to, and coverage of the photo has surprised us in some ways, and not in others. Predictably, the goo-goo's (good-government groups) say it's a problem.
But we were taken a little aback by the ferocity of the Democratic response/attack, with Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe out there calling it "grotesque" and even Al Gore weighing in — though just about every mention of Gore's statement was followed by a reminder of his Buddhist temple episode.
We have found more than one Republican (and one journalist) who see some comedy in the notion of the White House being lectured on campaign finance ethics by Gore (Buddhist temple and ice tea), McAuliffe (who didn't invent the sleep-overs), and Senator Robert Torricelli (comment unnecessary, but never indicted).
This sentence, without elaboration, stands out like a sore thumb in the New York Times account: "A senior White House official responded with a pointed reminder of the fund-raising scandals of the Clinton administration, particularly the overnight stays in the Lincoln Bedroom that were offered to major contributors."
Still, some Republicans at the gala last night shook their heads and said it looked kinda unseemly. The Los Angeles Times reports, "The party's marketing of Bush's Sept. 11 photo surprised even some Republicans."
"'It's a sign of sloppiness,' said one GOP strategist. 'Why use a picture that's going to cause a controversy when there are 2 million' others available, he said."
"Scott Reed, who managed Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign, added: 'Every piece of direct mail that goes out needs to be looked at … on how it would play vis-à-vis the occupant of the White House.'"
And though we could have guessed that Ari would stonewall on it, even he seemed, well, stonier than usual.
Feel like feeling frustrated? Read the full transcript of yesterday's White House briefing.
After refusing to address the matter at his morning gaggle of reporters yesterday, Ari then refused repeatedly to actually answer directly the several attempts made to get at the heart of the matter.
As Maureen Dowd quotes and analyzes him: "'Any picture taken of the president in that context is a reminder of how this president has brought the nation together, Democrats and Republicans alike,' he added, transforming a red-handed moment of partisanship into a glad-handing moment of bipartisanship."
We're also surprised that, given that the White House knew about this in advance, the political shop and the two campaign committees hadn't fully vetted the facts on where the picture came from.
This is not so much a matter of the media's obsession with process and personality (although we'd never deny that the media is obsessed with process and personality), as it is a matter of proper government functioning and an awareness of just how political this White House is.
It's in the public interest to know how such things get approved at the highest levels of our government. And as the story appears to drift away, it's possible we'll never get those answers.
Will the story in fact drift away? (Cable is still covering it today; Hastert this morning on CNN said he was surprised by the photo himself, but/and would like a copy.)
Will the picture actually be sold? If so, how many will be sold? And will Democrats stay on the attack over it?
A paragraph caption describing the three pictures includes a reference to a shot of "President Bush's historic State of the Union speech before a joint session of Congress than united a nation and a world."
But the picture in question shows President Bush speaking to Congress on Feb. 27, 2001, well before the Sept. 11 attacks.
The Washington Times takes a step back and looks at the press' "incredulity" that the GOP would have no compunction about using the photo.
"Reuters was not the only media outlet to profit from the photo. The Washington Post used it to help sell a series of articles by Bob Woodward titled '10 Days in September.' As of yesterday, the paper's Web site still was using the photo to tout the series about the terrorist attacks." Hasn't the Washington Times ever heard of Dan Balz?
As for the gala itself, you would not believe how few reporters covered the biggest political fundraiser in US history last night.
And with one energetic exception, there is next to no newspaper coverage detailing who attended the briefings yesterday by Administration officials for fat-cat donors, which are kind of the ultimate donor maintenance events that don't involve golf or tennis or skiing.
The Washington Post 's Allen reports, "Republican officials said the $33 million record from last night's black-tie dinner could stand in perpetuity, because the huge takes at such events consist largely of loosely regulated 'soft money,' which is to be banned after the November elections under the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law Bush signed in March."
"Before tucking into their balsamic-glazed tenderloins of beef, top donors were invited to breakfast with Cheney's counselor, Mary Matalin, at the St. Regis Hotel, followed by a meeting with senators and House members. About 70 were rewarded with lunch with Cheney at the Willard Inter-Continental Hotel. Other GOP high rollers heard from Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans; Education Secretary Roderick R. Paige; Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd Whitman; Karl Rove, Bush's senior adviser; and White House political director Ken Mehlman."
The Washington Times reports in another story, "Mr. Bush has helped the RNC raise a total of more than $45 million so far this year, another record, Republican National Committee Chairman Marc Racicot said."
Marc Sandalow gets this spin from Ken Mehlman: "Once the president has completed his duties as commander in chief, and his legislative duties and others, he certainly has as one of his goals that we keep GOP control of the House and Senate," said White House Political Director Ken Mehlman."
Just to note, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee last night raised $2.6 million at its annual Taste of the States fundraiser, up slightly from last year's intake.
From the ABCNEWS London Bureau: Palestinian leader Arafat has called for free elections and an overhaul of the Palestinian Authority. Addressing the Palestinian Assembly in Ramallah for the first time since the siege of his West Bank headquarters was lifted, Arafat said that he was to blame for any errors. He said the Authority was badly in need of a re-evaluation of its policies as it sought independence. He also said his people would never abandon their commitment to peace and achieving an independent Palestinian state with its capital in Jerusalem.
Budget Politics
Pre-war, some of you will recall, we mostly wrote here about Big Casino, the collision between all of the president's irreconcilable campaign budget promises (defense, Social Security, prescription drugs, etc), the sagging economy, decreasing revenues, increasing deficits, and lockbox pledges.
How Mr. Bush was going to get out of that mess was going to be a big story, singularly defining his presidency and national politics.
Then September 11 happened, and the nation's political leaders agreed to bust open the lockboxes and run deficits.
The president took to claiming that he had said "repeatedly" during the campaign that he wouldn't agree to do either of those things except in three cases: national emergency, recession, or war. He always gets big laughs on the hustings when he says, well, the country was hit with all three at the same time.
The only problem (actually, not the ONLY problem, but one of them) is that we have never been able to find, even with the help of reporters who covered the campaign every day, and from Mr. Bush's own advisers, any reference to the president saying this even ONCE, let alone "repeatedly."
Last night at the Republican fundraiser, the president offered up a version of this tale which was new to our ears. We didn't want to wake Mike Allen and ask him if it was new (yes, yes, we know that the notion of "waking up" Mike Allen seems implausible), but we ask Mike now: have you heard the following before, and if so, to what is Bush referring?
"Another thing we're going to be working on is the budget. I was in Chicago in 2000; some guy said … a reporter, excuse me, said … (laughter) … a male reporter said … (laughter) … would you ever allow a deficit. I said, only if we're at war, or only if the nation were in recession, or only if we had a national emergency would I allow a deficit. Well, this administration got all three."
Does citing this specific mean that the president is acknowledging that he didn't make this point "repeatedly?"
Every time this President gives the Congress a deadline by which he demands action, we recall his father having done that on occasion, almost never to good effect. Now, with the debt ceiling problem still unacted on by a balky Congress, the president has had to set a deadline, or the land of gimmicks and the threat of default will loom large and possible.
"The Treasury faces obligations in late June that, on the basis of current projections, cannot be surmounted without an increase in the statutory debt limit," the Treasury Department said Tuesday in a statement whose dryness hid the lemon swirl of politics around it.
The New York Times ' Dick Stevenson, who would win the Pulitzer in the
debt-ceiling category if those clowns were smart enough to create that prize, catches the politics (again) beautifully: "Many conservative Republicans have also been loathe to cast an election-year vote on increasing the debt limit, a step that would appear to run counter to their calls for smaller government."
"But neither party wants to be responsible for sullying the reputation of the United States government as the most credit-worthy borrower of all. Ultimately, administration officials and members of both parties said, Congress and the White House have to reach a deal."
"The White House has signaled that it is willing to take the political hit involved in passing the measure to avert possible turmoil in the financial markets. But Republican leaders in Congress continue to search for a politically palatable solution … "
"Democratic leaders in the Senate have promised to bring up the measure as soon as it passes the House. But Democrats have also made it clear that they would use the debate to make their case that the country was in a fiscal mess because of Mr. Bush's tax cut."
The Wall Street Journal has an article on Mitch Daniels' efforts to sell off government assets that gets as close to a must-read as such a piece can get — right up to the line, but not quite there, mostly because of the MEGO factor. We'd lose all credibility if we made this one a must-read.
Buildings and loans are part of the effort, "all part of Mr. Daniels's broader 'management agenda,' which also includes 'outsourcing' more government services and tying programs' funding to measurable results for a more efficient government. But the asset sales have an unstated goal: simply to raise money now that federal deficits have returned. The potential return isn't huge in terms of a $2 trillion annual budget, but could run into the tens of billions of dollars, Mr. Daniels says."
The Washington Post
reports up front: "the Senate intelligence committee last week approved President Bush's budget request for fiscal 2003, which will increase the total amount spent by the Pentagon, CIA and other intelligence agencies to nearly $35 billion, congressional and administration sources said. That represents an increase of $2 billion to $3 billion over this year, and comes on top of $1 billion in additional money … [passed] shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks."
Trade Politics
With yesterday's Senate vote turning the trade promotion authority bill into a fast track/slow track measure, those business lobbyists thinking seven steps ahead in the game of three-dimensional chess that ends (they hope) with getting a signable bill to the president's desk have focused on one of the next keys: who will the Senate conferees be?
"Only hours before yesterday's vote, Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans, Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman and Zoellick said formally for the first time that they would 'strongly' recommend a veto of the trade bill if the Dayton-Craig provision was included," the Washington Post reports.
The provision passed in the Senate gets this spot-on analysis from The Wall Street Journal : "Support for the Dayton-Craig provision is yet another sign of the deepening ambivalence that many in Congress feel for the effort to widen U.S. trade ties with the rest of the world. Even in the Senate, the far more pro-trade half of Congress, many are concerned that past trade pacts like Nafta have hurt entire manufacturing sectors."
And in the wake of Democratic Rep. Tom Sawyer's primary loss, seemingly over a past trade vote, Republicans are trying to avoid a causality of their own in a June 11 primary, as per a brilliant David Rogers Wall Street Journal daily story: "Trying to help one of their colleagues in a hard-fought South Carolina primary, House Republicans are preparing to make new concessions to the textile industry as part of a $29 billion-plus emergency-spending bill due for a floor vote next week."
His name is Jim DeMint, he's from South Carolina, and he has the president's endorsement in return for his fast-track vote, but if he loses, boy oh boy, will that make final TPA passage tough in the House we bet.
ABC 2004: The Invisible Primary
The Boston Herald
plays up Senator John Kerry's response to the Bush/September 11 photo: "'It's troubling to think that anyone would try to use the events of Sept. 11 as a partisan fund-raising tool,' Kerry (D-Mass) said. 'This is one Republican fund-raising scheme that remains inappropriate under any time or circumstance.'"
After ANWR, we've been wondering what new pet causes Senators Kerry and Lieberman might take up. Well today, Lieberman's Senate Governmental Affairs Committee is holding a hearing on college student binge drinking, while Kerry is holding a joint press conference with, of all people, Republican Senate campaign committee chairman Bill Frist "to unveil a bi-partisan, long-term public policy and funding strategy to help tackle" AIDS/HIV globally.
Identified as "the former United States senator from New Jersey" (note the definite article) and "an adviser to McKinsey & Company," Bill Bradley co-authors an op-ed in the New York Times urging rich non-profits to spend freely now to fix problems that a deficit-addled government can't address.
This Gannett story on Bradley's visit to New Hampshire yesterday contains this Invisible-worthy quote: "'He's very seriously considering running. If he weren't, he wouldn't go to New Hampshire,'" said New Jersey state Democratic Senate President Richard J. Codey, D-Essex, who co-chaired Bradley's national campaign in 2000 and talks to him regularly."
This came out after our deadline yesterday: a North Carolina GOP release double-sipping on Edwards' ADA rating, claiming "Edwards ranks as Most Liberal Senator North Carolina has had, according to Liberal Activist Organization"-- meaning Americans for Democratic Action.
The Edwards folks e-mailed around a press release this morning headlined, "Edwards anti-terrorism bill becomes law," in reference to a border security provision Edwards introduced last fall.
Lieberman doesn't seem to make any news in his interview with Godfrey Sperling about a possible presidential run, but Sperling's view of the prospect of Lieberman breaking his Gore pledge makes us chuckle.
Politics
Although the wires lit up with allegations of intimidation, yesterday's Newark mayoral election
was relatively tame. And Sharpe James, the current Mayor and alleged leader of one of the last remaining machine collectives in big city politics, defeated his upstart challenger Cory Booker by nine percentage points.
Note that the White House apparently couldn't find a top Republican to fill out the East Timor delegation with 42, per this White House press release, which we plan to have laser printed, mounted, and then sell to Clinton-loving Democrats, as part of a set, along with a copy of the press release announcing his book deal, for $150.
"President George W. Bush today announced his designation of the following six individuals to represent the United States at the inauguration of President Xanana Gusmau, the first President of East Timor, on May 20, 2002."
"Former President Bill Clinton, will serve as the leader of the delegation … "
Geez, not even a "William Jefferson … "
Financial disclosure forms are due today for White House, House and Senate staffers. Which news organizations actually will read them?
Michael Crowley reports in
The New Republic that the grumbling among Democrats over McAuliffe's grand plan to build a new party headquarters further away from Capitol Hill — for which the party would have had to cover the costs entirely this year, before McCain-Feingold kicks in — may be fizzling. The plan got big play when two party donors contributed $12 million between them for the construction of the new HQ.
DNC chairman McAuliffe and DC elected officials will meet with Daschle today to kick off a DC voting rights movement.
Is it the slightest bit possible that WFAA (the monstrously successful ABC affiliate in Dallas), which seemed to snag an exclusive interview with the president last week, actually faked the whole thing with some sort of Max Headroomy-type faux, computer-generated "interview?"
We ask because the "Bush" in that "interview" called former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, the Democrats' nominee for Senate, an "obstructionist." Last night at the Republican gala fundraiser, a man who appeared to our naked eyes to be the president said, "A year ago I said that I would do my part to try to change the tone in Washington, D.C., to get rid of the needless name-calling that tends to go on here … "
This warrants more looking into.
New Hampshire
Facing a tough primary challenge from Rep. John Sununu, Senator Bob Smith (R) goes up on the air today with an interesting piece of heavy artillery: a 30-second television ad featuring, speaking to camera, an endorsement from Rudy Giuliani.
We learned about this when we got a page yesterday from the "603" area code which, for us, is like a normal person getting a "911" page, or for some of you, two years ago, like getting a "512" page.
The ad is slated to start with a pretty big buy on WMUR in Manchester today. One savvy Granite Stater says the buy is for two weeks for $70,000 total.
Details are scarce, since Giuliani's office refused to comment, and Smith's office simply put out a statement saying that Rudy would come to the Granite State and campaign for Smith and saying, "Giuliani called Smith a strong leader and said he was 'experienced, effective and always puts principle before politics.'"
Well, now isn't this interesting? Giulani made ads for the two failed gubernatorial candidates in 2001, but this cycle, as far as we know, his only spots so far have been for his old friend Bill Simon in California.
Why would Rudy do this for Smith? The two couldn't be farther apart on gun control, abortion, or gay rights.
Last night, as the Note was leaving the Republican gala, still pondering the mystery of the endorsement, what should happen (oh, Serendipity, thy name is heavenly) but we ran right into Senator Smith, standing alone.
The Note approached, clearly identified itself as a reporter for ABC News, and thusly conducted what we believe is the first Bob Smith interview EVER on why Rudy Giuliani is endorsing him.
Unfortunately, the most interesting aspect of the interview was the Senator's unwillingness to answer some pretty basic questions.
Like, "Senator, how did this come about?"
"We aren't talking about that," Smith said. "We are letting the ad speak for itself."
"Well, how long have you known Rudy Giuliani?"
"A long time."
"Did you set this up directly with the Mayor? Was it done by an intermediary?"
The Senator refused to say.
What, the Senator was asked, will the Union-Leader say about this in Wednesday's paper?
"Who cares?" the Senator said when asked about his state's largest paper, which has shown an obvious favoritism toward Sununu.
"Are you worried about what some conservative primary voters might think about Giuliani's liberal views on social issues?"
The Senator expressed apparent shock at such a question. "Rudy Giuliani is a hero," he said, suggesting that any politician would love his support.
Now, we can't wait to figure out how this came about. One Republican source says that Giuliani's PAC plans to give Smith $10,000 already, and that the endorsement was worked out staff-to-staff. The source says that Giuliani plans to urge Sununu to change lanes and run for re-election to his House seat.
But all that still begs the question of WHY he is endorsing Smith.
In the old electronic database, we can't find much evidence of past Smith-Giuliani ties, although they have hung out at Ground Zero together.
At first, we found this vintage 1989 Washington Post story with the powerful Ann Devroy/Frank Swoboda byline, which we thought might be evidence that the Mayor might not have the warmest feelings for John Sununu the elder:
"In what aides described as a political thank-you for an endorsement, President-elect George Bush and his incoming White House chief of staff met privately yesterday with top officials of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, including six scheduled to go on trial next month in a Justice Department civil suit charging them with racketeering … "
"U.S. Attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani, who filed the suit, said at the time its purpose was to 'take back the Teamsters from the Mafia.'"
But then we found this clip, also from 1989:
"Signaling President Bush's unusually strong support for Rudolph W. Giuliani's mayoral campaign, three Cabinet secretaries and the president's chief of staff (Sununu) will be the main attractions at Giuliani fund-raisers in the next week."
It will be interesting to see what the younger Sununu has to say about all this.
In the meantime, memo to Kevin Landrigan and Debbie Orin: get on this.
In a letter to the editor of the Nashua Telegraph yesterday, a former vice-chair of the state Republican party called on Sununu to get out of the Senate primary.
One of the reasons why candidates need to spend so much time in New Hampshire is because there are lots of hands to shake. We're not talking about voters; reading this story on redistricting, we are reminded again that the Granite State has 400 state house members. Twenty-eight are in Nashua alone.
California
Gov. Gray Davis (D) bit the bullet and is ready to raise some taxes (the car tax included!) to deal with the state's budget mess.
As World News Tonight reported last night, California faces the biggest state budget deficit in the nation's history: $23.6 billion — more than what the state legislature thought, more than what Davis thought, more than what budgeteers had planned for.
Davis proposed raising the cigarette tax, phasing in a car tax increase, reducing state aid to municipalities and cutting more than $7.5 billion in state services. Besides the obvious lobbying frenzy that will result, one that Davis's doesn't need politically right now, an acrimonious and difficult summer budget session of the legislature could impinge upon prime campaigning time for the governor.
Davis's gubernatorial opponent, Bill Simon, contended that Davis's "the governor's mismanagement will be paid for by future generations of Californians."
"By raising taxes and slashing programs for the poor, the budget Gov. Gray Davis outlined Tuesday provides an opening for his opponents, Democrat and Republican alike. But it also shows a willingness to take unpopular stands, something not usually associated with a governor who has long found solace in the center and often delayed—recklessly, critics say—inevitably tough decisions."
"In both word and deed, the governor challenged Republicans in the Legislature as well as their gubernatorial candidate, Bill Simon Jr., to come up with a less painful way of closing the $23.6-billion gap."
The Wall Street Journal 's lead editorial attacks Davis for trying to blame Enron for the state's energy mess. And in case you miss that one, across the page, Holman Jenkins' column is on THE EXACT SAME THING.
In Oracle news, a state official has told the joint legislative audit committee that she tried and failed to get information about the $95 million contract from a company hired by Oracle to sell the idea.
Florida
Gov. Jeb Bush tried to campaign yesterday, but everywhere he went, those pesky cameras and the reporters who chase them asked about Rilya, Rilya, Rilya.
The Orlando Sentinelpredicts that today's release of statewide achievement test scores will spell "failure" for thousands of students and probably fuel another news cycle of negative education press for the Governor.
New York
When will the New York Times ed board learn: Senator Clinton has long had intense Democratic Leadership Council-type views on all sorts of issues, countermanding the mistaken impression of her as a orthodox liberal? Today, the paper expresses surprise that Mrs. Clinton is working with the president on welfare reform, and they don't like what they see.
The New York Post blares this exclusive about the newest subsidiary of what is a pretty phenomenal start-up enterprise: Hillary Clinton's political fundraising. "Clinton has quietly created 'HILLPAC-NY,' the New York arm of 'HILLPAC,' her enormously successful national fund-raising operation."
"The former first lady's new state outfit will direct money to whomever wins the Democratic gubernatorial primary — Andrew Cuomo or Carl McCall — plus into select legislative races, according to sources familiar with the new political-action committee."
The papers were filed in February, but the crack press corps didn't see them until now.
Carl McCall, invoking the Ghost of Cuomo Campaigns Past, thinks Andrew Cuomo should have to tell the world why his law firm paid him so very much money by releasing his client list. And the New York Democratic party power structure (if there is such a thing) has to wonder: is the primary really still four months away?
South Carolina
"The federal government's plans for shipping plutonium to South Carolina have given Democratic Gov. Jim Hodges a dream issue — a chance to buck Washington, to champion the environment, and to practice a highway blockade," The State notes. Meanwhile, "The plutonium issue has divided the seven Republicans" seeking the GOP nomination to challenge Hodges."
Massachusetts
Robert Reich may have run smack into a case of not being able to have it both ways. Reich, who made over $800,000 in speeches last year, continued to keep speaking appointments even after starting his campaign for governor, with his aides billing it as Reich always sticking to his commitments.
"But according to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Reich
partly failed to live up to his promise on April 6. Reich left halfway through an address for which he was to be paid approximately $40,000, and the university's charitable foundation has written a letter of complaint to the company that arranged the speech … He was scheduled to speak for half an hour, but gave a 15-minute address, saying he had to catch a plane back to Massachusetts. It was not clear yesterday whether the university is seeking return of part of its fee."
Pennsylvania
The Philadelphia Inquirer has more details about the NRA's radio ads supporting state Auditor Bob Casey, Jr. over former Philly Mayor Ed Rendell in the Democratic gubernatorial primary.
""This is an urgent alert for gun owners and hunters in Pennsylvania," says a male voice in the one-minute spot heard on radio stations in mostly rural areas across the state.
Over ominous music, voters hear that Rendell is a "big-city politician" who "doesn't respect your rights or values. And if he wins he won't hesitate to strip them away. Don't let him do it."
Texas
Senator Jim Jeffords (I) will campaign for Democratic Senate nominee Ron Kirk in Houston on Sunday.
Virginia
"Prosecutors announced [yesterday] that they were abandoning their criminal eavesdropping case against Edmund A. Matricardi III, the former Virginia Republican Party official who still faces a joint federal-state inquiry into the monitoring of Democratic conference calls by GOP operatives," the Washington Post reports.
Bush Administration Strategy/Personality
The Washington Post 's Connolly reports, "The Bush administration, after complaints from Congress and public health experts,
announced yesterday it will not pursue plans to loosen regulations that govern screening of low-income children for lead poisoning."
The Washington Post 's Gerhart notes the First Lady's flexibility and passion for her pet issue of education as demonstrated in this early stage of her European tour.
The Note's European Correspondent, Gayle Tzemach, offers this theory as to why the First Lady and the First Daughter are not getting the kind of Britney-Justin coverage some thought they would receive in France.
We are leaving it in the charming Bridget Jonesey style that the young on both sides of the Atlantic affect in their e-mails, rendering its 30,000 feet analysis no less potent, maybe even more so:
"think the french are simply selfobsessed and overwhelmed with excitement, from what i could read in their papers, about their new algerian-ancestry cabinet minister … ."
"seriously, think they are obsessed wtih their own govt's cabinet-building and paying little attention to pres spouses. also key: european political wives dont command much attention as a rule so suppose not exactly that surprising that amer pol spouses dont either … "
"(and in a real sign of french sensibility, woody allen made cover of le figaro web site for his visit to cannes … )"
-- 9:30 am, Senate meets to debate trade legislation
-- 9:30 am, Deputy Defense Secretary Wolfowitz addresses Brookings Institution forum, National Press Club
-- 9:30 am, Democracy 21 news conference releases its "No Bark, No Bite" report on the Federal Election Commission
-- 9:30 am, Senate Commerce Subcommittee hearing on electricity price manipulation
-- 9:45 am, White House off-camera morning gaggle
-- 10:00 am, House meets to debate the Personal Responsibility, Work, and Family Protection Act
-- 10:30 am, Senate Majority Leader Daschle, House Minority Leader Gephardt, and Senate and House Democrats unveil the party's 2002 midterm elections agenda, East Front Steps, US Capitol
-- 10:40 am, President Bush attends House Republican Conference meeting
-- 12 noon, President Bush address 21st annual peace officers' event, West Front, US Capitol
-- 12:30 pm, State Department briefing
-- 1:15 pm, White House on-camera briefing
-- 6:30 pm, tribute gala honoring former President and Mrs. Reagan, featuring video message from President Bush and remarks by Nancy Reagan, Reagan Building
Newly listed events are italicized.
-- May 16: Vice President Dick Cheney headlines GOP fundraiser for NY Gov. George Pataki, NYC
-- May 16: Conservative Party of New York State annual dinner
-- May 16: National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast, DC
-- May 16: former President and Nancy Reagan to receive the Congressional Gold Medal (Mrs.Reagan to accept), DC
-- May 17: Vermont Gov. Howard Dean speaks to Gill Foundation Outgiving Conference, San Francisco
-- May 17: President Bush meets with Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek of Slovenia
-- May 17-18: RNC legal compliance seminar, Chicago, Ill.
-- May 18: Attorney General John Ascroft speaks at University of Missouri Law School
-- May 18: Sen. Patty Murray (D) keynotes Arkansas Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, Little Rock
-- May 19: Al and Tipper Gore's 32nd wedding anniversary
-- May 19: Sen. Joseph Lieberman holds PAC fundraiser, Milwaukee
-- May 20: Florida Democrats Jefferson-Jackson dinner, speaker TBD
-- May 20: Sen. Joseph Lieberman speaks to Detroit Economic Club -- May 20: New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg fundraises for GOP Federal Victory Fund, DC
-- May 20: Former President Bill Clinton travels to East Timor.
-- May 21: Pennsylvania primary (Democratic primary for governor)
-- May 21: Lynne Cheney appears on ABC's "This View"
-- May 21: Final Dick Armey Fishing Tournament, Columbia Island, Va -- May 21: New Democrat Network spring political conference
--May 21: Former Vice President Al Gore holds PAC fundraiser, DC --May 21: Arkansas, Oregon and Pennsylvania primaries
-- May 22-23: New York Democratic party convention, Sheraton New York, NYC
-- May 22: Tom Delay hosts ARMAPC 2002 Reception, DC
-- May 22-23: President and Mrs. Bush visit Berlin
--May 22: AFL-CIO members expected to ratify increased dues levy for political purposes, New York, NY
-- May 22: Democratic National Convention site selection committee meets to decide on possible sites and a site visit schedule, DC
-- May 23-25: President and Mrs. Bush visit Moscow
-- May 24: signature deadline for some California ballot initiatives
-- May 25: signature deadline for Oregon ballot initiatives
-- May 27--30: U.S. Senate/U.S. House not in session
-- May 27: Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd's birthday
-- May 28: Idaho and Kentucky primary
-- May 28: South Dakota pre-primary financial disclosure forms due
-- May 28: President Bush attends NATO Summit, Italy
-- May 28-29: New York GOP Convention (Gov. George Pataki's formal renomination) -- May 29: Sen. Joe Lieberman and the Democratic Leadership Council host forum on "The Battle for Latino Voters," Los Angeles
-- May 31: Tipper Gore fundraises for New Hampshire Democratic Party, Concord
-- June 1: New Hampshire Democratic Party State Convention, St. Anslem's college.
-- June 1: Massachusetts Democratic Party State Convention
-- June 2-3: Senator Joseph Lieberman visits New Hampshire
-- July 1-5: U.S. Senate/U.S. House not in session
-- June 4: Iowa Primary
-- June 4: South Dakota Primary
-- June 4: Former Vice President Al Gore holds PAC fundraisers in San Francisco, Los Angeles -- June 5: Congressional candidate Katherine Harris attends GOP luncheon at Valis Associaties, DC
-- June 5: Former Vice President Al Gore holds fundraiser for NH Sen. candidate Jeanne Shaheen, Los Angeles
-- June 7: President Rudolf Schuster of the Slovak Republic visits Washington
-- June 7: Vermont Gov. Howard Dean gives commencement speech at University of Michigan medical school
-- June 7: Vermont Gov. Howard Dean keynotes Michigan House Democratic Caucus reception
-- June 7-8: Wisconsin State Democratic Party convention
-- June 8: Al Gore addresses Wisc. Dem. Convention
-- June 8: Vermont Gov. Howard Dean gives commencement speech at Dartmouth medical school, NH
-- June 8: Sen. Patty Murray keynotes Tennessee Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, Nashville
-- June 10: North Carolina Senator John Edwards' birthday.
-- June 11: Vermont Gov. Howard Dean keynotes Clinton County, NY Salute to Labor Committee celebration.
-- June 14: North Carolina Senator John Edwards speaks to Iowa Democratic Party Hall of Fame, Polk County, IA -- June 14-18: U.S. Conference of Mayors meets in Madison, Wisconsin
-- June 14-15: RNC legal compliance seminar, Las Vegas
-- June 15-16: Iowa Democratic Party state convention
-- June 13-15: Texas Democratic party convention, El Paso
-- June 17: Deadline for proposals from 2004 convention city prospects
-- June 19: NRCC/NRSC dinner, DC
-- June 21: N.C. Sen. John Edwards celebrates Flag Day in New Hampshire
-- June 22: N.C. Sen. John Edwards attends Merrimack County Annual Pig Roast
-- June 27: Rep. Jim Traficant's sentencing scheduled to take place
-- June 23-25: Election Law Summit, Washington, D.C.
-- June 25: Utah primary
-- June 25-30: National Conference of Lieutenant Governors annual meeting, St. Croix, Virgin Islands
-- June 27-30: Southern Republican Leadership Conference, Charlotte
-- July 3-7: Libertarian Party National Convention, Indianapolis
-- July 4: WMUR Statehouse reporter Scott Spradling to wed.
-- July 5: last day for Washington state ballot measures to be presented
-- July 6: President Bush's birthday.
-- July 9-12: Northwest Regional Election Conference, Portland, Oregon
-- July 13: Sen. Joe Lieberman keynotes Louisiana Democrats' Jefferson-Jackson dinner
-- July 15: New York periodic disclosure forms due
-- July 18-21: Green Party of the United States annual convention, Philadelphia
-- July 20-24: American Trial Lawyers Association Annual Meeting, Atlanta
-- July 26-30: National Association of Secretaries of State annual meeting, Providence, Rhode Island
-- July 28: Bill Bradley's birthday.
-- Aug. 6: Michigan primary (Democratic primary for governor)
-- Aug. 7: last day for Ohio ballot measures to be presented
-- Aug. 8-11: Democratic National Committee meets, Las Vegas
-- Aug. 14: Lynne Cheney's birthday.
-- Aug. 19: Bill Clinton's birthday.
-- Aug 19: Tipper Gore's birthday.
-- Aug. 20: Georgia primaries
-- Aug 26: Jury selection begins in John Walker Lindh trial
-- Sept. 10: Florida, New Hampshire, and New York primaries (Florida: Democratic primary for governor; New Hampshire: Republican primary for Senate and primaries on both sides for governor; New York: Democratic primary for governor)
-- Sept. 17: Massachusetts primary (Democratic primary for governor)
-- Sept. 30: Jury selection begins for trial of Zacarias Moussaoui
-- Sept. 30: Discovery ends in McCain-Feingold lawsuit (tentative).
-- Oct. 4: Al Sharpton's birthday.
-- Oct. 15 (tentative): Zacarias Moussaoui trial begins
-- October 26: New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's birthday
-- Nov. 4: Laura Bush's birthday
-- Nov. 4: Deadline for opening briefs, McCain-Feingold lawsuit (tentative).
-- Nov. 5: Election Day
-- Nov. 17: Vermont Governor Howard Dean's birthday.
-- Nov. 18: Deadline for opposition briefs, McCain-Feingold lawsuit (tentative).
-- Nov. 20: Delaware Senator. Joseph Biden's birthday
-- Dec. 4: Oral arguments begun in McCain-Feingold lawsuit. (tentative)
-- Dec. 9: South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle's birthday
-- Dec. 11: Massachusetts Senator John Kerry's birthday
-- Dec. 13: Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack's birthday
-- Dec. 26: California Governor. Gray Davis's birthday
-- Jan. 30, 2003: Vice President Dick Cheney's birthday
-- Jan. 31, 2003: Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt's birthday
-- Feb. 24, 2003: Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman's birthday
-- March 11, 2003: Georgia Governor Roy Barnes's birthday
-- March 31, 2003: Al Gore's birthday
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