First glance
To the extent that the public has focused beyond the wisecracking headlines and late-night jokes on his accidental shooting of Harry Whittington, the Vice President probably went a long way toward putting it to rest in his Fox interview yesterday, barring any future developments in the case.  A perceptibly emotional Cheney took responsibility for the accident and defended -- without regret, the coverage universally notes -- his handling of the aftermath.

He also rapped the media's knuckles for its reporting on the incident, suggesting that the media favored speed over accuracy.  And on Today this morning, Cheney advisor Mary Matalin sprayed the press with her own birdshot, not only echoing Cheney's comments that "accuracy and completeness" should have been the media's priority in reporting the story, but asserting that Cheney and his aides were not thinking of trying to please the media in their handling of the accident, and that she doesn't see a great outcry from the public on how the information was disclosed.

One curious note: As NBC's Kelly O'Donnell mentioned on Today, the county sheriff's report found no evidence of alcohol or misconduct.  Per the transcript of the interview, Cheney said that he'd "had a beer at lunch" that day but that no one was drinking during the hunt: "You don't hunt with people who drink. That's not a good idea."  Still, Fox did not appear to air that portion of the interview; Fox's website last night featured three long clips but did not include any mention of alcohol.

President Bush has another health-care event today, a panel discussion at the Department of Health and Human Services at 1:20 pm.  HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt is one of three Cabinet secretaries with health-care events around the country today: Per the Cabinet schedule released earlier by the White House, he has a bird-flu event in Tallahassee.  (Probably the oddest-sounding such event today: Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson, in Nashville, "discusses America’s commitment to veterans and health care initiatives at the Country Music Event, honoring Toby Keith.")  Democrats continue to criticize Bush's health care policies on Capitol Hill, waiting for the Presidents' Day recess to hold town halls in their districts on the Medicare prescription-drug benefit; House Democrats are planning 80-100 such events.

Prior to his health-care event, Bush headlines a Republican National Committee fundraising luncheon at 12:05 pm.  Eighty people are expected to attend the event, which will raise $1.5 million, per an RNC spokesperson.  After the health-care event, Bush meets with the President of Colombia back at the White House at 3:40 pm.

Homeland security chief Michael Chertoff faces his second day of grilling on Capitol Hill, this time on the House side.  Fed chair Bernanke, on day two of his Hill debut, testifies before the Senate Banking Committee.

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And the Senate Intelligence Committee is scheduled to vote today on whether or not to investigate the Administration's NSA domestic wiretapping program for potential illegalities.  What may have seemed at first like an easy victory for committee Democrats, who with the help of some Republicans appeared to have the votes for an inquiry, is now in doubt, NBC's Ken Strickland reports.

Behind the scenes, dialogue between White House officials and Senate Republicans on the issue has intensified over recent days, Strickland says.  Cheney met with committee Republicans on Tuesday.  Some published reports yesterday suggested that Cheney successfully pressured the ranks to get in line, but the real effect of that meeting on Republicans skeptical about the program remains unclear.  Sen. Chuck Hagel (R) did not attend.  Sen. Olympia Snowe (R) emerged from an unrelated intel meeting yesterday denying that her position on a probe had changed, and saying she stands by her earlier public statements calling for an investigation.  She declined to elaborate on her discussions with Cheney, Strickland says.

The third committee Republican who has openly questioned the legality of the NSA program, Sen. Mike Dewine, is drafting legislation that would authorize the program and create a subcommittee within the intelligence panel that would have regular oversight over it, thereby widening the circle of people who would have knowledge and could question aspects of the program.  Dewine says of his proposal, "It's been received well.  I'm kind of shopping it around" to the White House, the Senate GOP leadership, and Democrats, Strickland reports.

The big question for those three Republicans -- and ultimately, Democrats too -- is whether enough momentum has built in favor of resolving the problem through legislative means that voting for a probe would be unnecessary (not to mention a rebuke of their leadership and president).  And the question for the Administration is, after gauging the GOP resistance, are they inclined to quickly find some middle ground that would eliminate the need for those Republicans to support an investigation?  All things considered, Strickland says, we could see a scenario today in which a vote is postponed.

On the Democratic side of the committee, little if anything has changed: vice-chair Jay Rockefeller is prepared to call for a vote on an inquiry that would require the Administration to answer "key relevant questions," according to a Democratic aide who spoke on background.  Another Democratic committee source admitted they're not as sure of the outcome today as they were a couple of weeks ago.  Meanwhile, Judiciary Committee chair Arlen Specter is still in the fray, having announced a committee hearing for February 28.

And for those looking ahead to the great oh-eight race, the Republican National Committee announced yesterday that it has requested proposals from 31 cities who are prospective hosts of the 2008 GOP convention.  Sources tell First Read that the Democratic National Committee's list of prospective host cities is already narrowed down to around 10 or so, and that those cities will soon be asked to submit formal proposals.  Cities on both parties' lists include Anaheim, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New Orleans, New York, Orlando and Phoenix.

Cheney's misfire
"Cheney agreed to discuss the accident publicly only after senior White House officials and Republican strategists complained that his belated disclosure and refusal to speak out had made the situation worse," says the Washington Post.  "White House aides and allies expressed hope that Cheney's public comments would defuse the uproar...  But Democrats continued to pound away...  Like other aspects of the incident, Cheney's office kept its plan to grant the interview tightly held until just shortly beforehand."

The New York Times notes that White House press secretary Scott McClellan suggested to reporters that Bush believes Cheney should have handled the matter differently.

The New York Daily News reports that Cheney's decision to do Fox came after a breakfast meeting with Bush yesterday, at which the two discussed what course Cheney should take.

The Post's Howard Kurtz reports on how the interview was offered to Fox.  Matalin tells him, "'our objective was to get the whole story out in a consecutive way.  [Hume] wanted a long form.  We had no desire for anything other than comprehensive and hard questions.'"  Kurtz notes both Hume's reputation for fairness and his network's reputation for being sympathetic to the Administration.

The Chicago Tribune notes how Cheney likes a sympathetic audience.  “Making his case for the war on terror, he heads to military bases.  Trying to make political points, he calls on conservative radio and television audiences."

The Los Angeles Times: "If you accidentally shoot a hunting buddy in the face, make it about the media...  What seemed obvious was that Cheney had chosen Republican-friendly Fox News to ward off the controversy surrounding his actions after the incident, and that everyone else hooting and hollering about the nature of the information flow would appear to be arguing among themselves - brainiac media elite chewing on the nontopic of the day, people who'd probably never held a gun."

Another Los Angeles Times report: "Fox News executives cast the scoop as the result of persistence and the growing clout of the top-rated cable news network."

And the Los Angeles Times' analysis piece points out that although President Bush "has been admired for his ability to set clear goals and doggedly follow a path to achieve them," he and "his White House often seem to struggle when pressed to react to unexpected events, a difficulty highlighted" not only by the White House's response to the hunting accident, but also by the "federal response to Hurricane Katrina...  White House counselor Dan Bartlett rejected the suggestion that the two controversies pointed to communication failures among Bush and his aides."

Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal: "A vice president of the United States shot a guy in a hunting accident, and no one on his staff told the press.  That's a story.  But as a scandal I'm not sure it has a big future."  Noonan does raise the prospect that "Mr. Bush may feel in time that he has reason to want to put in a new vice president in order to pick a successor who'll presumably have an edge in the primaries -- he's the sitting vice president, and Republicans still respect primogeniture."

The Boston Globe examines Texas's hunting culture and the high-profile history of the Armstrong ranch.  "Having long been a way for politicians to burnish their bona fides with rural voters, hunting is steadily morphing into a high-class pursuit for the wealthy and the well-connected...  And politics and hunting have long been inextricably linked in Texas, as politicians have sought to embody the rugged individualism of the only state in the union that was once an independent republic."

USA Today says locals in the area of the ranch where the shooting occurred are surprised at the uproar because hunting accidents are so common.

"Kenedy County sheriff's deputies have redoubled their efforts to investigate the case after criticism of their decision not to interview witnesses until a day after the shooting," reports the Dallas Morning News.

The AP previews Cheney's visit to Cheyenne, WY tomorrow, where he'll address the legislature at the state capitol, his second such appearance.

Ethics
Regarding the CIA leak case, Cheney told Fox in his interview yesterday that there is an executive order granting the vice president authority to declassify information; that he has "certainly advocated declassification and participated in declassification decisions;" and that he didn't "want to get into" whether he has ever done it unilaterally.  He also declined to comment on the case: "I may well be called as a witness at some point in the case and it's, therefore, inappropriate for me to comment on any facet of the case."

The AP says Cheney's claim of that authority "could set up a criminal defense for" former his former chief of staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby.  "Mr. Cheney's disclosure comes a week after reports that Mr. Libby testified under oath that he was authorized by superiors in 2003 to disclose to reporters sensitive prewar information about Iraq and weapons of mass destruction."

The Washington Post front-pages the onslaught of problems facing longtime Democratic Rep. Bill Jefferson, who's under federal scrutiny "for allegedly demanding cash and other favors for himself and relatives, in exchange for using his congressional clout to arrange African business deals.  A former aide recently pleaded guilty to bribing Jefferson and is cooperating with authorities, and sources familiar with the case say a plea agreement with the lawmaker is being explored...  Depending on Jefferson's fate, his central New Orleans district -- badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina and in need of effective representation in Washington -- could face a rowdy special election," which "Republicans believe they could win."

Judiciary Committee chair Arlen Specter "helped direct almost $50 million in Pentagon spending during the past four years to clients of the husband of" his legislative aide for appropriations, USA Today reports.  "In a statement responding to questions from USA Today, Specter said he did not know the earmarks were going to clients of [his aide's] husband.  'I am advised that at no time did her husband lobby my office or seek appropriations from any member of my staff,' the statement said.  Specter declined to be interviewed."

Sen. Barack Obama (D) holds a 10:00 am press conference today to highlight his proposed congressional ethics enforcement commission, to which the public can submit complaints.  Obama will be joined by Anthony Wilhoit, retired chief judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals and current executive director of the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission.

Congress's new online lobbying disclosure system is so complicated that "thousands" of lobbyists weren't able to file on time this week. – Washington Post

A Houston Fox affiliate has chosen not to run an ad by the conservative Free Enterprise Fund that defends Rep. Tom DeLay (R) and attacks Democratic financier George Soros, says the Houston Chronicle.  This comes after “four Houston TV stations initially refused last month to show an ad criticizing” DeLay.

Security politics
The New York Times reports that the ethics office at the Justice Department has begun to investigate the department’s role in the NSA surveillance program.

Potential presidential candidate and Sen. Russ Feingold (D) may be the first and the last man standing in the fight to filibuster the Patriot Act, predicts the Boston Globe.  "No Democrats were expected to join Feingold, according to officials of both parties."

Pegged to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday, MSNBC.com’s Tom Curry examines whether recent Middle East elections have made the United States safer, as the Administration claimed they would.

Liberal Sen. Barbara Boxer in particular spiced up what might have been an otherwise dull Foreign Relations hearing on the State Department's 2007 budget request with her aggressive questioning (and interrupting) of Rice, reports NBC's Libby Leist.  Boxer and several other panel members used the forum to sharply criticize Administration policies in the Middle East.  But while Democrats Joe Biden and John Kerry and Republicans Chuck Hagel and Lincoln Chafee used mostly civil tones in questioning Bush's policies, Boxer raised her voice and angrily rustled papers.  She accused the Administration of having a "tin ear when it comes to the Middle East," and said "that tin ear is making us less safe."

Things got hot when Boxer repeatedly interrupted Rice for not answering her question: "Do you really believe that elections in the Middle East... (are) working to the benefit of the United States?... but also in places like Bolivia and Venezuela, do you agree that nations throughout the world are electing more negative candidates who run against America?"  Rice tried to craft an answer, but Boxer kept stopping her during her prologues, arguing that she was not responding to the question.  Eventually, Leist says, it became hard not to think "catfight," and the grins on the faces of Senators Nelson and Obama signaled they were perhaps enjoying the exchange.

More on the Bush agenda
Bloomberg notes of the amassing political armies on health care that "even as the political forces mobilize, health-care experts say election-year politics and the fraught history of the issue constrain the possibilities of concrete action" on health care anytime soon.  Another "compelling reason why Congress may stop short of action on health care: it's been a nightmare issue for both parties."

"Much as he did last year in a failed campaign to restructure the Social Security system, Bush is selling the accounts as a way to provide consumers more control over their money and to transition away from what he calls a costly and unsustainable program." Washington Post

“Democrats hope the chaotic Medicare rollout, along with Bush's unsuccessful Social Security reform last year and his proposed Medicare funding cuts for 2007, will persuade voters in the coming midterm elections that the GOP can't be trusted to protect key benefits for the elderly.” – Chicago Tribune

It's the economy
In his Capitol Hill debut yesterday before the House Financial Services Committee, Fed chair Ben Bernanke "told lawmakers he'll follow Alan Greenspan's lead on interest rates and economics, while refusing to be drawn into political debates on taxes and spending."  His "approach was a departure from Greenspan's willingness to discuss issues beyond monetary policy, which gave lawmakers a chance to enlist his support for their causes." - Bloomberg

"Markets expect the Fed, at its next meeting on March 27 and March 28, to raise its short-term interest rate target, now 4.5%, by a quarter of a percentage point, and put high odds on another increase on May 10.  Mr. Bernanke's testimony didn't alter expectations yesterday."

Bush's new chief of his Council of Economic Advisers, Edward Lazear, tells Bloomberg he'll "give unvarnished advice to the president and top advisers...  Lazear is best known among economists for his research in workplace issues...  He also has broad experience in tax policy" and is "an advocate of private Social Security accounts."

The midterms
Stuart Rothenberg offers his list of the 10 most endangered House incumbents, nine of which are Republican: Bob Ney (R-OH), Tom DeLay (R-TX), John Hostettler (R-IN), Jim Gerlach (R-PA), Rob Simmons (R-CT), Heather Wilson (R-NM), Mike Sodrel (R-IN), Clay Shaw (R-FL), and Melissa Bean (D-IL).

Republican National Committee chair Ken Mehlman is in Hawaii today doing a fundraiser for Gov. Linda Lingle (R), who's on the ballot this November, and another one for the state GOP.

With her criticisms of GOP Gov. Rick Perry's handling of state affairs like school finance and homeowner's insurance rates, independent challenger Carole Keeton Strayhorn has failed to offer details on how she would address some of the state's problems, says the Dallas Morning News in its look at the "delicate task" Strayhorn faces in recasting herself from Republican to third-party candidate.

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