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NEWS SUMMARY
What we now know:
1. John Kerry and John Edwards (and Elizabeth Edwards) can get through interview after interview without committing news.
2. John Kerry is considering forgoing public funding for the general election, setting up another interesting chess game.
3. Political reporters are willing to write that the election is all about energizing the base OR that it is all about appealing to swing voters — depending on their thesis for a given story. And, of course, the truth is that both types of voters matter.
4. The New York Times ed board, animated by the spirit of Dr. Altman, wants more medical records from Kerry and Vice President Cheney.
5. Democratic ad spending is plenty competitive with the Republican side.
What we are waiting to find out:
1. What role will the Bush and Cheney children (and grandchildren) play the rest of the way?
2. How effectively will John Kerry's Vietnam buddies and the Kerry, Heinz, and Edwards children be deployed in Boston?
3. Will the president tout a second-term domestic agenda in this campaign, and, if so, when will it be unveiled and what will it include?
4. Are voters changing their voting intentions after seeing "Fahrenheit 9/11"?
5. Have the Cheneys discussed their views of states rights and gay rights with each other?
6. Will John Kerry be able to keep up the exuberance level as he travels without his friend John Edwards?
7. Will John Edwards' solo campaign schedule include that long midday block of time for his cherished jog?
8. When will the 9/11 Commission report comes out, and what is the White House plan for reacting to it?
There's a big announcement about political coverage from ABC News coming this morning — and ABC News' David Westin, Peter Jennings, Ted Koppel, and George Stephanopoulos will be on hand in Los Angeles for it.
President Bush travels to Oak Ridge, Tenn. today to tour the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and speak about the war on terror at 11:25 am ET. In the afternoon he returns to the White House to meet with the president of El Salvador.
Sen. John Kerry is in Boston today raising money and attending the Massachusetts Legislative Dinner.
Detente watchers should not expect Mayor Menino to introduce Sen. Kerry at this evening's Beantown rally.
However, Menino will be attending the afternoon fundraiser, giving cameras and reporters the ability to assess body language should the two men choose to interact.
Kerry's running mate, Sen. John Edwards, is in Washington with no public events.
At 10:00 am ET the Senate reconvenes to debate a constitutional amendment that would ban same sex marriage. A vote on the amendment could come as early as Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Vice President Cheney is on the road today campaigning for congressional candidates in Pennsylvania.
He attends a breakfast fundraiser for congressional candidate Charlie Dent in Bethlehem and a fundraiser luncheon for congressional candidate Scott Paterno in Harrisburg. In the evening Cheney attends an RNC fundraiser reception in Pittsburgh.
And First Lady Laura Bush speaks at a fundraiser reception for Washington Senate candidate George Nethercutt in Washington, D.C.
Also today, detainees at Guantanamo Bay will be notified of their rights to consult a "personal representative," and attorneys for prison guard Pfc. Lynndie England will request a delay in her hearing for allegedly abusing Iraqi detainees.
Tomorrow President Bush signs the AGOA Acceleration Act before making a two-day tour through battleground states Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Sens. Kerry and Edwards are both down, but the Democratic National Convention Committee will unveil the convention's nightly themes at a National Press Club news conference. Rock the Vote's voter registration bus tour visits the 2004 NAACP convention in Philadelphia.
On Wednesday, President Bush tours Wisconsin in his campaign bus, Sen. Kerry remains in Boston without public events, and Sen. Edwards begins his first solo campaign trip with a Des Moines, Iowa rally and evening fundraiser in Chicago. First Lady Laura Bush is in Alabama and Georgia to raise money and discuss reading. Meanwhile former President Gerald Ford celebrates his 91st birthday and "Let's Get Frank," a documentary about Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), opens at the Film Forum in New York City.
On Thursday President Bush returns to Washington to sign the Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act and meet with the president of Mongolia. Sen. Kerry kicks off what his campaign is calling the "Front Porch Tour: Hometown Values for a Stronger America" outside of Philadelphia; Edwards participates in Chicago and New Orleans. First Lady Laura Bush is in Jacksonville, Fla., and Nashville, Tenn., before hosting a live conference call on "National Party for the president Day." And Ralph Nader faces the deadline in Michigan to submit signatures to have his name on the ballot there in November.
On Friday, President Bush speaks before the National Training Conference on Human Trafficking in Tampa, Fla. and attends a rally in West Virginia. Senator Edwards campaigns in Houston, Texas. before ending his day in Los Angeles. And Martha Stewart is in court for her sentencing.
The big economic number to watch this week is Friday's Consumer Price Index for June. Per ABC News' Ramona Schindelheim, "although increases in gasoline and food prices have slowed following huge jumps in the early part of the year, May's increase was still higher than forecast. Reports from the Energy Department show gas prices headed down for the month of June, so fears of rapidly rising inflation are being kept in check. Economists will be looking for data showing the rise in food prices has also moderated."
ABC News Vote 2004: Kerry-Edwards '04:
Andrew Miga's lead in today's Boston Herald: "Sen. John Edwards, facing sharper scrutiny as he joins the Democratic ticket, will probably face pressure to reveal the names of his past top fund-raisers — a list dominated by fellow trial attorneys — and to release his latest tax returns." LINK
Lois Romano of the Washington Post packs insight after insight into her psychoprofile of Sen. Kerry's on-the-trail restlessness, including:
--how he nags his schedulers about the need for time outdoors
--how he doesn't need a buddy a la Bruce Lindsey or Don Evans — but does need his private cell phone, from which he can call all his old pals
--the structure of the road show — David Morehouse as traveling chief of staff, Stephanie Cutter, David Wade, and Marvin Nicholson.
--how Kerry sometimes keeps key decisions from his staff
LINK
Walter Olsen, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author of "The Rule of Lawyers" casts a skeptical eye on today's Wall Street Journal op-ed page at some of John Edwards' lawyer friends who have helped build and fund his political career. Edwards hasn't suffered from questionable ethics during his career as a trial lawyer, Olsen argues — but some of his backers have.
Look for Kerry and Edwards to try to make hay out of Ken Lay and the Enron collapse, writes the Wall Street Journal's Jake Schlesinger.
The Los Angeles Times' Ron Brownstein (or, as William F. Buckley called him on "Meet," "Mr. Bernstein") looks at how John Edwards can help Kerry across the country — and maybe not. "The obstacles still confronting the Democratic ticket in the South and the countryside mean that Edwards may be much more valuable to Kerry delivering a message than delivering a region." LINK
The St. Pete Times on Edwards and the "Soccer Mom" demographic. LINK
Could the Heinz connection help Sen. Kerry in Western Pennsylvania? LINK
John Edwards attended church in Raleigh, N.C. yesterday, where the Methodist has been a regular since his 16-year-old son Wade died in a car accident in 1996. LINK
The Raleigh News & Observer's Craig Jarvis and Yonat Shimron report, "People in the Capital City this weekend discovered there will be no escaping the hubbub whenever Sen. John Edwards comes home over the next few months." LINK
The Raleigh News & Observer's Ruth Sheehan writes about the unstoppable force of Emma Claire and Jack. LINK
Bob Novak dislikes Ron Reagan, who the Kerry campaign announced last night will speak at the Boston convention.
LINK
ABC News Vote 2004: Bush-Cheney re-elect:
Roll Call's Chris Cillizza reports less than 24 hours after Kerry and Edwards became a couple, a handful of GOP Senators were tapped to lead President Bush's re-election communications effort. LINK
David Sanger of the New York Times writes that even though the Bush campaign is pushing a "doctrine of pre-emptive action against powers threatening the United States" on the campaign trail, in Washington they are "using a far more subdued, take-it-slow approach to the dangers of weapons of mass-destruction in Iran and North Korea." LINK
The AP's Scott Lindlaw looks at potential unrest among some key conservatives over missteps in Iraq. LINK
The St. Pete Times' Adam Smith doesn't go far to find the easy-to-find conservative who's frustrated with President Bush. LINK
The New York Times' editorial page calls for Vice President Cheney to release all his medical records in light of his doctor's addiction to pain killers. LINK
Will Lester on Lynne Cheney and the marriage amendment. LINK
The AP reports NAACP chairman Julian Bond slammed Bush policies on education, the economy and the war in Iraq yesterday, calling on his organization to oust the president from office. President Bush declined the invitation to speak at this year's annual convention, though he spoke at the 2000 NAACP convention in Baltimore when he was a candidate. John Kerry will speak Thursday on the final day of the convention, the NAACP said. LINK
We would ask you to please recall the NAACP ads that ran against George Bush in 2000, if you are looking to explain at least in part why he skipped this event.
ABC News Vote 2004: Bush-Cheney v. Kerry-Edwards:
Can one begin to comprehend the politics of postponing an election? LINK
That said, the question about statutory authority is quite important, and we're eager to see whether a bipartisan solution can be crafted without Democrats and Republicans accusing each other of using disaster scenarios for political gains.
Mark Jurkowitz of the Boston Globe writes up a new study of media coverage indicating Sen. Kerry has not taken advantage of President Bush's bad press. LINK
"The dominant media themes about Bush were that he is arrogant and lacks credibility, while Kerry was most frequently portrayed as indecisive and very liberal."
The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz takes a look at how repeated reportage colors voters perceptions of the candidates. LINK
Wait — was that a presidential candidate and his wife on the cover of … Ladies' Home Journal? Though the Bushes get the subscription cover, newsstands will also carry an alternate cover with the Kerrys, according to the Des Moines Register's Donnelle Eller. LINK
USA Today's Mark Memmott reports that the Kerry campaign "and groups opposed to President Bush have run almost twice as many TV ads in closely contested states as the Bush-Cheney campaign. That is the opposite of what many political experts predicted before March, when Kerry emerged as the likely Democratic candidate for president." LINK
Memmott also reports on an analysis by his paper of battleground ad wars that shows the four biggest states are Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin. LINK
The Raleigh News & Observer's Yonat Shimron writes about asserting one's faith in the race for the presidency. (No Ron Reagan quotes in this one.) LINK
ABC News Vote 2004: Kerry-Edwards interviews:
The Boston Globe's interview write-up Sunday focused on Iraq. LINK
But they also got Sen. Kerry to concede that he IS considering blowing off the general election public funding in order to keep the private donations rolling in.
Kerry Communications Director Stephanie Cutter would not absolutely rule out forgoing general election matching funds, but she told ABC News' Dan Harris this morning she highly doubts it will happen. It would take, she said, enormous amounts of planning to figure out how to make up for the $75 million match, planning that has not begun. She does acknowledge that people outside the campaign have urged them to consider this. In sum, though, she says there are no plans to do this.
Said another Kerry source: "Stay tuned."
And the Globe team did get this remarkable answer from Sen. Kerry in response to asking about whether his campaign will repay him for his $6.4 million loan: "'I don't know where we are in our cash flow or anything, but I'd sure like to,' Kerry said with a smile as Edwards chuckled by his side."
Weirdly newsless "60 Minutes" piece last night; our sense, from watching it, is that John Edwards does not need prompting to interrupt the principal, although we submit that that impression might have been left by the editor.
We liked Ms. Stahl's imitation of being the first reporter EVER to ask John Kerry if he regretted his vote authorizing the war.
The New York Times' Jodi Wilgoren focused on the Kerrys' indignance over their opponents making an issue of the Democratic ticket's wealth. LINK
Here's the quote that'll be re-run today:
"'Those very same people never criticized my late husband for his money or his wealth — in fact, they used it,' said Mrs. Heinz Kerry, who inherited an estate estimated at $500 million to $1 billion from her first husband, Senator H. John Heinz III, a Pennsylvania Republican who was killed in a plane crash. 'His money was just dandy.'"
From the Los Angeles Times: "'I expect this to be — already has been — a strong and evolving relationship,' Edwards said." LINK
"Touching his chest with his fist, he added: 'The truth is, we trust each other at the deepest level.'
"Still, when Edwards expressed hope moments later that they would campaign together frequently, Kerry interrupted."
"'I want him to campaign a lot separately,' he said. 'That's the purpose of having a running mate — you cover more states.'"
On Sunday, the New York Times' Adam Nagourney and Jodi Wilgoren wrote up their turn, during which the candidates faulted bad intelligence for President Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq. They're not quite finishing each other's sentences yet, but they're coming close. LINK
"While the two men said they had discussed the crisis in Iraq in their frequent talks leading to Mr. Kerry's decision this week to choose Mr. Edwards, they did not offer any ideas about what the United States should do to end the war beyond what they had previously called for: enlisting the help of allies and the United Nations."
Sitting down with the "Gleam Team" for an interview and excellent overview of the newly minted KE04 ticket, Time magazine's Karen Tumulty Notes that "there's no evidence yet that Kerry's presidential prospects have got one from the addition of Edwards to the ticket." Note particularly the paragraph on Edwards' strengths in the Midwest. LINK
On to Dan Balz and Jim VandeHei: LINK
In re: Edwards' experience, Kerry said this: "Does [Edwards] have as much experience as me? No. But I am running for president; he's running for vice president."
On gay marriage — is this an answer or not? "'Let's be very firm about it. Both John and I believe firmly and absolutely that marriage is between a man and a woman,' Kerry said. 'But we also believe that you don't play with the Constitution of the United States for political purposes and amend the Bill of Rights when you don't need to when states are adequately addressing this issue.'"
"Kerry, who recently said he agrees with the Roman Catholic Church that life begins at conception, said he disagrees with his church's teaching that homosexuality is a sin. Edwards twice did not respond when asked if he, too, believes life begins at conception."
And Newsweek summed up the entire Kerry-Edwards relationship with these few sentences: "When Edwards was asked for his views on nuclear proliferation, Kerry-with a polite but firm 'Do you mind?'-stepped in to answer the question with an air of authority, leaving Edwards to fiddle impatiently with the football until it was his turn. But when the subject turned to values, it was Edwards who was more sure-footed and upbeat. While Kerry focused on rebutting each and every Bush administration accusation on abortion, gun control and taxes, Edwards smoothly alluded to his own milltown, blue-collar, rural roots and evoked the vision of a brighter future for all. 'People are desperate to feel optimistic again,' he said. 'I know what they need. I know what they want … They want someone who will lift them up again, in a real way, not rhetoric.' Kerry couldn't have said it better-and didn't." LINK
ABC News Vote 2004: weekend must-reads:
Anyone who wants to understand what makes George W. Bush tick, anyone who wants to see an in-depth look at what shaped his political career, anyone who wants to know how and why religion is so influential on him, read Janet Hook's Sunday Los Angeles Times description of all that and more. LINK
Tom Oliphant explained in the Boston Globe Sunday why veep candidates can be so important to a presidential campaign and Noted: "For the moment, John Edwards is a net-positive for Kerry, which means he can reach out beyond the traditional Democratic world."LINK
"Dick Cheney is a net-negative for President Bush, which means that while you will see Edwards wooing businessmen and fellow Southerners and rural-ites, you won't see Cheney in Harlem or in TV ads. That may not mean everything, but it certainly means something."
The Boston Globe Sunday printed an insert guiding Bostonians through the Democratic National Convention. Scroll down this page to check out all their tips: LINK
George Will took his own stab Sunday on what the Edwards pick indicated, a focus on that famous "better-off" question, but then he makes the whole election about Turkey and the EU! LINK
The Washington Post team of Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen pointed out to us Saturday how campaign rhetoric on Friday turned markedly personal. LINK
The Washington Post's Fears profiled the Latino vote in Florida Sunday, and no, it's not all Cubans — times, they are a-changing. LINK
Time's Michael Duffy profiles John Edwards, wondering if his political rise was too high too fast. LINK
On Saturday, Michael Moss and Kate Zernike of the New York Times looked through Senator Edwards' income tax returns, and wrote about the tax shelter that was an issue during his 1998 Senate run that could come back again this time around, although the experts quoted deemed it cautious. LINK
The New York Daily News' Adam Lisberg on Sunday looked at how Sen. Edwards' populist image is playing in his home state of North Carolina. LINK
Lisberg also took a look at the life and times — and occasional legal troubles — of Edwards' brother, Blake. LINK
The New York Times' Ray Hernandez on Saturday looked at the contributions of Sen. Hillary Clinton thus far to KE04, and examined how the ticket might affect her aspirations for 2008. LINK
"Many Democrats say the decision has set Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Edwards on a collision course, with their political fates on the line in a struggle for leadership of the party if President Bush up winning re-election in November."
Joe Klein in Time opines that President Bush's biggest worry is Iraq, not John Kerry, and offers a pungent assessment of the Bush-Cheney campaign's approach to campaigning — and ad buying — in the spring. LINK
On Saturday, the New York Times' Robert Worth expanded the Boston Herald's reporting last week, looking at the involvement of Enron CEO Kenneth Lay with the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economy and the Environment.
LINK
Sunday, the New York Daily News' Ken Bazinet reported that Cam Kerry is heading to Israel next week, and will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, among other Israeli leaders, on his visit. Senator Kerry's adviser on Israeli affairs, Jay Footlik, will accompany the Senator's brother and his wife. LINK
On Sunday, Carl Hulse of the New York Times took a look at the Republican strongholds in Colorado, Alaska, and Oklahoma, and examined why Democrats are feeling good about their chances of winning Senate seats there. LINK
On Sunday, the New York Post reported that the U.S. intelligence community is increasingly worried that al Qaeda will target Wall Street. LINK
ABC News Vote 2004: battleground states:
Just how huge is this story for Democrats?
"Florida election officials conceded an enormous mistake Saturday and abandoned the controversial list the state was using to remove
convicted felons from the voter rolls." LINK
"After defending the list against mounting criticism as late as Friday evening, the state made an about-face. The reason: a flaw in a database that
failed to capture most felons who classified themselves as Hispanic."
The AP and the New York Times hit the story over the weekend. LINK and LINK
Jeffrey Ball writes on the front page of the Wall Street Journal about the effects of higher gas prices on and lower paid hourly-wage workers, looking at the issue through the sprawling microcosm of Tampa, Fla.
"The post-war modern American city was built on a foundation of cheap gas that allows even low-paid workers to drive to and from their jobs. Take away the cheap gas and the foundation begins to crack."
Hundreds of volunteers at churches throughout Florida registered people to vote this weekend "in the places they feel most comfortable, where they feel they're among friends." LINK
The Minneapolis Star Tribune's Dane Smith reports that the Minnesota Iron Range, including the city of Duluth, is a "hot political property" this year, and is garnering more attention than ever before. LINK
The Manchester Union Leader's Gil Bliss reports on New Hampshire's simplified recount process that Secretary of State William Gardner guarantees will never lead to a Florida-style crisis. LINK
The New Hampshire governor's mansion may be up for grabs after all, as new polling numbers show newcomer John Lynch is "nearly on an even plane" with Gov. Craig Benson in voter appeal. LINK
GOP's big hurdle in Southeast Ohio could be jobs, the Plain Dealer Notes. LINK
The two parties agree on only one thing: the Yucca Mountain issue will surely affect the presidential election in the key battleground state of Nevada. LINK
A group in Michigan is protesting the counting of absentee ballots in Detroit, claiming that the City Clerk manipulated the absentee votes of a number of senior citizens in Detroit over the last several years in order to skew election results, according to the Detroit Free Press' Alejandro Bodipo-Memba. LINK
Politicians, read on. Get the low down on body language and the correct handshake. LINK
Mortgage rates have seen a recent drop in Washington but experts say it may not last long, the AP reports. LINK
The Arizona Sun highlights the new GOP strategy: their adoption of a long-held Democratic practice of grassroots activism and door-to-door campaigning. LINK
Democrats hope Edwards can deliver the rural vote, but the Kansas City Star examines how many voters in rural and small-towns have tuned out the Democratic party in recent years, mainly because of cultural issues. LINK
The politics of same-sex marriage:
Joey Bunch of the Denver Post looks at the efforts of evangelical groups to spur activists to contact their lawmakers and lobby them in favor of the Federal Marriage Amendment, on which the U.S. Senate is expected to vote this week. They also provided churchgoers with a script. LINK
Adam Nagourney and David Kirkpatrick of the New York Times offer a smart take on President Bush's "renewed advocacy" of the FMA in response to rumblings from his conservative base, and the potential vise he faces in talking extensively about cultural issues in the campaign. LINK
The Los Angeles Times' Janet Hook writes that "Republican strategists hope — and Democratic strategists fear — that the presence of anti-gay-marriage initiatives on the ballots of swing states such as Michigan and Oregon will boost turnout among conservative voters and improve President Bush's chances of winning crucial electoral college votes." LINK
And for your clip-and-save purposes, the list of states that will vote on same-sex marriage initiatives in the fall:
States that will have same-sex marriage votes on the November ballot:
Battlegrounds: Arkansas, Michigan, Oregon
Others: Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah, Montana
States that will have same-sex marriage votes before the November ballot
Missouri (in August)
Louisiana (in September)
Other battlegrounds moving toward ballot initiative:
Ohio and Minnesota
USA Today's Kathy Kiely writes, "Gay couples who want to get married and conservative activists who want to keep marriage a strictly co-ed institution are not the only potential winners and losers in this fight. Democratic and Republican political strategists are trying to figure out how — or if — it will affect the presidential race." LINK
In a separate report, Kiely writes, "Fights over gay marriage in four presidential battleground states could create a loophole in the new campaign-finance law designed to limit contributions to federal election campaigns." LINK
The Des Moines Register's Jane Norman writes that Sen. Harkin and Senator Grassley are "being bombarded with e-mail and telephone calls — mostly from advocates of the amendment." LINK
The Detroit News' Deb Price says there's going to be some backlash against Bush over the same-sex marriage ban in the form of the "sleeping giant," the Human Rights Campaign. LINK
According to the Detroit Free Press' Kathleen Gray, support for the Michigan ban on gay marriage is at a high 61 percent in the latest EPIC/MRA poll. LINK
ABC News Vote 2004: the Senate:
"Wanted: Candidate to lead a fractured, scandal-ridden party in a late-starting campaign against a strong, well-financed opponent. Prefer wealthy applicants willing to spend heavily with no return and little chance of victory. Boring sex life a must," reads a possible ad for a ballot replacement for fallen U.S. Senate candidate Jack Ryan. LINK +
Charles Babington profiles Bowles v. Burr. Even some Democrats concede that an Edwards on the ticket cuts both ways. LINK
Lois Romano profiles the Oklahoma Senate race between various Republicans and Democratic Rep. Brad Carson. LINK
Lynn Bartels of the Rocky Mountain News opens a four-part series on the candidates for Colorado's U.S. Senate seat, beginning with a good look at the made-for-campaigning story of state Attorney General Ken Salazar.
LINK
Roll Call reports Sen. Tom Daschle "absolutely" wants to continue as Democratic leader "regardless of who controls the chamber next year, giving him the opportunity to tie the record for longest serving leader in Senate history." LINK
Tom DeLay:
The Washington Post's R. Jeffrey Smith pens the first chapter in what we bet will be a series of articles in the days to come about the corporate fundraising practices of the House Majority Leader.
"In May 2001, Enron's top lobbyists in Washington advised the company chairman that then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) was pressing for a $100,000 contribution to his political action committee, in addition to the $250,000 the company had already pledged to the Republican Party that year." LINK
"DeLay requested that the new donation come from 'a combination of corporate and personal money from Enron's executives,' with the understanding that it would be partly spent on 'the redistricting effort in Texas,' said the e-mail to Kenneth L. Lay from lobbyists Rick Shapiro and Linda Robertson."
"The e-mail, which surfaced in a subsequent federal probe of Houston-based Enron, is one of at least a dozen documents obtained by The Washington Post that show DeLay and his associates directed money from corporations and Washington lobbyists to Republican campaign coffers in Texas in 2001 and 2002 as part of a plan to redraw the state's congressional districts."
The sentence that says that DeLay's daughter "declined to be quoted for this article" is a classic of the genre.
Nader-Camejo '04
The New York Post's Ian Bishop reports on GOP cash helping Nader. LINK
Does the Republican political consultant largely responsible for Ralph Nader's successful petition drive in battleground Nevada, think Nader will make the difference there for Bush? "I would hope so," Steve Wark said. "I didn't do it for my own health." LINK
Maeve Reston of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes a solid summary of the tug-of-war between Nader interlopers. "Nader's run this year has touched off a struggle in some states between Democrats and the Nader campaign. The battle promises to make it harder for Nader to have as much effect in 2004 as he did in 2000." LINK
The Detroit News opines that the "controversial efforts to put Ralph Nader on the ballot in Michigan will not sully the state's Nov. 2 election" and won't harm the public in any way. LINK
Like sands throught the hourglass, Thursday, July 15 is the deadline to submit petitions for the Michigan ballot.
CNN's Tucker Carlson holds up for Nader. "It's an outrage to me the way that people like Buchanan and Nader are treated, like they're inconvenient because they actually believe something," he said. "I hate that. I have more respect for Nader and Buchanan than I do for the mainstream candidates by a lot." LINK
The economy:
The Wall Street Journal's Greg Ip lays out the anatomy of indifference — politicians' toward deficits — and warns that a deficit-based crisis could be coming, despite the lessons evidently learned from the Reagan Administration.
The conventions:
The New York Times ' David Kirkpatrick writes that conservatives are agitated over the focus on moderates expected at the Republican National Convention, and are complaining that they're being left out.
LINK
The Chicago Sun-Times' Lynn Sweet turns in her version of the special-interests-are-pouring-money-into-convention-parties story.
LINK
Subject from convention stories that will only show up in Boston papers — as opposed to the city that doesn't sleep: no late-night partying. Mayor Thomas Menino's office spoke: nothing past 2 a.m. LINK
"To some delegates and other out-of-towners expecting to let their hair down at the convention — many of them accustomed to later closing times in their hometowns or no closing times at all — Boston's prohibitions seemed almost prudish."
The Boston Globe's Rick Klein writes that all hope for no labor protests during the Democratic National Convention are almost lost. LINK
The New York Daily News reports that New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly is understandably furious over an internet group's planning of terrorism decoys during the Republican National Convention. "Internet-using anarchists are telling would-be troublemakers to decoy specially trained Labrador retrievers with gunpowder or ammonium nitrate-laced tablets in a bid to halt trains or even spur the evacuation of Madison Square Garden." LINK
Media:
The New York Times' Mark Glassman uncovers that as shocking as some Democrats may find this, two of Fox News Channel's parent company executives are big fundraisers and contributors to the Democratic Party. LINK
The New York Times ' Hernandez and Elliott report on a dispute over an antiwar billboard that activitsts are accusing Clear Channel from unlawfully refusing to post in Times Square. LINK
Congratulations to former DNCer and Clarker Bill Buck, who's landed at the firm Group360. He joins as managing director.
TODAY'S SCHEDULE (all times ET):
—9:00 am: Sen. John Kerry attends a breakfast fundraiser at the Hampton Inn and Suites, Boston, Mass.
—9:30 am: Vice President Cheney attends a breakfast fundraiser for congressional candidate Charlie Dent, Bethlehem, Pa.
—10:45 am: Sen. Kerry attends a roundtable of Hearst reporters, Boston, Mass.
—10:55 am: President Bush tours the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tenn.
—11:25 am: President Bush speaks about the War on Terror, Oak Ridge, Tenn.
—12:00 pm: Former Fox News employees hold a news conference sponsored by the liberal group MoveOn.org to accuse Fox News executives of instructing their staff to deliver biased news, New York, N.Y.
—12:30 pm: Sen. Kerry attends a fundraiser reception at the Sheraton, Boston, Mass.
—12:30 pm: The House reconvenes for morning business
—12:35 pm: Vice President Cheney speaks at a luncheon fundraiser for Congressional Candidate Scott Paterno, Harrisburg, Pa.
—1:00 pm: The Senate reconvenes and takes up the motion to proceed to S. J. Res. 40, the Constitutional Amendment Protecting Marriage
—2:00 pm: The House meets for legislative business
—2:45 pm: President Bush meets with the President of El Salvador at the White House
—2:45 pm: Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and leaders from the Alliance for Marriage hold a press conference on the Constitutional Amendment Protecting Marriage at the Capitol, Washington, D.C.
—4:00 pm: The Energy Department releases its weekly gasoline prices report
—5:30 pm: White House counsel Alberto Gonzales speaks before a Hispanic Leadership Summit meeting hosted by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Washington, D.C.
—6:00 pm: First Lady Laura Bush speaks at fundraiser reception for George Nethercutt for Senate, Washington, D.C.
—6:20 pm: Sen. John Kerry attends the Massachusetts Legislative Dinner, Boston, Mass.
—6:30 pm: Vice President Cheney delivers remarks at an RNC fundraiser reception, Pittsburgh, Pa.
—7:15 pm: Sen. Kerry attends a pre-party rally fundraiser, Boston, Mass.
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