W A S H I N G T O N, May 16
—The moment of truth may come today: at some point in this news cycle, based on his schedule, President Bush might choose to look the American people in the eye, figuratively speaking, and explain what he knew, when he knew it, and his answer to the media's latest process obsession—why this news that he got briefed about a possible bin Laden-organized hijacking attempt a month prior to September 11 is coming out only now.
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The president did not address the issue at his early morning appearance at the Hispanic Prayer Breakfast. His only other currently scheduled public event is an afternoon speech at the awarding of the Congressional Gold Medal to former President and Mrs. Reagan, up at the US Capitol.
But with no press events or photo ops scheduled, the president could choose to ignore engaging on this directly if he wishes. The question for White House media handlers is, would that be the right move?
If we were the betting kinds, we'd bet they decide to put him out to talk about this. There will be no shortage of Democrats out today talking about it.
And if the early indications are any indication (Governor Pataki and Senator Shelby on morning TV), Republicans are going to go with the Democrat and media flow and agree that questions must be asked, and answers must be given about all of this.
If you are a congressional press secretary and you don't realize this already, tell your boss — whether he/she is planning a news conference today on light rail subsidies, or cloning bans, or whatever — that we the media have only one interest today, and this is it.
Note that we'll also get a somewhat rare appearance tonight from Vice President Cheney, who may get a turn at bat as well when he addresses the New York Conservative Party dinner. Cheney also will headline a closed fundraiser for the Republican House campaign committee — recently in the news as the co-beneficiary of the Bush/September 11 photo fundraising effort — at New York Mayor Bloomberg's house at mid-day.
It's not clear if it will be logistically possible to try for door-stop comments from Cheney at any point along his route today, but you can bet that the New York press, if not necessarily the national press (which tends to ignore Cheney when he travels, even to Gotham), will try.
Three great disparities currently exist between the two major political parties, all of which work to the GOP's advantage, and all of which are in some way on display today.
First: plain and simple, Republicans are able to raise more campaign cash.
Second: Republicans maintain their ability to cast Democrats as tax-and-spend liberals to such an extent that Democrats have become paralyzed. See Al Hunt's column in the The Wall Street Journal for the latest indictment of Democrats' failure to make political hay over, or call for, what they all believe in their hearts — that the Bush tax cut should be repealed.
Third, and most applicable today: with lead and front-page stories everywhere about what the New York Post calls "A 9/11 Bombshell" is the GOP's dominance on "daddy issues."
George W. Bush's greatest political success to date has been to mute Democratic advantages on "mommy issues" — education and health care first and foremost. (Remember that on health care, Bush ran on having a prescription drug benefit and a patients bill of rights, and the House keeps working on this stuff.)
Even if Republicans aren't at parity in the polling on these issues, Democrats' hands are somewhat tied by not being able to explain how they would pay for their proposed reforms.
But on daddy issues, even on a day like this, when the president would appear to be highly vulnerable, Democrats basically are back in their Cold War fetal position, unable to full-throatedly criticize the GOP because of the public perception, and the deep-seated cultural impression, that the Democrats simply are weaker on protecting America — for all Senator John Edwards' good, prosecutorial attempts on GMA this morning.
Obviously, there are some serious and substantive governmental questions about America's intelligence capabilities and processing leading up to September 11, and a bipartisan desire to look into what happened. And we'll leave the pursuit of that to others who are far more qualified.
As a political story, though, because of the president and the GOP's near-total untouchability on these types of issues, we find it very unlikely that — barring the production of some smoking gun, which never seems to exist with this Administration — this will play any role in determining the outcome of the 2002 or 2004 elections.
If all of this were happening under a Democratic Administration, however, rest assured that things would be quite different.
Also rest assured that if this issue does seem to be gaining some political traction, or if Karl even starts to fear that it might, the White House likely will fight back with utterly predictable, blind and on-the-record quotes along two lines: 1) we'll hear about how "angry" President Bush is about what has happened, and 2) we'll be reminded that all of this took place only soon after President Bush took office, and Clinton-Gore will be blamed for eight years of neglect of US intelligence capabilities.
Now, the man Republicans STILL like to call the Democrats' "top attack dog" (see today's New York Post , James Carville, is for this news cycle probably the exception and not the rule for how the party will handle this.
Previewing what is sure to be a free-wheeling night on "Crossfire," Carville asks the White House — via the Note, rather than via his spouse — "What did the president know, when did he know about it, and what did he do about it?"
"Did they launch a concerted effort to try to blame their predecessor to deflect attention?"
"It was not a failure of intelligence, it was a failure to act on it."
Carville suggests that Bush have a full-scale press conference. Begin holding your breath now.
The Daily News' fast-writing Tom DeFrank, whom no one could accuse of being reflexively anti-Bush, is one of the few with a news analysis in this cycle, and it is worth quoting at length.
"Now the control freaks of the Bush administration, which always has thumped its collective chest over its tight discipline and abhorrence of leaks, have belatedly been caught stonewalling what it knew and when it knew it about the Sept. 11 hijackings."
"Ever since that miserable day, the Bush White House has been content to let politicians and reporters think Bush's predecessors were asleep at the wheel fighting the terrorist threat."
"Now it turns out, eight months after the fact, the Bush government knew more about the danger than it had let on, until press secretary Ari Fleischer's terse statement last night."
"How much more, and how culpable that makes a President whose conduct of the anti-terrorist war has drawn widespread public approval, is certain to be the subject of intense political debate in the weeks ahead."
"The fact that Fleischer confirmed details of the president's intelligence briefing — something he and previous government spokesmen never do — suggested the White House clearly is concerned about the appearance of a coverup."
"But a Bush political source predicted the Democrats were unlikely to try to capitalize on 'a national tragedy … '"
"The revelation that Bush had been briefed about potential hijackings marks a shift in the official version of events surrounding the Sept. 11 attacks."
"Bush and other administration officials have generally characterized the terrorist hijackings as a sneak attack that could not have been foreseen."
"'It's hard to envision a plot so devious as the one that they pulled off on 9/11,' Bush said in a January interview with NBC's Tom Brokaw. 'Never did we realize that the enemy was so well-organized.'"
"The new information suggests there may have been less of an intelligence failure before Sept. 11 than some lawmakers have alleged — though it also raises new questions of whether more could have been done to halt the terror attacks."
And the timing of leaks like this, of course, is always interesting to consider. Too many people in the media and politics who should know better always like to assume that timing is purposeful, when we all know that leaks often occur by what Hardy called "hap."
Why did the Bush September 11 photo story break on the day of a big GOP fundraiser? How long had that solicitation been in the mail?
And why is this September 11 story breaking now?
A former Clinton Administration official says, "You get this stuff all the time, it's not even fair to say you can't act on it. It is fair to give them a pass. I do think there is a threshold before something goes to the president. Sandy Berger would have wrestled with this: is it something that should go to the president or not?
"Don't go blaming Clinton."
But on the "why now" question, which is sure to be the press' process obsession du jour: "Dan Balz and Bart Gellman and Bob Woodward never asked this?" the Clinton person asked rhetorically, sarcastically, and pointedly.
Although the president's record on pursuing terrorists overseas is (fairly or unfairly) enshrined in the American consciousness as having been successful, a certain set of issues about his handling of the war on terror at home could be bundled together as a political indictment. These issues include:
1) (this may be our Delta Shuttle mentality showing through, but) let's face it: anyone who travels in America today finds the air safety regime to be at once deeply flawed and annoyingly time consuming, and this is Bush's system;
2.) unless and until Tom Ridge is made a Cabinet official, critics in Congress and in the press will look at the inevitable disorganization and failures as a manifestation of the White House's refusal to organize correctly; and
3) as Ridge himself says, unless you shut down the border, this is always going to be an open country, with terrorists and illicit material going back and forth.
Only a few other matters to tell you about for the day.
The Washington Post 's Allen writes up the president's financial disclosure report, which shows, among other things, that Bush is worth "at least $9 million and possibly many times that;" that [g]olfer Ben Crenshaw and his agent, Scott Sayers, both of them among the president's closest friends, gave him a golf cart valued at $7,101;" and that Bush "kept two chain saws donated by a hardware dealer in Madeira, Ohio." Bush also kept "four pairs of running shoes, two fishing rods with reels, 11 neckties, Italian fabric for a man's suit and a memento from his classmates in Section C of the Harvard Business School Class of 1975: a $3,540 bench made from Texas mesquite wood with a plaque and an engraved star on the backrest."
"Vice President Cheney also filed his disclosure form, which shows he has retained his membership in the Council on Foreign Relations, and in the month after the inauguration joined the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyo. Cheney's assets, worth more than $22 million, reflect the wealth he accumulated as chairman of Halliburton Co., the Dallas-based energy services firm. Cheney and his wife, the author Lynne V. Cheney, had income of $36 million in 2000 and $4.3 million last year. The 24-page form shows Cheney owns undeveloped real estate in McLean worth $1 million to $5 million."
With the September 11 photo flap all but gone today (as we, um, predicted), Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the Democratic member of Congress who literally represents Ground Zero, will hold a press conference this morning at 9:00 am outside the Republican National Committee in DC to challenge the GOP to give the proceeds from the Bush/September 11 photo to September 11 charities.
A prize to the Democratic leadership press strategist who can find us evidence the media plan for launching your big agenda preview event yesterday was successfully executed.
From the ABCNEWS London Bureau: Israeli forces have raided the West Bank cities of Ramallah and Nablus, killing one Palestinian and arresting more than a dozen others. This is the first time that troops have gone back into Ramallah since the army withdrew from the self-rule area two weeks ago. The operation came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Sharon said a Palestinian state probably would become a reality.
Budget Politics
Right smack in the middle of The Wall Street Journal editorial page is an op-ed by Stephen Moore making a very compelling case that the Republicans in Congress and the veto-phobic President are building up a record as world-class free spenders. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone calls this "A MUST READ!"
Across the page, Al Hunt has another must-read, wherein he makes a bit of sport of a man he likes, Georgia Senator Zell Miller (D), for voting for "every spending increase and every tax cut and against boosting the debt."
Wearing his Hunt-Broder-Russert "the entitlements are falling! the entitlements are falling!" hat, Hunt says "[T]his fall, countless Democrats will campaign on spending more for pressing domestic concerns, especially if a prescription drug benefit hasn't been enacted. They will ignore the admonition of Ted Kennedy that this agenda is only affordable if the huge tax cuts for the very wealthy, slated to take effect in a few years, are scotched; the irresponsible posture of House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt that it's pointless to even talk about taxes is more politically appealing."
"Most Republicans in the 2002 campaign will insist on making these tax cuts permanent and even expand them. They will claim it's still possible to have a more limited prescription drug program, a huge defense budget and provide more money for education, and perhaps even talk about personal Social Security accounts, ignoring, of course, the $1 trillion transitional cost of such a measure."
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told the Washington Times
in an interview that "President Bush's agenda is an expansion of the Republican Party's Contract With America, but he wants the president to get tougher on spending."
"The former Republican leader expressed some irritation yesterday over newspaper stories suggesting that Congress and Mr. Bush were beginning to undercut or dismantle the contract by restoring food-stamp benefits to legal immigrants, expanding farm subsidies and presiding over a return to deficit spending."
Both the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal (A2) do the state budget crunch national round-up story.
The Washington Times reports, "Congressional Republicans have all but given up for this year on making permanent the Bush administration's income-tax cuts."
"House Republicans plan to hold a vote in early June to repeal permanently the estate and gift taxes, a measure that Senate Democrats have agreed to consider by the end of June. But Republican leaders increasingly acknowledge that a permanent reduction in income-tax rates is probably beyond their reach in this election year."
"Tax-cut proponents say the political reality is that the Senate will not approve a permanent reduction in marginal rates this year."
"Republicans say blocking the permanent tax cuts would present them with a potent election issue."
Legislative Agenda
Another contentious amendment to the trade promotion authority legislation will come up for a vote late today. It would require the government to pay 70 percent of retired steel workers' health insurance costs under a regime of trade adjustment assistance. The steel lobbyists are very involved on this one; as one of them told us, "We want passage, not a philosophical statement."
The White House already has indicated that it doesn't support assuming the steel industry's legacy costs. The steel industry says that without government assistance, the bigger firms are likely to die off much more quickly.
ABC 2004: The Invisible Primary
Senator John Edwards wielding his Intelligence Committee seat on GMA this morning, was in his trial lawyer groove, able to get very prosecutorial on the news about Bush's pre-September 11 briefing and ask a lot of questions, without having to give any answers.
The Senate yesterday passed an amendment to the trade bill proposed by Edwards which "included non-binding instructions to U.S. trade negotiators to seek fairer deals for the ailing industry as well as additional help for textile workers who lose their jobs as a result of trade pacts."
"Others provisions in Edwards' amendment are aimed at helping workers who lose their jobs as a result of trade pacts. In North Carolina alone, more than 122,000 textile and apparel jobs have disappeared since 1997."
The latest seemingly daily release out of the North Carolina GOP: "Edwards Shocker: Tells Vanity Fair Ted Kennedy Is His Mentor, Role Model and Biggest Fan for President." Is anyone in Washington putting the state party up to this and/or helping with the research, we wonder?
Check out the photos on the right-hand side of the screen of Bill Bradley eating a lobster roll.
Hadassah Lieberman was paid $328,000 for speeches last year, according to her husband's financial disclosure forms. "The report shows the senator, who is actively seeking the 2004 presidential nomination, in demand himself as a speaker. The Senate forbids him from accepting speech fees, but shows him getting transportation and lodging for trips to West Palm Beach, New York, California, Detroit and New Jersey, where he made appearances."
Senator Lieberman himself will address the Detroit Economic Club on Monday, in a speech "decrying the country's serious economic leadership deficit under President Bush and outlining his vision for what it will take to get America back on a high-growth track."
Sounds to our sensitive ears like the Lieberman folks are stepping it up a notch against the president. The release claims that Lieberman will "highlight the consequences of Bush's fiscal irresponsibility and his failure to put forward a meaningful plan to create jobs and expand opportunities."
Senator Joe Biden has a cautionary op-ed on the administration's dealings with Russia over the nuclear pact, in the Los Angeles Times .
And the New York Post editorializes — not for the first time, not for the last time — against Al Sharpton, this time on cop-shooting issues.
Campaign Finance
"Senate Republicans scoffed at Senator John McCain's (R-Ariz.) suggestion yesterday that President Bush use a recess appointment to install (Daschle choice) Ellen Weintraub to the Federal Election Commission and indicated that Democrats won't see their FEC pick go anywhere until they move to confirm several pending judicial nominees," Roll Call reports.
Politics
The Washington Post 's Milbank reports, "President Bush's political strategists are undecided on whether to include California in their calculations for the president's reelection. Seems those drafting Bush's energy policy had similar ambivalence about the most populous state."
"The Democrats' most dedicated gumshoe, Rep. Henry A. Waxman (Calif.), turned up an e-mail from May 4, 2001, written by the White House energy task force's deputy director to an official at the Environmental Protection Agency. 'We are desperately trying to avoid California in this report as much as possible,' it said. In fact, California was not a major part of the task force's report."
"Yesterday, however, Waxman released a draft table of contents from the report that he has just 'obtained,' dated Feb. 21, 2001. Under Appendix 2, Section 1, the table of contents states, parenthetically: 'California's energy/electricity problems are to be an area of specific focus in discussing the Southwest region's energy problems.' The appendix was not included in the final report."
The AP's new political money reporter is showing a good eye for detail. Check out her take on how other Republican candidates are trying to tap into the Bush Pioneers.
Terry McAuliffe this morning was on "Steve Scully Live!" (also known as C-SPAN's "Washington Journal"), but we confess we didn't listen to the whole thing, although we liked Terry's defense of hamburger flippers to the woman caller who called Terry and his friend Bill Clinton "trailer trash." Could someone from RNC oppo send us the other highlights please?
The Daily News
got Governor Pataki and a few other Republicans to say that maybe, just maybe the party committees shouldn't be selling the Bush September 11 photo, but also some tart Clinton/Gore/McAuliffe push-back quotes from committee officials who say that they will indeed sell the photos, for which demand is now high.
In the weirdest political story of the day, possibly, the AP reports from Arizona, "A career criminal, a clergyman and a sex offender were arrested in a plot to kill Gov. Jane Dee Hull and a county sheriff known for his strict treatment of inmates. The scheme was intended to free the sex offender and get revenge for jail conditions."
"Under the scheme, law officials said, the three planned to kidnap Mrs. Hull, stuff her into a trunk and hold her until she agreed to sign a pardon, Mr. MacIntyre said. The men would then have her killed and her body buried under a tree, he said. Once freed, the sex offender planned to pay a sniper $100,000 to kill Sheriff Joe Arpaio with a rifle, Mr. MacIntyre said."
The Washington Post takes a good look at the political clout wielded by the National Federation of Independent Business, thanks to a strategy of aggressively getting involved in congressional campaigns, almost exclusively on behalf of Republican candidates. "That strategy — which eschews the typical trade group practice of currying favor with both parties — has maximized NFIB's influence in the GOP-controlled House and White House, giving the organization a voice on key issues such as taxation and workplace regulations."
Americans for Gun Safety, that "third-way" gun-control group joined at the legislative hip with Senators McCain and Lieberman, is going up in Colorado with two more ads criticizing GOP Senator Wayne Allard, who is up for re-election this year but is looking a little safer these days than he was earlier in the cycle. AGS also is running ads in Nebraska and Maine "urging" the Senators of those states to support the Lieberman/McCain bill.
Rep. Jim Traficant could face expulsion from the House at about the same time he's scheduled to be sentenced, in late June.
New Hampshire
John DiStaso calls Rudy Giuliani's endorsement of Bob Smith "really, really" big for Smith. But he (and we) are no closer to answering the question of why?
"Giuliani spokesman Sunny Mindel says it's simple. 'He feels it's important to keep the seat Republican, and Senator Smith is the incumbent,' she said. But, she said, 'He also feels it is important for Republicans to get behind whoever wins the primary to make sure that the seat stays Republican.' Those comments don't really tell us why Giuliani is involved. Here are some of the theories: --Giuliani wants Smith as chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee so he can give big public works dollars to New York, even though he's no longer the mayor; Giuliani's Jewish friends and contributors in the city are concerned about Sununu, who is of Palestinian descent; Smith was the only one who asked for it."
The other New Hampshire papers seem silent on the issue, as do the Gotham papers.
Who can replace Melissa Merz as Gov. Jeanne Shaheen's able Senate campaign press secretary? Reports
Bartlett's PoliticsNH.com., "A reliable New Hampshire Democrat says most Shaheen insiders think the governor will move her gubernatorial press secretary Pam Walsh over to the campaign. Other sources say the campaign is dialing D.C. looking for another national Democratic type to fill the void. But now that the legislative session is about over, those inside the Granite State are saying, why not Walsh?"
We saw a report in Roll Call this morning that former Gore press guy Nathan Naylor also is interested in the job.
California
California Gov. Gray Davis will address the Congress of California Seniors and comment on Enron today at the Handlery Hotel in San Diego.
Davis' plan to reduce the state's huge deficit will cut about $100 from the state's Medi-Cal insurance program. Predictably, doctors groups, hospitals and advocates for the poor are finding fault with that choice. Davis's people respond that they wielded their knife as carefully as possible.
Davis and the state's biggest teachers' union, the CTA, haven't always read from the same lesson plan. Like trade unions under a free trade president, they are chafing against an intractable set of options: a) contribute money to Davis and Democrats, hoping that he signs their legislation in bits and pieces, or b) withdraw support from Davis entirely and leave things to chance, or c) give money to Davis but draw back their earlier endorsement.
Davis has leveraged the CTA's tepid support, but how will he spin choice c), which appears to be the subject of a CTA trial balloon?
"'I want to know who's been taking our money for years, say they support our issues and then vote against us," said Wayne Johnson, president of the California Teachers Association. 'We need to hold these people accountable.' "
Gov. Jeb Bush (R) signed an Everglades protection bill into law that some environmental groups
think will make it difficult for citizens to challenge polluters.
New York
Complete with Clintonesque folksy language ("as different from theirs as butter is from butterflies"), Senator H. R. Clinton shows her ability to get a next-day letter in the New York Times responding to an editorial on her position on welfare reform with which she took issue on their characterization of her views.
Meanwhile, TV Guide says that Rudy has gotten Bill Clinton-style TV offers.
He also says, "If you are asking me to guess about my future, just looking at my past — I'll be back in public office at some point."
North Carolina
The Raleigh News & Observer reports that Democratic Senate candidates Erskine Bowles and Dan Blue have endorsed a legislative proposal to cancel the party's primary run-offs, which otherwise automatically would take place in any race where no one breaks 40 percent of the vote, because the state's primary still is being delayed indefinitely. "Both campaigns said they are convinced that their guy will finish first," though Elaine Marshall's campaign is balking.
What is it with ducks? When, we wonder, will some campaign come up with a real duck, like Joey's on Friends? Anyway, the state Democratic party unveiled a new campaign gimmick Tuesday — a Web site in which people are encouraged to e-mail their questions to Republican Senate candidate Elizabeth Dole, to highlight her alleged ducking of debates with her GOP rivals. The Web site — www.doleducks.com — even makes a quacking sound when one hits a button. Nice touch.
Michigan
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jennifer Granholm's opponents are unsubtly trying to pound home their own Michigan heritage; she was born in Canada and raised in California. The Detroit Free Press gives her bio a good, if pop-ish, treatment. One clue to why so many national Democrats like her: "Husband Dan Mulhern, who grew up in Inkster and introduced Granholm to Michigan, says that since they met in law school his wife has been incredibly self-possessed. His most distinct memory (aside from her good looks) of their first meeting is how, in an airport terminal on the way back to school after break, she struggled with her luggage but refused his offers of help."
Massachusetts
Cue the Randy Newman soundtrack: Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich has ticked off short people by saying that he wants to be "the Bay State's 'first leprechaun governor.'"
"A tape-recording that former Sixers president Pat Croce made for a nonprofit group to encourage voter turnout was used without his knowledge to advance Ed Rendell's campaign for governor, Croce said yesterday. 'I'm surprised; I just wish I had known,' said Croce, who called himself a Rendell supporter. The message did not advocate a vote for Rendell in his Democratic primary battle with state Auditor General Bob Casey Jr. It said simply: 'Hi, this is Pat Croce. Voting is for winners, and when we vote, we win. Please don't forget to vote on Tuesday, May 21. Be a winner — and vote.'"
Texas
Republican National Committee chairman Marc Racicot has promised to try and intervene in races where discourse turns uncivil. But civility is often in the eye of the beholder. For example: if a candidate insists she or he is not a liberal, and his record generally supports those claims, is it wrong for Republicans to blanket him or her with the liberal label?
That appears to be their strategy in Texas, where few Democrats are truly liberal by national standards, having tacked to the center, being pro-business, and supporting lean and efficient government. On social issues, they're only slightly less conservative than conservatives.
"'It's one of the worst things you can call someone in Texas, short of insulting his mother,' said University of Texas political science professor Bruce Buchanan. 'It means you're for big government, pro-tax, loose morals and you beat your dog.' 'Almost all of the mainstream candidates are centrists to a fault," he said.
"Democrat Tony Sanchez unleashed the first attack television advertising of the general election campaign Wednesday, blaming Republican Gov. Rick Perry for high consumer electric bills," the Houston Chronicle reports.
Perry's pollsters are sure to track if this spot has any effect.
Bush Administration Strategy/Personality
The Los Angeles Times ' Chen does a nice job of putting President Bush's "long-planned address on Cuba," scheduled for Monday in Miami, along with the seeming contradiction between Bush's opposition to trade with Cuba and his support for trade with China, into the context of possibly helping his brother the Governor among the Cuban community as he seeks re-election this year.
Army Secretary White, called to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee on Enron "is the highest ranking Bush administration official to come from Enron and would be the first administration official to testify about what happened at Enron while he was employed there."
Hmmm … seems that one aide to Vice President Cheney told some staffers for a Democratic congressman that Cheney couldn't talk with the Congressman about security improvements at US embassies because his former Halliburton role posed a possible conflict of interest. Now Cheney spokesperson Jennifer Millerwise has said that Cheney's former job does not, in fact, pose a conflict of interest, and she accused the member of a "political ploy."
Fallout continues from the Crusader cancellation.
In "a highly visible snub by the fourth-highest ranking Republican in the House," Republican Conference Chairman JC Watts, the House GOP's only African-American, boycotted President Bush's Hill appearance yesterday to protest the cancellation of the Crusader program, Roll Call reports.
"Watts, feeling betrayed by a White House to which he has been consistently loyal, went on the offensive against Bush and Rumsfeld during an earlier closed-door meeting of House Republicans on Wednesday. That gathering took place before Bush's appearance on the Hill."
"Watts called Rumsfeld's decision to cancel the Crusader 'indecent' and warned his GOP colleagues that the Pentagon could do the same to programs they support without prior notice and in spite of the political fallout for individual House Republicans."
"Watts is upset that he was given no advance warning about Rumsfeld's decision, despite his position in the House GOP leadership and his well-known support for the Crusader program."
"The Bush administration is considering a new round of legal action against several utility companies as part of a counteroffensive against criticism that it has tried to undermine enforcement of the Clean Air Act," the Washington Post reports. EPA Administrator "Whitman has ordered regional EPA enforcement officials and lawyers to begin looking for new cases to bring against utility companies that have violated the Clean Air Act by expanding or updating older coal-fired power plants under the guise of 'routine maintenance' without installing … anti-pollution equip.m.ent, as required by the law."
The Daily News runs a classic Jenna Bush photo on page 26.
Media
The Washington Post 's Grove reports, "With the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste disposal controversy burning away, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward have invited a group of select energy beat reporters, nuclear power advocates and environmentalists to their Manhattan apartment Monday for 'drinks, simple dinner and an off-the-record discussion about nuclear power and the disposal nuclear waste.' Newman added in his letter: 'It should be a lively evening — guns must be left in the lobby.'" Among those invited: PBS players Bill Moyers and Pat Mitchell, representatives of Time and Newsweek magazines and the Washington Post 's own Eric Pianin.
— 8:00 am, President Bush attends Hispanic Prayer Breakfast, Washington Hilton
— 9:00 am, Ground Zero Rep. Jerrold Nadler comments on GOP use of Bush September 11 photo for fundraising purposes, outside the Republican National Committee
— 9:00 am, Senate meets to debate trade legislation
— 9:45 am, White House off-camera morning gaggle
— 10:00 am, House meets to consider welfare reform and the Afghanistan Freedom Support Act of 2002
— 10:45 am, House Minority Leader Gephardt briefs
— 11:00 am, Vice President Cheney headlines House GOP fundraising roundtable, followed by a luncheon, at the home of Mayor Mike Bloomberg, NYC
— 11:00 am, Families USA news conference opposing Republican prescription drug reform plan
— 11:30 am, Senate Majority Leader Daschle briefs
— 12 noon, White House on-camera briefing
— 12 noon, Senators Clinton and Schumer event criticizing Attorney General Ashcroft and the Justice Department on the environment, Senate Gallery
— 12:30 pm, State Department briefing
— 1:00 pm, Treasury Secretary O'Neill, House Majority Leader Armey and other GOP members press conference to mark the one-year anniversary of House-passed tax cuts
— 1:00 pm, California Gov. Gray Davis addresses Congress of California Seniors and comments on Enron, Handlery Hotel, San Diego
— 1:00 pm, Senator Max Cleland speaks at the National Press Club on homeland security
— 2:30 pm, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld testifies before Senate Armed Services Committee
— 2:52 pm, President Bush makes remarks upon awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to former President and Mrs. Reagan, US Capitol Rotunda
— 7:30 pm, Vice President Cheney addresses New York Conservative Party 40th anniversary dinner, Sheraton Hotel and Towers, NYC
Newly listed events are italicized.
— 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 29: Vice President Cheney keynotes "Statesmen's Night" for Tennessee Republican Party, Nashville
— 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: Colorado Democratic Party State Convention
— June 1: Colorado Republican Party State Convention
— June 1: Indiana Democratic Party State Convention
— 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: Texas Republican Party State Convention
— 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 8: North Carolina Democratic Party State Convention
— June 8: Washington Sate Democratic Party Convention
— June 10: North Carolina Senator John Edwards' birthday.
— June 11: Vermont Gov. Howard Dean keynotes Clinton County, NY Salute to Labor Committee celebration.
—June 13-14: Indiana Republican Party State Convention
—June 13-15: Texas Democratic Party State Convention
— 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 15-18: Idaho Republican Party State Convention
— June 17: Deadline for proposals from 2004 convention city prospects
— June 19: NRCC/NRSC dinner, DC
— June 20: White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card headlines Voice of Victory dinner for New Hampshire Republican Party
— June 20-22: South Dakota Democratic Party State Convention
— June 20-23: Idaho Republican Party State Convention
— June 21: South Dakota Republican Party Sate Convention
— June 21-23: Montana Republican Party State Convention
— 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 22: Iowa Republican Party State Convention
— 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
— June 29: Former Vice President Al Gore speaks to Shelby County Democratic Party Kennedy Day Dinner, TN
— 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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