--11:00 am: Bill Simon attends meet and greet, Bakersfield, Calif.
--11:30 am: Senator Bob Graham tours a dairy center, Calmar, Iowa
--12:45 pm: Senator Joe Lieberman discusses unemployment with workers, Oklahoma City
--2:20 pm: Vice President Cheney makes remarks at a reception for Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.), Albuquerque, N.M.
--3:00 pm: Senator John Kerry makes remarks on the impact of hog lots, Klemme, Iowa
--3:00 pm: Bill Simon attends meet and greet, Fresno, Calif.
--4:00 pm: Governor Gray Davis holds press conference to call for lower gas prices and speak against a federal requirement to add oxygenates to gasoline, Brentwood, Calif.
--4:15 pm: Senator Joe Lieberman attends barbecue with supporters, Stillwater, Okla.
--4:30 pm: Senator John Kerry attends reception with Kossuth County Democrats, Algona, Iowa
--4:45 pm: Senator Bob Graham attends the Graham Family Baseball Game, Dyersville, Iowa
--5:00 pm: Governor Howard Dean attends meet and greet with supporters, Stillwater, Okla.
--6:00 pm: Oklahoma Democratic Party presidential forum at Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Okla.
--7:00 pm: Bill Simon attends meet and greet, Stockton, Calif.
--7:25 pm: Senator Joe Lieberman holds post-forum press availability, Stillwater, Okla.
--7:45 pm: Senator John Kerry attends reception with Hamilton County Democrats, Webster City, Iowa
--8:10 pm: Senator Bob Graham attends Dubuque County Central Democrats meeting, Dubuque, Iowa
--8:00 pm: Oklahoma Democratic Party post-debate reception, Stillwater, Okla.
--8:30 pm: Congressman Dick Gephardt attends reception with supporters, Stillwater, Okla.
--8:30 pm: Senator Bob Graham hosts "Grilling with the Grahams" at Dubuque Yacht Basin and RV Park, Dubuque, Iowa
--8:45 pm: Senator Joe Lieberman meets with supporters, Stillwater, Okla.
--9:00 pm: Vice President Cheney attends Bush-Cheney 2004 fundraiser, Los Angeles (closed press)
--9:45 pm: Governor Howard Dean attends meet and greet with supporters at Eskimo Joe's, Stillwater, Okla.

NEWS SUMMARY

Today in the recall:

--The ACLU is expected to file a federal court case seeking a temporary restraining order that would delay the recall election until March 2004.

-- Governor Davis is being governor today, scheduled to hold a press conference about federal gasoline requirements in Brentwood. In addition to recall sound, we will likely hear some reaction to Governor Leavitt's new appointment as EPA chief.

Davis, using Bush as a foil to stoke the base: get used to it.

-- Arnold Schwarzenegger has no public schedule today. But Democratic sources claim that the Schwarzenegger campaign has made inquiries about buying TV time for as early as next week.

-- Secretary of State Kevin Shelley determined alphabetical ballot order and set the cost of the recall at $66 million yesterday.

-- 2000 Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader will endorse Green Party recall candidate Peter Camejo in San Francisco today. Time TBD.

The president is on the ranch today.

Vice President Cheney will speak at a fundraiser reception for New Mexico Congresswoman Heather Wilson today in Albuquerque. The event is open press. The Vice President will also attend a Bush-Cheney 2004 fundraiser tonight at a private residence in Los Angeles, which is closed to the press.

The Oklahoma Democratic Party holds a presidential candidate forum tonight on the campus of Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. Dean, Lieberman, Kucinich, Braun, Sharpton, Gephardt, and Edwards are expected to attend. Each candidate will appear separately and be questioned for 15 minutes by local broadcasters and members of the audience. The event, which is open to only print press and still photographers, takes place at the Gallagher-Iba Arena, which you can watch the construction of here: LINK

Senator Lieberman will sit down with workers to discuss the economy and also go to a barbecue before tonight's forum.

Governor Dean will attend meet and greets before and after the forum in Stillwater.

Congressman Gephardt will attend a reception with supporters after the forum in Stillwater tonight.

Senator Edwards is in Stillwater today for the candidate forum. He begins his six-day "Real Solutions Tour" in Iowa with his family tomorrow.

Ambassador Braun, Reverend Sharpton, and Congressman Kucinich will all be in Stillwater tonight. None of the three have any other announced public events for the day.

Senator Graham's Iowa Family Vacation continues today with a visit to a dairy center and a baseball game. And, of course, there's more grillin'.

Senator Kerry is in Iowa today on the start of a four-day trip across the state. He'll tour hog lots with farmers and environmentalists while he travels from Mason City to Webster City today.

Democratic candidates forum:

Last night's Sheet Metal Workers Forum produced, surprise, surprise, some real policy distinctions. And Bill Press (though surely no Stephanopoulos) didn't make a bad moderator.

Highlights include:

--The Dean/Kerry sparkle on tax cuts: … Dean: "It's wrong for us to tell middle-class people that we're gonna let them have the $300 and they can also have health insurance and jobs and so on … " Kerry: "I think that's bad economics, I think it's bad social policy, and I think it's bad politics … .The last time I looked, the problem in America is not that the middle class has too much money."

--Lieberman really laid into Gephardt's constant praise of Bill Clinton. He said it was tough to be full of praise for the consequences of Clinton's economic agenda without recognizing NAFTA's central role. Kerry defended NAFTA but said he'd fix it and fix the WTO. Gephardt "took on my own president who I supported on many other things because he was wrong. That's when you gotta get the clauses into the treaty."

--Kerry moved from citing that working man's rag National Journal to the equally as lowbrow Time about his health care plan; he also praised, and belittled a bit, Governor Dean's plan. "I don't think you can translate the experience of a state with a budget of less than a billion dollars to the United States."

--Many of them gave Mickey-Kaus-cringe-inducing-answers on immigration (mostly).

-- a "joust" between centrism and liberalism …LINK; the AP's Pickler Noted the contrasts … LINK; The Washington Post 's Balz said the Dems were unanimously against the recall LINK;

On to Oklahoma! ("And the land we belong to is grand … .")

The Wall Street Journal 's Alan Murray's shot across the bow on the economy: " … [t]o win a debate on the economy, Democrats need to do more than attack the Bush record. They need a clear economic vision. So far, most of what they've offered is fog." … "None of these Democratic candidates seem able to articulate the fundamental virtues of America's free-market economy." … "President Clinton put his economic policy in the hands of two men — former Treasury Secretaries Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers — who balanced the Democrats' traditional concern for social justice with a deep respect for free markets. That was no easy task, but it reaped huge rewards. The current crop of candidates have mastered only the first half of the Clinton economic equation." … "Nor are any of the nine willing to consider the possibility that market forces might help Medicare and Social Security avoid demographic disaster. "Privatization" has become the top Democratic bogeyman. And on education, Mr. Lieberman got the only booing of the session with a tepid endorsement of a small school-voucher "experiment" that wouldn't "take any money out of the public-school budget." (The low point of the forum was when former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, whom I praised in an earlier column for his willingness to "entertain" an increase in the retirement age to 68, abruptly announced he doesn't favor such a move — and made no attempt to explain his earlier remarks.)"

The rest of the political world, in other news:

1."In the strongest signal yet that retired US Army General Wesley K. Clark, the former NATO commander, is planning to join the Democratic presidential race, Clark told volunteers last week to step up their efforts and prepare for an announcement on Labor Day," the Boston Globe reports. LINK

2. USA Today 's Keen: "By the time the first votes are cast in the Democratic primary election season, on Jan. 19 at Iowa's caucuses, the Bush campaign plans to have a well-established national organization of chairmen and other staffers in every county in key states, and a leader in every crucial precinct." LINK

The New York Times ' Jim Rutenberg on reporters who like Scott McClellan — that teddy bear. "Mr. McClellan, building on the store of good will he amassed as Mr. Fleischer's more accommodating deputy, has emerged in his first few weeks as a compassionate conservative answer to Mr. Fleischer … . But working for a White House that disseminates no news before its time, Mr. McClellan's friendlier, more understated approach appears unlikely to improve his employer's testy relations with the news media … LINK

Bush raised more than $1 million for his campaign last night, per ABC News' Ghadishah; the Rocky Mountain News article made high mention of outside protesters; LINK

3. The Wall Street Journal editorial on Americans Coming Together: "So let's follow the bouncing logic: Mr. McCain and his band of liberals pass campaign-finance reform to keep 'big money' out of politics; the reform donation limits (no more 'soft money' to parties) then hand a huge fund-raising edge to incumbents such as Mr. Bush; so the same liberals who supported reform are now finding a creative way around the new rules to solicit huge sums from the same fat cats."; which leads, incidentally, to a Note correction. We referred imprecisely to Americans Coming Together when we first wrote about it Friday; it's not a 527; it's a PAC, with both federal and non-federal accounts.

4. A fact-filled Yepsen on the Gephardt and the Teamsters: "It's precisely because the Teamsters haven't been big caucus-goers in the past that makes their support so delicious for Gephardt. One trait of a winning caucus campaign is the ability to bring new people into the process. While Gephardt enjoyed some union support in his successful 1988 fight in Iowa, it was nothing like what he's getting now. One longtime Gephardt aide said that in 1988 only two regional unions had endorsed Gephardt prior to the caucuses. Today, he's got 11 internationals. Much is made of the fact the national AFL-CIO probably isn't going to endorse a candidate and how that's a rebuff to Gephardt. That analysis overlooks the math of what Gephardt is putting in place in Iowa." LINK

5. The Note, as "ABCNEWS'MarcAmbinder" tried to cover the ChatForAmerica … chat … with Joe Trippi. But the Note really doesn't have much experience covering a no-holds-barred, free-for-all in a chatroom. The goings on consisted of lots of hooahs … a 13-year-old who wanted to volunteer … (Trippi called the kid's drive to get into politics "amazing") … .lots of blunt questions ("Is Dean going to get a Teamsters' endorsement?") … some advice … ("his shirts are too tight" … "time to retire … the 80-year-old gay veteran story") some revelations … (Trippi: "sometimes they only understand me when I scream") and some news (the Dean For America Web site will have an online voter registration site up and running in the next three weeks). "We had a really nice moderated debate format [planned]," CFA founder Michael McNett IM'd. "The servers all crashed because too many people came on."

Incidentally, a Dean aide tells us the campaign broke its single event attendance record with a pre-Philly forum rally of more than 3,500. That number jumped to 4,000 when cited later by another Dean aide. One newspaper says crowd was in the 600s. LINK

But another says it was more than 3,000. LINK

The photos on the blog show a very, very big crowd. LINK

Note reader, you too can play Park Service Ranger: YOU make the call.

Please also read:

--The WSJ on the global economy gathering steam; the WSJ on philosophical differences underlying the Medicare debate

--The Washington Post 's Allen and Milbank on Leavitt; LINK; The Washington Post 's Allen on Bush's environmentalism; LINK; The Washington Post 's Milbank's White House Notebook; LINK; Incidentally, most Leavitt stories we saw featured a Lieberman quote …

--The AP on Lieberman and the Bush economy: LINK

--The Washington Post 's Ed Walsh on Biden and the new CBC-Fox News debate. LINK

--Grover Norquist's letter to the Washington Post saying Howard Dean is not a fiscal conservative: LINK

--The New York Times ' Robert Pear on the prospect of Medicare fee cuts: LINK

--The AP' Siobhan McDonough on a national Muslim voter registration drive. LINK

--The Washington Times ' Dinan/Hurt on Senators Graham and Edwards being vulnerable at home. LINK

California recall, what the insiders are talking about:

How soon does Schwarzenegger go on TV?

When will Schwarzenegger's campaign Web site be operational, beyond taking donations?

When will the East Coast media learn that these candidates don't plan to perform on an East Coast schedule?

Which California reporter will get the first Schwarzenegger interview?

Which represents the greater number: the number of investigative reporters the Los Angeles Times has assigned to Schwarzenegger, or the number of Democrats running for president?

California recall:

Dan Morain, Joel Rubin, and Megan Garvey of the Los Angeles Times pull all the Monday pieces of recall string together for their must-read overview. Highlights include the Secretary of State's lottery drawing, the cost of the recall is now at $66 million, Bill Simon's questioning how long Senator McClintock can stay in the campaign with so little cash, and Arnold Schwarzenegger's trip to New York. LINK

The Sacramento Bee's Laura Mecoy writes up Governor Davis' continuing outreach to his Democratic base voters. LINK

"'I may be old-fashioned,' Davis said. 'But I come from the school where once an election is cast and someone is chosen to be the leader, everyone gets behind that leader and does the people's business for the next four years and then you have an opportunity to choose another leader.'"

The very same Ralph Nader who will endorse Green Party candidate Peter Camejo urges Californians to take this election very seriously in today's Los Angeles Times. LINK

George Will is no fan of the recall. LINK

California recall, Arnold:

California has a bipartisan tradition of political elites sharing information about polling and TV ad buys more regularly than in any other state in the union.

Regarding ad buys, several Democratic sources say that the Schwarzenegger campaign has begun making inquiries with stations about rates for going on the air Tuesday, 8/19.

The Schwarzenegger campaign could not be reached for comment on this.

As we Noted yesterday, buying the state for a week costs about $1.5 million to $2 million. Arnold could obviously afford to go on next week and stay on with his own money through election day.

If he goes on the air, he could, of course, potentially consolidate his current lead.

On the other hand, there is a strange change in the state for this election: normally there is almost NO television coverage in the state of politics, and paid media dominates. This race will have so much free media that the paid advertising probably will be more akin in its effect to a presidential campaign, in which news coverage is more determinative.

The New York Times on Schwarzenegger's New York swing. LINK

The soon departing Joel Siegel of the New York Daily News was one of 150 journalists covering Mr. Schwarzenegger in Gotham yesterday. LINK

While the media and his opponents wait for detailed policy positions, Doug Smith of the Los Angeles Times provides his readers Arnold Schwarzenegger's own words from interviews past on everything from his drug use to his views on abortion and gay marriage. LINK

The Los Angeles Times' Greg Kirkorian further explores Arnold Schwarzenegger's relationship to Proposition 187 and what ramifications it might have on his candidacy. LINK

"Film star Arnold Schwarzenegger may have done nothing more for the passage of the anti-illegal immigration measure than vote for it, but Proposition 187 has nonetheless complicated his bid for governor in the Oct. 7 recall election."

Will Democrats — and Arnold Schwarzenegger's opponents — be able to make hay out of his spotty voting record? The San Francisco Chronicle's Robert Salladay, Carla Marinucci and James Sterngold look at Schwarzenegger's missed votes — five of the past 11 statewide elections. LINK

"Schwarzenegger aides said they were researching four of those five elections to see why absentee ballots were requested by the actor but not recorded as being received by elections officials. They said the actor, an Austrian immigrant who became a U.S. citizen in 1983, takes voting seriously."

Schwarzenegger voted in the 1992 presidential primary and general elections, but did not vote in either the primary or the general in 2000.

Bill Simon did not vote in 13 of the past 20 elections — a fact that plagued him during his 2002 gubernatorial run against Gray Davis.

The New York Post writes that Arnold Schwarzenegger addressed 200 schoolchildren in New York yesterday, and then attended a lunch arranged by Governor George Pataki's fund-raisers. LINK

"A GOP source told The Post that Pataki is considering going to California to campaign for Schwarzenegger."

"Sources at the lunch said that there was no discussion about raising campaign capital. Instead, talk centered on California's budget deficit and other policy matters."

But that doesn't appear to be entirely true … .

The Post reports that Schwarzenegger approached Revlon billionaire Ron Perelman, who was in attendance, "rubbed the makeup mogul's bald head as if it were Aladdin's lamp and cracked, 'Send me a big check.'"

And just in case you were wondering what they ate, the lunch included "an heirloom tomato, mozzarella and basil salad followed by salmon and fruit," according to the article.

Roll Call 's Nicole Duran reports that Republican leaders in Congress have been "mostly mum" since Schwarzenegger "threw his hat into the ring last week." Delay has not endorsed Schwarzenegger and "probably will not," according to spokesman Stuart Roy. Neither has Speaker Hastert or Senate Majority Leader Frist.

"But other GOP Members of Congress have wholeheartedly endorsed Schwarzenegger."

"The Republican Main Street Partnership, a group of moderate Republicans, backed him Friday."

"House Rules Chairman David Dreier (R-Calif.) is also backing the Hollywood action star."

California recall, the courts:

ABC News' Coverson reports, "The ACLU pulls the trigger on their federal lawsuit Tuesday morning when they request a Temporary Restraining Order barring the October special election. Their position has been reported widely: outdated punch card voting machines — with a 2% error rate (established in Florida election crisis) — are disproportionately used in low income and minority communities, resulting in de facto disenfranchisement. All 58 counties in California must be rid of the systems by March 2004. ACLU argues to move the recall election to that month. TRO filing means federal court will have to set hearing for the lawsuit soon; the suit is seen as the last chance for a postponement of the election."

California recall, the Democrat:

The San Francisco Chronicle's Mark Martin and Christian Berthelsen write up Bustamante's reliance on fundraising unlike his millionaire rivals. LINK

California recall, the field:

The San Francisco Chronicle's John Wildermuth does a great candidate-by-candidate look at the consultants working with each campaign and the evolution of their strategies. LINK

California recall, the chaos:

When the polls close in California on October 7 at 11 pm ET, we might not know the results of question 1 (to recall or not), the results of Question 2 (the leading replacement candidate) or both.

Beyond the Post -Florida caution that all news organizations will show in projecting races in general, and beyond the size of the state — there are other reasons why this could end up being more than a long night.

First of all, several county officials were quoted in the Los Angeles Times yesterday as saying it will take them days to count their ballots, because of the nature of the voting equipment being used, and the length of the ballot.

It's possible these officials are being alarmist; quite often votes get counted quicker than the hand-ringers predict — but not always.

Second, there are all sorts of possibilities for problems in the voting itself: confusion over polling places; higher-than-expected turnout could swamp polling workers and machines; and the long ballot could lead to individual voters taking a long time to cast their ballots. Not to mention the added complexities of absentee and overseas/military ballots.

Third, as in Florida and other states, the election results aren't "final" until the Secretary of State certifies the election as late as Saturday, November 15 — 39 days after election day.

Fourth, if there ARE any problems with the election, you can bet somebody will sue to try to overturn the results — in federal and/or state court.

Fifth, there is a prospect that an effort to launch a recall of the newly elected governor (if there is one) will begin right after the election.

Relatedly, if there IS a new governor (particularly if it is Schwarzenegger) how will media organizations cover the nearly-instant transition process, with many new employees and all the pomp and circumstance?

It COULD go simple and easy and be over and done by 11pm ET that night — but we wouldn't bet on it.

The San Jose Mercury News's Mike Zapler follows yesterday's Los Angeles Times story on the potential for Florida like scenarios. LINK

"With California's historic recall just eight weeks away and as many as 195 candidates on the ballot, officials are warning that voters may face exceptionally long lines at the polls and that the election results may not be known Oct. 7."

Dean Murphy has a lot of fun writing up the Secretary of State's alphabet drawing and his editors put it on the front page. LINK

CNN's live coverage of the lottery drawing gets mention in the San Francisco Chronicle's write up. LINK

The recall: Spreading national trend or California's political perfect storm? LINK

Roy Rivenburg's recall madness column in the Los Angeles Times highlights the Game Show Network's announcement about their upcoming "Who Wants to Be Governor of California? The Debating Game." Three to five underdog/celebrity candidates (chosen from the certified candidate list) will debate game show style on October 1. Possible participants: Angelyne, Gary Coleman, Gallagher. LINK

Being a colorful character can get you qualified for lots of things in California these days. Almost as insane as the game show idea is an invitation sent by Frank Luntz' polling operation seeking Californians who would like to participate in an upcoming focus group.

Here are the requirements listed in the invitation: "To qualify, you must be an opinionated and outspoken person aged 18 and up with strong personal views about the recall situation in California. If you meet these criteria, we want to put you on MSNBC."

We wonder how that produces a representative group of Californians. At the very least, no one will be representing the shy vote.

The "novelty candidates" are getting lots of press attention, but Lori Aratani of the San Jose Mercury News reports that voters are getting frustrated — at the cost and the spectacle. LINK

Mark Leibovich on Gallagher's candidacy. LINK

California recall, the budget:

Democrats in the California Assembly are preparing to introduce legislation aimed at reducing the car tax which had been recently tripled by Governor Davis. They claim they have been preparing this for quite some time. Republicans suggest that the Democrats are providing political cover for Governor Davis. LINK