First Read

“First Read” is a daily memo prepared by NBC News’ political unit, for NBC News, analyzing the morning’s political news. Please let us know what you think. Drop us a note at

• Friday, April 2, 2004 | 9:30 a.m. ET
From Elizabeth Wilner, Mark Murray and Huma Zaidi
Over the past few weeks, it seems, it's been all 9/11 and terrorism, all the time. Dick Clarke. Condi Rice. Murdered U.S. civilians dragged through the streets of Fallujah. Deadly terrorist bombings in Spain (in fact, another bomb was discovered today on a Spanish train, the AP reports).

But today we pivot to an entirely different story: jobs and the economy.

And the news on the jobs front appears to be good for the Bush Administration. The AP reports that although the unemployment rate inched up to 5.7 percent in March, companies added 308,000 new jobs -- the most in four years. MSNBC's Nina Bradley got Bush-Cheney press secretary Scott Stanzel to say this yesterday: "The choice is between someone who will create jobs and someone who will kill jobs. We are glad to have any argument about the economy and jobs. John Kerry's plan will take our country backward." (We imagine that the rhetoric from the Bush camp today will be even more jubilant than that.)

Keeping up with the jobs-and-economy theme, there's a new Kerry ad running in 17 states that criticizes recent Bush Administration comments lauding job outsourcing; a new Democratic Media Fund ad airing in a handful of states that blasts the Administration for spending $87 billion in Iraq but doing little to meet U.S. domestic needs; and a new Bush ad running in 18 states that enumerates the tax increases that Kerry has supported, adding that these tax increases are troubling for the U.S. economy.

Fittingly, Bush travels to West Virginia today to participate in a conversation on job training at 11:40 am; the Huntington Herald-Dispatch previews this visit. Kerry, meanwhile, is down in Boston, but still meets with Robert Rubin, the AFL-CIO's John Sweeney, and other economic experts. And fellow Bay Stater Sen. Ted Kennedy will keep this story rolling into next week when he gives a Brookings Institution speech on Monday knocking the Administration on health care, education, and jobs.

This attention on jobs isn't a coincidence. As one GOP analyst tells First Read, the economy will most likely decide the outcome of the presidential election, despite all the attention on 9/11 and Iraq. "It's still about the number of jobs created," the Republican says. And as a result, one of the biggest political stories until the November election will be -- like it is today -- the unemployment numbers that are released on the first Friday of each month.

In news that's not related to the economy, the Kerry campaign holds a conference call at 10:00 am to announce its record-breaking fundraising total for the first quarter of 2004. The Washington Post says the amount will be $43 million. "[T]he unexpected fundraising surge shows Democrats are far more competitive financially against Bush and suggests the pool of Democratic money runs much deeper than officials from both parties originally projected, GOP and Democratic strategists say. The Kerry campaign initially projected it would raise $80 million this year, then Kerry fundraisers said in interviews last month it could top $100 million in 2004 alone."

The Boston Globe: "The Kerry take would set a quarterly record for a non-incumbent, breaking the mark of about $30 million set by George W. Bush, then governor of Texas, in 2000, [Kerry spokesman Michael] Meehan said. It would also put the Democrat more than halfway to his $80 million fund-raising goal for the general election campaign."

MSNBC's Felix Schein notes that this fundraising windfall couldn't have come at a better time for the Kerry campaign. With a burn rate close to 90 percent just over the last month, the campaign is shoveling money out the door as fast as it comes in. Case in point, Schein says, is the new TV ad campaign.

Kerry, recovering from shoulder surgery in Boston this week, was supposed to appear on Imus in the Morning at 8:29 am today. But shortly after 8:30 am, Imus announced that Kerry was instructed by his doctors to "sleep in" and would not be on the show. The show tells us the Kerry camp called in shortly after 5:00 am this morning to cancel the interview.

On Sunday, Meet the Press has exclusive interviews with 9/11 Commission Chair Thomas Kean and Vice Chair Lee Hamilton, and also Karen Hughes.

Bush v. Kerry: jobs and the economy
The AP says that Kerry's new ad is his first negative ad of the general election. "The new commercial is meant to exploit one of Bush's weaknesses -- more than 2 million jobs lost on his watch -- while highlighting Kerry's recently released economic plan that focuses in part on keeping jobs in the United States."

Meanwhile, USA Today chronicles the flurry of ads yesterday. "At 3:45 p.m. ET, just 62 minutes after Kerry's campaign e-mailed reporters about his new ad ... the Bush campaign e-mailed the media to say it would have a response. At 4:35 p.m. ET in a conference call with reporters, that response was revealed: Bush had a new ad of his own."

But "Bush's campaign advisers said their new ad ... was not prepared specifically in response to Kerry's. The Bush ad had already been scheduled to begin airing this weekend, they said. But in response to Kerry's ad, the campaign posted 'Troubling' on its Web site ... a day early and called reporters' attention to the ad."

And "[a]t 3:49 p.m. ET, the Media Fund e-mailed reporters to say it would begin airing a new ad Thursday night across the country."

Some truth-squadding on the new ads: Kerry's, the New York Times says, "refers to the 2004 economic report to the president from the White House Council of Economic Advisers, which said the short-term pain of overseas job losses because of global trade would be offset by long-term gains to the economy. Though Mr. Bush signed the report, delivered to Congress in February, he has never voiced support for sending jobs overseas. 'The president has been clear and on the record,' said Ken Mehlman, Mr. Bush's campaign manager. 'His goal is to create jobs in this country; his goal is to keep jobs in this country.'"

Meanwhile, the new Bush ad "asserts that Mr. Kerry 'opposed tax relief for married couples 22 times" and "supported higher taxes over 350 times.' Mr. Kerry's campaign said this spot unfairly cherry-picked provisions in tax cut bills proposed by Mr. Bush that Mr. Kerry believed favored the wealthy. Stephanie Cutter, Mr. Kerry's press secretary, said he had voted at least seven times to preserve marriage-penalty relief and had proposed to do so in his economic plan, which includes other tax cuts for the middle class."

In a second-day write-up of its most recent poll, the Los Angeles Times writes that the public thinks Kerry "would better look out for their financial futures than would President Bush. Asked to name the candidate who would be 'best at protecting the financial security of the average American,' 47% named Kerry, while 34% picked Bush. Among independents, a group that could play a crucial role in determining the winner of the presidential election in November, the gap was even wider: 49% for Kerry and 26% for Bush."

"Those polled also view the Bush White House as much more aligned with business interests than the interests of ordinary workers, and they express widespread doubts about the integrity of corporate America."

Bush v. Kerry: National Security
The New York Times writes that the White House confirmed yesterday "that it had withheld a variety of classified documents from Mr. Clinton's files that had been gathered by the National Archives over the last two years in response to requests from the [9/11] commission... Scott McClellan, the White House spokesman, said some Clinton administration documents had been withheld because they were 'duplicative or unrelated,' while others were withheld because they were 'highly sensitive' and the information in them could be relayed to the commission in other ways."

"The commission and the White House were reacting to public complaints from former aides to Mr. Clinton, who said they had been surprised to learn in recent months that three-quarters of the nearly 11,000 pages of files the former president was ready to offer the commission had been withheld by the Bush administration. The former aides said the files contained highly classified documents about the Clinton administration's efforts against Al Qaeda."

The Times adds that this debate over Clinton's files came as the 9/11 Commission announced that Condoleezza Rice will testify before the commission on Thursday.  "It also came as the White House, in an effort to bolster Ms. Rice's credibility before the hearing, released some of the language of a presidential directive awaiting Mr. Bush's signature on Sept. 11, 2001. It instructed the Pentagon to plan action against Qaeda terrorists and their Taliban sponsors in Afghanistan, 'including leadership, command-control-communication, training and logistics facilities.'"

The Washington Post: Also yesterday, several commission members dismissed complaints from Democratic lawmakers and family members of terrorist attack victims that two Republican commissioners spoke with the White House's chief lawyer last week on the day that Clarke testified. Commission Chairman Thomas H. Kean ... said that the two GOP panel members, Fred F. Fielding and James R. Thompson, have each served as liaisons with the White House and that their roles are well-known to the rest of the 10-member bipartisan panel."

"Two Democratic commissioners, former Watergate prosecutor Richard Ben-Veniste and former Indiana congressman Timothy J. Roemer, also said they would not be concerned about such contacts. Several commission sources said that some Democratic members have had similar contacts with lawmakers from their party."

The New York Times also reports that prosecutors investigating the charge that someone from the White House leaked the identity of a CIA agent "have expanded their inquiry to examine whether White House officials lied to investigators or mishandled classified information related to the case."

"The expansion of the inquiry's scope comes at a time when prosecutors, after a hiatus of about a month, appear to be preparing to seek additional testimony before a federal grand jury, lawyers with clients in the case said. It is not clear whether the renewed grand jury activity represents a concluding session or a prelude to an indictment."

Bush v. Kerry: the battleground states
The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire notes that Bush Cabinet secretaries are doing quite a bit of travel to the swing battleground states. "Homeland Security czar Ridge brings a grant to Cleveland today, after doing so in Pittsburgh. Health and Human Services chief Thompson begins town-hall meetings on diabetes in Ohio. Treasury's Snow lauds economy that's 'turned the corner' in Cincinnati, then follows Bush to New Mexico, Arizona."

"Transportation's Mineta unveils an airport grant in West Virginia. He and Interior's Norton separately hit Louisiana; she also visits Florida to hail Bush parks record. Energy's Abraham interrupts a Florida vacation next week for an event. Powell suddenly announces trip Monday to Haiti, a big issue for Floridians worried about refugees."

Bush v. Kerry: abortion
President Bush signed legislation yesterday that "elevates the rights of fetuses by making it a separate offense to harm an 'unborn child' while committing a violent federal crime against a pregnant woman," the Washington Post reports. "The law is entangled in the politics of abortion, but Bush sidestepped the larger controversy, portraying the hard-fought measure as a matter of criminal justice... The White House used the signing ceremony as visible evidence that Bush remains loyal to his conservative base. The president shared a small stage in the East Room with parents of several pregnant women who were killed in recent years."

The Washington Times adds that "Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry voted against the bill last month in the Senate. Yesterday, his spokesman called the new law an infringement of a woman's right to choose."

In a front-page article, the New York Times notes that Kerry is the first Roman Catholic to run for President in 44 years. "President Kennedy had to overcome accusations from non-Catholics that he would follow the bidding of the pope. Now, Mr. Kerry faces accusations from some within his own church that he is not following the pope's bidding closely enough" -- especially on an issue like abortion.

The Times adds that some bishops "were troubled by Mr. Kerry's vote against a bill that makes it a crime to harm a fetus during an assault on a pregnant woman. President Bush signed the legislation on Thursday, and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops immediately issued a news release applauding him."

"The bishops are unlikely to make overt endorsements, and consistently say that they favor neither Democrats nor Republicans. But if some influential prelates choose to publicly embrace Mr. Kerry or to snub him - by refusing to offer him communion, withholding an honorary degree or canceling an event at a Catholic institution - it could have an impact on some Catholic voters."

More Bush v. Kerry
MSNBC's Bradley notes that Bush spoke at last night's dinner gala for the National Republican Congressional Committee, which raised $7 million from the event. Saying that he's "ready for this campaign," Bush also sounded confident about his party's future. "We intend to increase the Republican majority in 2004," he said.

Not only are many in Hollywood raising money to defeat Bush and send Kerry to the White House, the New York Times says, but they are also expressing their displeasure with Bush in their TV scripts.

While the Kerry campaign is thumping its chest over its fundraising haul, the Los Angeles Times reminds us that the Bush campaign has raised more than $175 million, much of it by the help of its bundling Rangers and Pioneers. On these Rangers and Pioneers: "'They're doing such an amazing job of getting people's competitive juices going,' said Kirk Jowers, a Republican election lawyer in Washington. 'As I talk to people around town, it's like watching my daughter and her friends sell Girl Scout cookies. Who can raise the most money?'"

Finally, Republican Senator John McCain said yesterday he feels his party has gone "astray" and criticized Bush on the Iraq war and the GOP on "environmental and minority issues," the Boston Herald says.

• Thursday, April 1, 2004 | 9:25 a.m. ET
From Elizabeth Wilner, Mark Murray and Huma Zaidi
A spate of efforts to measure how safe Americans feel at home yields mixed results.  A survey for the nonpartisan Council for Excellence in Government shows "[f]ewer than half of all Americans think the country is safer now than it was on Sept. 11, 2001, and more than three-quarters expect the United States to be the target of a major terrorist attack at home or abroad in the next few months."  The Washington Post adds that a "spokesman for the Bush administration's National Security Council declined to comment on the record on the survey results."

A new Los Angeles Times poll finds that "[m]ost Americans accept Richard Clarke's key criticisms of President Bush's anti-terrorism record, but a majority also thinks that politics influenced the timing of the charges."  The story notes, "despite the attention Clarke's charges have received, almost three-fifths of Americans said Bush's anti-terrorism and defense policies had made the nation more secure."

And, "while the new questions about Bush's initial response to the terrorist threat could pose a long-term problem for him, the poll suggests the controversy has not significantly changed the dynamics propelling the country toward another close presidential race."  Unlike the last few national polls, Kerry beats Bush by three points in the Times survey, both with and without Nader, though that lead is within the margin of error and so depicts a close race like the others.

"The survey also found that Bush could be hurt by attitudes about his handling of the economy, while impressions about Kerry remained somewhat unformed."  The survey found that "just one-fourth of those polled said Bush's policies had made the country more prosperous." 

On that front, Commerce Secretary Evans and Hill GOP leaders hold a 9:30 am presser on the Hill "to discuss the benefits of making the tax cuts permanent in order to strengthen the economy and create jobs in America."  The jobless rate in 9 of the 17 commonly agreed upon battleground states rose in February, the AP says.  New unemployment data for March comes tomorrow. 

Beyond the polls, and the coverage of the coverage of the terrible US civilian deaths and mutilations in Iraq, a multimedia mix of books, movie buzz and radio help keep the war against terror front and center.

USA Today reports on books keeping the President's conduct of the war against terror front and center in American minds and the presidential campaign for the foreseeable future.  Clarke's book "debuts today at No. 1 on USA TODAY's list of best-selling books...  Next: Plan of Attack by Bob Woodward...  It's due to be excerpted in the Post on April 18.  That night, Woodward will be on another member of the 'old media' club - CBS' 60 Minutes, where Clarke also appeared."

"Two White House officials said they are concerned about the book, which they expect will reveal internal disagreements about the decision to go to war" in Iraq.

Also: "Ten Minutes from Normal by Bush confidante Karen Hughes is more a memoir of her work for Bush than a look at policy.  But the book may still influence political debate.  It is likely to be cited by Bush's supporters touting what they see as his steady leadership style.  And Hughes' book tour will provide chances to rebut Clarke's allegations."  (The Dallas Morning News says the Bush campaign "has dispatched thousands of glowing e-mails touting" Hughes' memoir.)

Clarke on MSNBC's Hardball last night, asked if any movie deals are in the works, told host Chris Matthews that his agents may be in talks about a possible TV movie, that he has not authorized any such movie yet, and that any profits from any such movie would be donated to charities related to Iraq, Afghanistan, and September 11.  He also told Matthews he doesn't like being featured in a new anti-Bush TV ad being run by a liberal group (more on the below). 

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton appears on the new liberal Air America radio network at 2:30 pm.  Howard Kurtz's review of yesterday's uneven launch is below.

Beyond that, with Kerry down and Bush not on the trail, the day begins without an obvious political lead.  The President signs the Unborn Victims of Violence Act at 3:05 pm, then participates in the White House celebration of Greek Independence Day at 3:30 pm.  Tonight, he headlines the National Republican Congressional Committee Dinner at 7:00 pm.  Perhaps pegged to Bush's UVVA signing, Women Against Bush, a group describing itself as "Sex in the City meets politics," launches tonight at 7:00 pm at DC bar Local 16.

Kerry is at home in Boston recovering from surgery on his shoulder and covered by a protective pool.  Per MSNBC's Felix Schein, the latest Kerry schedule has him out of sight until Sunday morning, when he plans to attend church in Boston.  Nothing has been scheduled beyond that.  Initial planning had Kerry back on the trail on Sunday.  

Schein notes that the Kerry campaign released a slew of press releases yesterday on just about everything BUT the Senator's condition.  The latest for today announces a conference call to repeat Kerry's challenge to Bush for a series of "substantive, respectful" debates.

Sources close to the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team tell MSNBC's Nina Bradley that President Bush will be at Busch Stadium for Monday's season opener against the Milwaukee Brewers and will throw out the first pitch.  The President's uncle, Bucky Bush, will also be there; he lives in St. Louis and co-chairs the campaign in Missouri.  Bradley also notes an unconfirmed rumor that Vice President Cheney may throw out the first pitch at Monday's Cincinnati Reds game.

September 11 Commission/the politics of information
The Washington Post reports on a telling speech never given -- a Condoleezza Rice address on Bush Administration policy scheduled to be delivered on September 11, 2001, which "mentioned terrorism, but did so in the context used in other Bush administration speeches in early 2001: as one of the dangers from rogue nations, such as Iraq, that might use weapons of terror, rather than from the cells of extremists now considered the main security threat to the United States...  The text of Rice's Sept. 11 speech, which was never delivered, broadly reflects Bush administration foreign policy pronouncements during the eight months leading to the attacks...  Although the administration did address terrorism, it devoted far more attention to pushing missile defense, a controversial idea both at home and abroad, the review shows."

The Washington Post also reports that "President Bush's top lawyer placed a telephone call to at least one of the Republican members of the Sept. 11 commission when the panel was gathered in Washington on March 24 to hear the testimony of former White House counterterrorism chief Richard A. Clarke, according to people with direct knowledge of the call."

BUSH V. KERRY: NATIONAL SECURITY.
With a Columbus, OH dateline, the New York Times surveys voters to see how the White House-Clarke back and forth is playing in a crucial swing state and finds, "In three dozen interviews this week in this swing state, a number of undecided voters... [said] they were growing ever more undecided the more they heard from Washington."

"Some voters, including registered Democrats, said they continued to be impressed by Mr. Bush's response to the Sept. 11 attacks and would support him because of that. But some voters who were not committed to either candidate said in interviews that Mr. Clarke's testimony had reinforced their uncertainty about the president."

But the Times also notes that while the Bush Administration seems to struggle with its record on terrorism, Kerry has been out of sight -- either on vacation or in the hospital.   "Some Democrats said that should Mr. Kerry lose in November, he might well remember this month as the time when he seriously undermined his hopes of defeating Mr. Bush.  A few invoked one of Mr. Kerry's least-liked comparisons, noting how another Massachusetts Democrat who ran for president, Michael S. Dukakis, stuck close to home in August 1988, in what turned out to be a foolish strategic move in his campaign against Mr. Bush's father."

"Mr. Kerry's aides said they were not worried, arguing that now is opportune to raise money and devise a strategy, as they struggled with the inevitable growing pains of changing from a primary campaign to a general election campaign.  They argued that voters were more likely to focus on the hearings into Mr. Bush's handling of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and testimony of his former counterterrorism chief, Richard A. Clarke, than on an election in November."

The article includes this blind quote: "'Here's what concerns me in the long term: I can tell you what George Bush's definition of John Kerry is: He is a flip-flopping liberal who wants to raise your taxes,' said a Democratic strategist who did not want to be quoted by name.  'But I'm not sure I can tell you what John Kerry's definition of George Bush is.'"

Kerry's inability to recollect attending that November 1971 meeting of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, at which the New York Sun first reported some activists discussed assassinating some pro-war US Senators, is revisited by the Boston Globe.   Minutes of the meeting note Kerry himself quit his VVAW post there.  Most recently, Kerry himself told the Los Angeles Times he did not remember being there.  The Kerry campaign told the Globe that Kerry "does not remember attending the Kansas City meeting," and that "Kerry does not remember any discussions" about an assassination plot.  The Globe points out that FBI sources placing Kerry at the meeting were informants, not agents, so "reliability of the reports is difficult to verify.”

The shadow campaign (D)
MSNBC's Nina Bradley reports on the FEC complaint being filed against the Kerry campaign and the Democratic 527s by the Bush campaign and the Republican National Committee.  The complaint alleges the illegal use of soft money and coordination by the 527 groups to support Kerry's campaign and defeat Bush.  "The Kerry campaign has accepted illegal donations and they are part of a broad-based conspiracy," Bush campaign general counsel Ben Ginsberg told reporters.  Bush campaign chairman Marc Racicot said he thinks the plaintiffs have made a convincing argument: "It is persuasive; we've presented a substantial case.  The facts are substantial."

Note that the RNC has already charged to the FEC that the Democratic 527s are illegally raising and spending money on Kerry's behalf; the Kerry campaign responds they are not coordinating with these groups in any way.  What's new about this latest FEC complaint is 1) the specific naming of the Kerry campaign in addition to the 527s, and 2) the fact that the RNC and Bush campaign are asking the FEC to immediately dismiss the complaint, so their case can quickly move to the federal court system.  Their previous complaint about the illegal fundraising and spending remains in limbo at the FEC and may not be acted upon before election day.  Bradley asked Ginsberg if the federal court system would be able to handle the case in a timely manner.  "Yes, it would be quickly enough," Ginsberg said.  He called their request to dismiss the complaint unprecedented, Bradley says.

The complaint specifically alleges illegal coordination against people like Jim Jordan, who was Kerry's campaign manager until November 2003 and now is the spokesperson for some of the new 527 groups, like The Media Fund, who are spending money to back Kerry.  "It is absolutely clear this goes way beyond coincidence," RNC chief counsel Jill Holtzman Vogel said. 

Jordan's response: "We won't be silenced, we won't be bullied, and we won't be deterred by these deliberate misstatements of the law and of our activities.  This is simple politics, politics at its worst and most irrelevant."  The Media Fund press release also noted, citing a February 5, 2004 Forbes magazine brief, that "Bush-Cheney 2004 is itself the subject of an FEC investigation for illegally coordinating with right wing operative Grover Norquist and accepting unlawful campaign contributions from Norquist."  That article reads, "The first complaint against the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign to be filed with the Federal Election Commission was logged today by the public interest group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW.  It alleges that the campaign, along with Americans for Tax Reform and its leader Grover Norquist, violated federal campaign laws when Norquist handed over a master contact list of conservative activists in 37 states to President George W. Bush's campaign manager Ken Mehlman."

(The Kerry campaign happened to send around the same Forbes article, even though we found a few other newspaper accounts...)

The New York Post: "The GOP cited at least three factors it says prove coordination:
* Links between people involved in some of the soft money groups and the Kerry campaign during the same election cycle;
* The timing of media buys in the same states and media markets;
* TV stations receiving a Media Fund ad on Kerry's economic plan before Kerry publicly released the economic plan."

The Washington Post says the RNC/Bush effort seems unlikely to succeed in its effort to get a quick court decision: "A knowledgeable FEC staff member who did not want to be identified because he is not an official spokesman described the GOP request for immediate dismissal as 'ridiculous.'  The Republican chairman of the FEC, Bradley A. Smith, said, 'we will consider the request' for immediate dismissal.  But Smith cautioned that, even if the commission dismissed the complaint, 'my gut instinct would be, "Wouldn't the court just send it right back and say the statute requires you to investigate?"'"

And USA Today says the overall effort also is unlikely to succeed: "The Republican strategy is 'a Hail Mary pass,' said Trevor Potter, a Republican former FEC commissioner who heads the Campaign Legal Center.  He said it would be 'very difficult to prove coordination.'"

Another Washington Post story spells out why the GOP wants these groups out of commission: "William L. Benoit, a communications professor at the University of Missouri at Columbia, looked at 21 spots aired by such groups as MoveOn PAC and the Media Fund.  He found that they made negative statements about the candidates 93 percent of the time.  And, by 'candidates,' we mostly mean Bush, who was the overwhelming target of ads sponsored by these groups...  Benoit said he found only one 527 ad -- from the conservative group Citizens United -- that did a number on the Massachusetts senator."

Liberal, anti-Bush MoveOn PAC's latest TV ad, which went up on Tuesday featuring sound bites from Clarke's testimony before the September 11 commission, caught Clarke by surprise.  He told Hardball's Chris Matthews last night that he's a bit put off: "I woke up this morning, turned on the TV, and I heard my own voice on a TV ad.  Now I never approved my voice being used on a TV ad, and I don't much care for it."  Clarke's attorneys have asked MoveOn to stop airing the ad.  However, MoveOn says the ad will stay on the air, and told First Read that they "understand Clarke's intent to stay above the political fray, and this ad doesn't pull him into it -- we're an independent group that believes his words on Bush's failures on terrorism are critical for the American public to hear.  So, we're keeping the ad on the air."

Last week, MoveOn launched a fundraising drive to raise money to air the ad and netted $1 million.  The Clarke ad is currently running on cable at a total buy of $342,000. 

The Washington Post's Kurtz on the new liberal radio network launched yesterday: "Air America Radio didn't have a grandiose debut -- the signal was elusive in Los Angeles, its San Francisco station didn't materialize and its Internet feed kept breaking off -- but the fledgling liberal network managed to plant its flag in what has been overwhelmingly conservative turf."

Then the media critic in Kurtz kicks in: "A good radio show has strong pacing and a deft mixture of ideology, confrontation and humor.  Franken's '[O'Franken] Factor' was meandering and discursive, almost NPR-like, sounding more like someone shooting the breeze at a dinner party than trying to persuade listeners.  The 'bumpers' between segments were soft and Muzak-like.  With Franken speaking in a relatively low voice, the self-proclaimed 'Zero Spin Zone' sometimes sounded like a zero energy zone."

"A surprise call from Al Gore was frittered away as [filmmaker Michael] Moore offered an apology (for supporting Ralph Nader in 2000) so convoluted that the former Democratic nominee asked: 'What are you saying?'"

Bush v. Kerry: jobs and taxes
The Washington Times says "Republican economists" like former Bush advisor Larry Lindsey "expect the Labor Department to announce an increase in the number of new jobs created in March, reflecting the addition of between 65,000 to 150,000 workers to the nation's payrolls."

"Republican officials and strategists said yesterday they were nervous about tomorrow's jobs numbers, fearful that another weak performance on the jobs front would give Mr. Kerry and other Democrats a renewed opportunity to appeal to voter anxieties about the economy."

The Washington Post lays out the Bush Administration's gradual acknowledgement in recent days of a need to tackle outsourcing, noting some Hill Republicans plan to pick up the pace, literally.  "This spring and summer, Republicans plan to launch a marathon, eight-week 'Hire Our Workers' debate in the House.  Its goal is to push votes on health care, regulatory relief, job training and education, tax cuts, energy production, lawsuit curbs, research and development incentives and 'trade fairness and opportunity.'"

At his $1.5 million campaign fundraiser last night, MSNBC's Bradley reports, Bush told the crowd, "My opponent is one of the main opponents of tax relief in the United States Congress.  But when tax increases are proposed, it's a lot easier to get a 'yes' vote out of him.  Over the years he's voted over 350 times for higher taxes on the American people, including the biggest tax increase in American history.  He supported higher gas taxes 11 times.  He's favored a gas tax increase of 50 cents a gallon."

Dean, in his speech to the 21st Century Democrats in DC last night, claimed Bush "raised more taxes on middle-class Americans than any other president in history," NBC's Bill Hatfield reports.  Dean also bashed "borrow-and-spend"/"tax-and-spend" conservatives, cribbing the old Republican line used against Democrats.  And he claimed that of the last 12 presidents, the six who balanced the budget and created jobs were Democrats; the six who didn't were Republicans.

The American Shareholders Association, which is associated with Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform, "has issued a report critical of... Kerry's Senate voting record on matters related to investors," reports the Washington Times.  "Mr. Kerry's campaign pointed to skyrocketing deficits and the sluggish return of jobs as damning evidence against Mr. Bush's economic record and, therefore, the overall climate for investors."

"The report says Mr. Kerry has voiced support for ending the double taxation of dividends, yet has voted numerous times against abolishing it.  Mr. Kerry 'would favor tax reform that included the elimination of the double taxation of dividends,' a senior adviser to Mr. Kerry said yesterday, but added that Mr. Kerry wants to do so in a 'fiscally responsible' manner.  The ASA report also derided Mr. Kerry's 15 votes against cutting the capital-gains tax.  Campaign officials noted that Mr. Kerry last week said he would cut the corporate income-tax rate by 5 percent in an effort to spur job growth."

More Bush v. Kerry
The Boston Globe on the 11th-hour intensity of these early weeks of the campaign: "The spread of wireless communication, the proven value of the Internet as an organizational tool, and the dispersal of voters among an array of media sources have prompted a deluge of activity fueling an endless cycle of attack, response, and counterattack.  The weapons include nearly two dozen daily e-mails from both sides, and the venues include not only ads broadcast on television, but radio, the Web, and specialty cable shows."

"Political consultants watching the clash from a distance see the campaigns and would-be voters feeding off each other.  They also believe the Democrats' decision to compress their primary calendar, and thus produce a nominee for all intents and purposes by the March 2 Super Tuesday contests... triggered the campaign's early intensity."

Convention news
Here's what we figured yesterday's Boston Globe report on the shutdown of Boston's North Station during the Democratic convention would prompt in the other convention city.  The New York Daily News says New York City "may stop in its tracks" when Bush accepts his party's nomination at Madison Square Garden.  "While Bush is in the convention center Sept. 2, the Secret Service wants all Amtrak, NJTransit and Long Island Rail Road Service to cease, the Daily News has learned.  For now, the six subway lines that run alongside the Garden on Seventh and Eighth Aves. will remain open but won't stop at 34th St., government officials told the News."

"There is still debate whether to demand the subway lines also be fully halted when Bush takes the stage that Thursday, the last day of the four-day GOP convention."

• Wednesday, March 31, 2004 | 9:30 a.m. ET
From Elizabeth Wilner, Mark Murray and Huma Zaidi
President Bush wants to focus on the economy these days, but everyone's talking about his decisions to, in fact, have Condoleezza Rice testify publicly before the September 11 commission, and to appear before the full commission himself, with Cheney at his side.  Kerry wants to focus on the economy, but everyone's talking about his shoulder surgery, his second operation in less than a year. 

Meanwhile, regular unemployment benefits expire today for over 1 million workers.

Kerry gets in a few parting shots at Bush on jobs before checking into Mass General for shoulder surgery and leaving the campaign trail through Saturday -- just as national polls start suggesting the Bush-Cheney/GOP attacks on Kerry as a liberal tax-and-spender are resonating.  The Washington Post says Kerry "emerged from the primaries unscathed but still little known, a condition Bush's team set about to change... A month later, more voters see Kerry as 'too liberal,' and a solid majority says he is someone who has changed his positions on issues for political reasons -- both charges leveled by the Bush campaign's daily attacks through ads and public statements." 

That said: "The damage to Kerry has been partially obscured by the controversy over" Clarke's book and testimony. 

When Kerry returns to the trail, probably on Sunday, he'll be unable to shake hands for two to three weeks and unable to lift a baby for six to eight weeks (NBC's Kelly O'Donnell reports Kerry told her he didn't know until he read it in the paper that he would face restrictions on handshaking). 

Unlike during his recent vacation, Kerry's campaign plans to (read: must) engage Bush even while their candidate is down. 

Prior to checking in for surgery at 11:30 am, Kerry addresses 3,000 members of the Building Trades Legislative Conference via satellite at 9:15 am, and holds a 10:00 roundtable with workers in Brighton, MA to discuss his plan to create 10 million new jobs.  Per a campaign release, Kerry will stand "before a giant map of the United States with state-by-state job statistics and [contrast] his plan to create jobs with Bush's record of job loss." 

The building trades folks will be gathered at the Washington Hilton in DC.  Following Kerry will be Sen. Ted Kennedy, who, per a Kerry release, "is expected to excoriate the Bush Administration and the right-wing Congressional leadership for their wholesale sell-out of American workers...;" Sen. Tom Daschle "on the GOP's attempts to export and outsource the American Dream and the need to keep American jobs here;" and Rep. Dick Gephardt, who "will talk on labor issues pending in the House... and ask the union leaders to mobilize their forces to defeat Bush and elect a pro-union, pro-American worker President John Kerry."

At the same time Kerry checks into the hospital, the campaign hosts a conference call with former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich "to discuss George W. Bush's broken promises and failed policies on the economy."  We wonder whether anyone will ask Reich about his December 29, 2003 Wall Street Journal op-ed in which he debunked outsourcing as costing lots of jobs: "Most job losses over the last three years haven't been due to American jobs 'moving' anywhere.  They've resulted from an unusually long jobs recession that, hopefully, is coming to an end...  It's true that U.S. manufacturing employment has been dropping for many years, but that's not primarily due to foreigners taking these jobs.  Factory jobs are vanishing all over the world.

President Bush lunches with members of the Baseball Hall of Fame at the White House at 12 noon, then headlines a campaign fundraiser at 6:05 pm. 

The AFL-CIO's 51 unemployed and underemployed workers on its "Show Us the Jobs" tour of battleground states, along with aspiring AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka, will protest outside the fundraiser.  They also will gather on Capitol Hill at 2:00 pm.

The online campaign debate over the economy today features:
-- Bush's campaign policy director hosting a web chat on Kerry's economic policies.
-- The Bush campaign's "Kerry gas tax calculator," letting voters find out how much Kerry's gas tax increase would cost them at the pump.  More on this below.
-- Team Kerry's interactive map with state-by-state job data on their website which allows people to calculate how many jobs would be created in a state under the Kerry and Bush jobs plans.
-- Trouble for the Treasury Department over the Republican National Committee's "$pendometer."  More on this also below.

Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie, Bush campaign chairman Marc Racicot, and their lawyers make an 11:00 am announcement and review a complaint to be filed with the Federal Election Commission tomorrow.  Per an RNC source, "You can bet it has to do with all the illegal soft money 527s (non federal dollars) are using for the expressed purpose of defeating President Bush (a federal candidate) and electing John Kerry (a federal candidate).  The question remains, what sort of action can be taken (after illegal activity has been clearly outlined based on the LAW) to address the illegality in a timely manner before it has an irreversible impact on the presidential election?"

Dean keynotes the 21st Century Democrats Annual Dinner at 7:30 pm at the Mayflower Hotel in DC.  He'll talk about his new organization and the stakes of the 2004 election.

Liberal radio network Air America debuts in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Lastly, we stayed up late to catch Kerry's "Choose or Lose" interview on MTV last night -- which, as we should have expected, followed Frankie and Robin fighting on Real World/San Diego and a short clip of the Yeah Yeah Yeah's "buzzworthy" video of its hit song, "Maps."  In the interview, besides talking about his Vietnam experience, his foreign policy views, and his thoughts about gay marriage, Kerry admitted that he's not into heavy metal, but is "fascinated" by rap and hip-hop, which he said has "a lot of social energy in it."  And we especially dug the hip background music by Chingy, the Strokes, Coldplay, and Interpol that was played throughout.

September 11 commission/the politics of information
The Washington Times: "For weeks, Democrats have insinuated that the administration had something to hide by withholding Miss Rice's public testimony, with... Kerry accusing the White House of 'stonewalling' the commission...  Republicans, meanwhile, are eager to see Miss Rice take advantage of this high-profile forum to rebut... Clarke's criticisms last week of Mr. Bush and of her personally.  'Condi knocks it out of the park,' said a Bush-Cheney campaign official who requested anonymity."

The New York Post: "Analysts in both parties say they expect Rice to come across well to the public when she appears before the commission, so they're asking: Why did the White House create 'a week of hurt,' as one Democrat put it, over a fight that never had to happen?"

The Wall Street Journal on the coming Rice and Bush-Cheney appearances before the commission: "The concessions represent an acknowledgement that the White House's refusal to meet the panel's requests, citing constitutional objections, looked increasingly like stonewalling that could hurt Mr. Bush's re-election campaign."

The Washington Post: "The decision represented an effort to quiet a controversy that threatened to undercut Bush's credibility on his handling of terrorism, a credential that is vital to his reelection strategy.  It also resulted from his aides' conclusion that the showdown with the commission was drowning out White House messages on other issues."

Also: "The White House accommodation marked a setback for a three-year effort, led by Cheney, to enhance the powers of the presidency in relation to those of the legislative branch.  In addition to using the separation-of-powers argument, the White House had also contended that such an appearance could inhibit the candor of the advice that would be provided by advisers to future presidents.  The White House had made a similar argument in fighting the release of the records" of the Cheney energy task force.

The Washington Post's analysis: "The Bush administration's uneven decision-making on which sensitive documents it declassifies has prompted criticism that the White House is selectively releasing information to justifies its foreign policy decisions and respond to political pressure."

In its analysis, the New York Times says the decision "was part of a distinct pattern that has emerged inside this highly secretive White House.  The first reaction to most demands for outside inquiries, or for details about energy policy decisions or intelligence concerning Iraqi weapons or Nigerian uranium, has been to build walls: Mr. Bush, or more often Mr. Cheney in his stead, asserts a clear, inviolate principle that the president and his advisers need the freedom to gather information, develop policy and exchange ideas in private."

"But eventually other forces come into play.  Gradually pressure builds until Mr. Bush's advisers - including Ms. Rice herself in this case, several officials said - determine that the cost is too high."

The Los Angeles Times: "The controversy tapped into a signature feature of Bush's leadership style: He tends to stick to his guns on core issues even beyond the point where other Republicans would cave."

"A senior Senate Republican aide said lawmakers were puzzled by the administration's failure to grasp the mood of a public that has little patience for any perception of stonewalling on subjects related to Sept. 11."

Clarke does MSNBC's Hardball tonight at 7:00 pm.

Bush v. Kerry: oil and gas
The Wall Street Journal: "With gas prices high and today's OPEC meeting likely to keep them there, President Bush is confronting the politically charged question: Why hasn't he done more to try to hold down oil prices?  The short answer: He is finding, as have presidents before him, that limiting Americans' costs at the pump isn't as easy as the former oilman made it sound when he ran for office four years ago.  As a candidate in 2000, Mr. Bush didn't acknowledge that a president has few tools to influence oil prices."

"Nor does John Kerry, his likely Democratic rival, do so now."

The New York Times on yesterday's debate: "The back-and-forth on gas prices marked the candidates' efforts to translate their larger economic debate into a daily pocketbook issue for voters.  Mr. Bush focused on taxes as the villain, while Mr. Kerry framed the high gas prices as a sign of weak economic stewardship."

The Los Angeles Times: "Industry experts said it was unlikely any of their proposals would provide much relief."  Still, "[t]he debate could signal that energy policy would have a prominent role in this year's presidential election campaign.  Kerry's attack on the president was part of a broader pitch for reducing dependence on foreign oil.  Bush's rebuttal included a reminder that shortages of natural gas and electricity deserve attention too."

A Kerry e-mail to potential donors attacks Bush's energy plan: "The whole plan, the entire strategy for reversing our dependence on foreign fuel, for preserving our way of life, for saving our wilderness, and for promoting clean energy for the future of our planet can be summed up in one word: OIL."  The word "oil" appears in a jarring font that makes it look like the letters were painted with oil.  

An e-mail to potential donors from Bush's national political director reads, "Today, Bush-Cheney '04 unveils the Kerry gas tax calculator, so voters can find out exactly how much Kerry's gas tax increase would cost them at the pump.  How much would it cost you? Find out today!  Based on the car you drive the Kerry gas tax calculator will show you how much John Kerry's 50 cent gas tax would cost your family. Planning a trip?  The gas tax calculator will give you directions, and let you know how much more you'd be paying if you add in Kerry's tax.  Just go to: http://www.GeorgeWBush.com/Calculator/."

The Washington Post says of the back and forth over gas taxes and prices yesterday: "Kerry's aides accused Bush of backing away from a pledge in 2000 to seek a reduction in the gas tax.  In March 2000, top Bush aides said he wanted to roll back all or part of a 4.3-cent increase to the gas tax that was enacted in 1993.  A White House spokesman confirmed that Bush has not sought any rollback in the gas tax but said Bush never formally committed to the proposal."

Bush v. Kerry: jobs and taxes
The Wall Street Journal says the Treasury Department "tapped civil servants to calculate the cost of Sen. John Kerry's tax plan and then posted the analysis on the Treasury Web site."  And of course: "A federal law bars career government officials from working on political campaigns."

"The Treasury analysis doesn't mention Mr. Kerry by name.  Rather it sketches out the potential cost of a tax plan that rolls back tax reductions for taxpayers with incomes above $200,000 -- the nub of the Democratic presidential candidate's plan.  The result, the Treasury said in the analysis posted March 22, would be a tax increase of as much as $477 billion over 10 years on 'hardworking individuals and married couples.'  The same day, the Republican National Committee issued a press release in which it unveiled what it called its 'John Kerry $pendometer,' and cited the same $477 billion figure as the cost of 'raising taxes on the top income bracket.'"

"Rob Nichols, a Treasury spokesman, said that it's 'proper' for Treasury to analyze tax proposals so Congress and the administration 'can know the effects of the proposed change.'  House Majority Leader Tom Delay of Texas requested the estimates, said Stuart Roi, a DeLay spokesman, because several Democratic budget proposals had provisions similar to the Kerry tax plan."

"A Kerry economic adviser said the Treasury estimates were bound to be wrong, because the candidate hasn't decided on details of his proposal."

USA Today, with a "McCONNELSVILLE, Ohio" dateline, says the battle for Ohio, at least today, appears to be one pitting voters' economic anxiety, which would seem to help Kerry, against Bush's "big head start in building a grass-roots organization.  Bush already has a dozen paid staff members, and there are chairmen in all 88 counties and 3,000 key precincts.  Kerry's campaign has no paid staff in the state, no county chairmen.  By the end of April, the Kerry campaign hopes to have identified one or two key people in every county."  The story then lists the stats that don't favor Bush -- the job stats.

Bush v. Kerry: the air war.
We asked Dean Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg School at Penn about the incumbent President's appearance and personal approval of a TV ad using grainy black-and-white footage, and whether any President had appeared in an ad using such footage before.  (Perhaps the Bush campaign recognized the risk in having the President appear in an ad, since they lightened it up by making the B&W look like an old movie.)  Jamieson mentioned some older campaign ads for Nixon, Carter, and Humphrey, but noted those candidates did not use B&W as a strategic choice -- that in some cases it was because color footage was not yet mainstream.  Two ads Jamieson could recall that used B&W strategically were 1) the Clinton ad against Dole in 1996, which showed Dole and Gingrich in the same shot; and 2) Bush 41's famous "revolving door" ad against Dukakis. 

Jamieson notes that when an ad switches from color to B&W, it's a change that registers with people automatically.  In the new Bush ad, Bush is in B&W in the beginning and throughout.  She also pointed out the difference between Bush approving his negative ads at the top and most of his positive ads at the end.  By putting the disclaimer at the beginning, he is able to disassociate himself from the negativity of an ad, Jamieson says. 

Top Bush strategist Matthew Dowd argued for the ad's use of grainy B&W to MSNBC's Nina Bradley, telling her, "This is an important way to point out Kerry's record.  It is catchy, and Americans will pay attention to this."

More Bush v. Kerry
The AP: "Bush not only draws distinctions with Kerry but tries to get under the Massachusetts Democrat's skin.  There's a clear edge to many of the president's attacks, along with hopes of provoking a reaction.  And it's worked a few times...  While some had expected Bush to stay above the fray, he's waded in energetically."

"Some Democrats are urging Kerry to develop a smoother response to Bush's prodding...  The tactic by Bush, not only to confront Kerry but to put an edge on the criticism, is aggressive, as is the decision to involve Bush himself instead of leaving the field to surrogates."  That said, one academic expert argues that "once Bush involves himself directly in the give-and-take of the campaign, he loses some of the aura that comes with the White House," whereas "Kerry loses each time he's distracted and makes a misstep."

The New York Post covers Karen Hughes blasting Kerry during her book tour: "Hughes charged that 'the biggest mistake we could make right now is to follow Senator Kerry's lead and raise taxes.'  She also warned that the Massachusetts senator would be the wrong man to lead America in the war against terror."

"'Senator Kerry hinted that he is uncomfortable using the word "war,"' Hughes said.  'I don't think al Qaeda shares those sensibilities.'"

Meanwhile, the New York Daily News has Bush 41 defending his son.  "Lay off my kid!  That's the message former President George Herbert Walker Bush delivered yesterday, fighting back tears as he defended his son and ripped into his rivals."

MSNBC's Felix Schein reports on Kerry's two Ron Burkle-hosted fundraisers in California yesterday.  The San Diego event raised $500,000 from about 350 guests at Burkle's gated, seaside mansion.  Attendees included former Gov. Gray Davis and his wife Sharon, and former Secretary of State Warren Christopher.  At Burkle's Green Acres estate in Los Angeles, the take was about $2.5 million, and attendees included Meg Ryan, Barbara Streisand, Kevin Costner, Don Henley, Jason Alexander, Helen Hunt, Danny DeVito, Leonardo DiCaprio, Oliver Stone, Tobey Maguire, Ed Harris, Owen Wilson, Ben Stiller, Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen, Ben Affleck, and Jennifer Aniston.  The local paper has more details.

The AP covers Larry David's stand-up intro of Kerry at the Los Angeles event: "David joked that Kerry should consider him to be vice president because he considers himself 'a nincompoop, a chicken and a liar' who could offset President Bush and balance the ticket.  David said the only problem is that if something were to happen to Kerry, those qualities 'would obviously be disastrous for anyone who was actually the president.'  'You are qualified,' Kerry responded, 'to be a Republican.'"

The Los Angeles Times looks at Internet sites that let voters see how the candidates line up on their pet issues.

Convention news
The Boston Globe semi-officially drops the bomb: "Interstate 93 will be shut down in both directions for all four evenings of the Democratic National Convention, and North Station will be closed to all commuter rail and subway service, officials involved with security planning said."  So, when will the Republican convention folks fess up to New Yorkers about Penn Station?

Nader
The New York Times pages independent contender Nader: "No, he says, he is neither a nut nor a narcissist.  Yes, he agrees with his sharpest Democratic critics that defeating President Bush is essential.  In the end, he believes, out-of-power Democrats will rally around John Kerry, and Mr. Nader will take votes from disaffected Republicans and independents."

But: "Mr. Nader's argument that he can draw more support from Mr. Bush than from Mr. Kerry has yet to be proved...  'Conservatives for Nader,' the comic Jon Stewart mused recently.  'Not a large group.  About the same size as "Retarded Death Row Texans for Bush."'" 

• Tuesday, March 30, 2004 | 9:25 a.m. ET
From Elizabeth Wilner, Mark Murray and Huma Zaidi
It's become cliché to comment on the early negativity of the general election campaign, but still, it's awfully early for grainy black-and-white TV ads from the President of the United States.  Bush's campaign goes up with such a spot tomorrow whacking Kerry for allegedly supporting a gas tax increase. 

Kerry may call the Bush/GOP effort to define him right out of the gate "a campaign in March of mid-October desperation."  But as many note today, the effort appears to be working, as polls also show little to no Clarke-induced slippage for Bush on fighting terrorism.  The AP covers the latest Pew poll findings that "American voters still consider Bush far stronger than Democratic rival John Kerry in defending the country against terrorism.  Kerry, the target of critical ads from the Bush-Cheney team, has lost ground on domestic issues."   That poll shows Kerry and Bush basically tied at 47% to 46%.

And the new Gallup Poll shows "[m]ost Americans still approve of President Bush's leadership in the war on terrorism, even after a week of accusations that he failed to pay enough attention to intelligence warnings before the Sept. 11 attacks."  Although "53% believe the Bush administration is 'covering up something' about its handling of intelligence before 9/11, 67% say it could not have prevented the attacks.  But 54% say Bush still could have done more beforehand."

"For the first time since mid-February, Bush leads Democrat John Kerry, 51%-47%.  With independent Ralph Nader in the race, Bush leads 49%-45%, and Nader receives 4%."

National polls show movement, but any party operative would rather see reliable battleground state numbers, as the folks at Gallup know.  An accompanying USA Today story reads, "A USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll shows a remarkable turnaround in 17 battleground states where polls and historic trends indicate the race will be close, and where the Bush campaign has aired TV ads... portraying Kerry as a tax-hiking, flip-flopping liberal."

"The ads have been one factor in wiping away an inflated lead Kerry held in those states...  In contrast, there has been much less volatility in states where the ads haven't aired.  Kerry held a 4-point lead in them in February; Bush holds a 2-point lead now."

In addition to the new Bush ad, also coming soon to a TV near you: MTV airs its "Choose or Lose" Kerry special tonight at 10:30 pm.  The Boston Globe says the special "manages to offer some glimpses into a Kerry we haven't much seen."

"It's... worthwhile to see Kerry grapple with one young person's question: 'Were you cool in college, and are you cool now?'  He's politician enough to give a diplomatic answer: 'If I told you I was cool, I wouldn't be cool.'  But then he goes on: 'My daughter would probably tell you I'm a freak at times.'"

Until 10:30 pm, tide yourself over with the oil and gas war.  After Kerry started the fight by blaming Bush for high gas prices, the full weight of Bush-Cheney '04 now bores down on him.  President Bush makes 12:30 pm remarks on the economy and gas prices in Appleton, WI, in his ninth visit as President to a state he lost by 0.2%.  (The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel notes that "Bush's travel habits during his first three years in office show Wisconsin ranked sixth among the top 16 battleground states favored by a visit from the 43rd president.")  Tomorrow, Bush's campaign rotates the aforementioned new TV ad into their 18-state buy.  The grainy, B&W, 30-second spot charges Kerry with career-long support for higher taxes, including a 50-cent-per-gallon gas tax increase.  Aiming for morning-show play, the ad was released to the media today at 7:00 am.

Kerry, out in California, talks about energy independence "and Bush's failure to address soaring gas prices" at a 1:15 pm ET rally in San Diego, after which he holds a fundraiser there, followed by a big glitzy fundraiser in Los Angeles.  The campaign has Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California doing a conference call with the press to talk about Bush's energy policies; an Appleton city councilwoman responding to Bush; and events organized in Washington, Oregon, New Hampshire, Ohio, Maine, Minnesota, Iowa and Michigan.  And has there ever been a flurry of press releases.

Trying to make this a debate about Big Oil -- one Democratic strategist told us, "If you can't make the public hate the [expletive] oil and gas companies now, then you shouldn't be in this business" -- one Kerry release charges, "Instead of helping consumers who will pay $24 billion more for gas this year, Bush and Cheney are aiding oil companies' record profits and increasing American dependence on foreign countries."

Another Kerry release pointed out that top Bush economic advisor Greg Mankiw supported a 50-cent gas tax increase in 1999.  The New York Times: "That was a different time economically, with low unemployment and a big surplus, and a senior administration official said Mr. Mankiw did not now support a gas tax increase."

And overnight, the campaign issued a release criticizing the Bush campaign for "shamelessly" attacking "John Kerry for putting in place America's greatest economic expansion in history."  (Editor's note: Say WHAT?)  In this one, the campaign tries to regain its middle-class mojo, which seemed temporarily lost when Kerry emphasized corporate tax cuts: "While they are happy to use the gas tax for political purposes, George Bush and the Republicans have NEVER ONCE supported lowering the gas tax on middle class families, despite the fact that he promised to during his 2000 campaign."

Two side notes: MSNBC's Nina Bradley adds that Appleton police say they are investigating a threat against Bush.  A police spokesperson told Bradley that someone walked into a local business on Monday and delivered a threatening letter against the President, and the investigation is "ongoing."

And, after Kerry's shoulder surgery tomorrow, NBC's Kelly O'Donnell reports, doctors say he won't be able to shake hands for two to three weeks, and won't be able to lift his arm above his head for six to eight weeks.

Bush v. Kerry: oil and gas.
The AP says the new Bush ad "comes in the wake of Kerry's claims that the incumbent Republican's administration is to blame for gas prices rising to record levels.  It is meant to shift the focus from that criticism and put Kerry on the defensive on an issue the Democrat has been trying to control."

"The ad is based on - but doesn't mention specifically - several of Kerry's votes as a senator, including his support for a 4.3-cent-per-gallon gas tax increase in 1993 as a deficit-reduction measure.  It also is based on a 1983 Massachusetts gas-tax bill that was signed into law when Kerry was lieutenant governor."

The Washington Post says Kerry in his speech today "will call on President Bush to apply greater pressure on oil-producing nations to increase production, in a bid to drive down crude oil prices, and to temporarily suspend filling U.S. oil reserves...  Kerry will argue that diverting oil intended for U.S. reserves directly to the market will help depress gas prices, though analysts say that probably would have a negligible effect.  Kerry also intends to reiterate his longer-term plans for decreasing the country's dependence on foreign oil and increasing its reliance on cleaner-burning alternative forms of energy."

"Democrats believe that the price of gas could become a major flash point in the presidential debate over oil, the economy, and even Iraq and broader Middle East foreign policies.  As one measure of the political sensitivity of the issue, a group of House Republicans, looking ahead to Memorial Day visits to their districts, has formally asked the White House to do what Kerry is calling for -- ease pressure on prices by suspending shipments to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve."

"Of the nine states with the highest regular gas price increases, four -- Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington -- are considered swing states in the upcoming elections."

The Los Angeles Times: "The issue is likely to remain at the forefront of the campaign in coming days, as the Bush camp responds to Kerry's proposal and both sides try to persuade consumers that they would do more to bring down prices."

Bush v. Kerry: jobs and taxes
Roll Call reports that in coordination with the Kerry campaign, Hill "Democratic leaders will launch an aggressive campaign today using both the Senate floor and the nation's airwaves to criticize Republicans for failing to extend benefits to the unemployed as well as questioning President Bush's commitment to compassionate conservatism."  The story notes Democratic lawmakers are expected to appear tomorrow on the debut of Air America Radio, the liberal radio network featuring the likes of Al Franken and Janeane Garofalo.

"Some independent organizations say the claim about Kerry's 350 votes for tax increases is misleading," the Los Angeles Times says of Cheney's speech attacking Kerry yesterday.  "The Bush campaign's list of Kerry's votes for 'higher taxes' includes votes in which the senator voted to leave taxes unchanged, said Brooks Jackson, director of FactCheck.org, a private nonpartisan policy organization based in Washington.  The list also includes votes in which Kerry backed proposals to cut taxes, though not as much as Republicans advocated."

(That said, the Washington Times notes the Kerry campaign itself "did not take issue with the charge that the liberal senator voted 350 times to raise taxes.")

"Kerry himself played a bit fast and loose with the facts Monday," the Los Angeles Times story goes on to say.  "'The administration has one economic policy for America, 3 million jobs lost and driving gas prices toward $3 a gallon; that's their policy,' he said in Sacramento...  He was likely referring to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report that says the country lost 2.9 million jobs in the private sector during the Bush administration.  But gas prices are nowhere near $3 a gallon, even in California, which boasts among the highest prices in the country."

Another Washington Times story says of the Bush tax cuts spurring economic growth, but not jobs, that the "problem for Mr. Bush and anyone who would follow in his shoes is that the historical relationship between growth and jobs has broken down, at least temporarily."

"Mr. Bush in his travels showcases a smattering of jobs that have been created in response to his tax cuts, but so far the job gains amount to only a trickle of about 10,000 a month in the last year, according to the Labor Department."

"The tax cuts have helped to reignite a long-sought recovery in business spending on equipment and other investments in the past year - a critical step in what most economists say is a slowly but steadily unfolding economic recovery.  A pickup in job creation should be next, says Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and other experts.  But so far, much of the tax savings appear to have been used to help boost corporate profits..."

The Boston Globe covers Kerry's assault on Wal-Mart yesterday: "Kerry... took aim at the popular low-cost retailer Wal-Mart as an example of corporate irresponsibility, comparing its wealthy owners unfavorably with a family-owned company in Ohio that covers the entire health care costs of its workers."

"Kerry's remark echoed a comment last month by his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, that riled many Republicans.  Heinz Kerry told a group in Minnesota that Wal-Mart stores 'destroy communities,' a comment that prompted Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas -- where Wal-Mart is based -- to issue a letter to the nation's 49 other governors accusing her of elitism and hypocrisy.  Kerry's wife is heiress to the $500 million Heinz ketchup fortune, and many products by that company are sold in Wal-Mart stores.  Huckabee also said Heinz Kerry owned $1 million in Wal-Mart stock; a Kerry aide said yesterday that she has sold the stock."

The Washington Post reports Bush's own IRS oversight board is saying he doesn't provide the IRS with enough funding in his FY 2005 budget.

Bush v. Kerry: National Security
The New York Times on the September 11 commission's push for Condoleezza Rice to testify under oath: "One outside adviser to the White House said Mr. Bush's political staff was inclined to compromise on Ms. Rice's testimony, judging the political costs of continuing to fight in the midst of a tight re-election campaign to outweigh any cost from showing flexibility on the principle.  This adviser said Karl Rove... wanted to move the election away from questions like 'Were there intelligence failures?' and to put the focus instead on which candidate could better protect against any future efforts by terrorists to attack the United States."

"'If we're going to have a discussion about W.M.D. and intelligence failures and Osama bin Laden, that's not an election George W. Bush wins,' the adviser said.  'If it's about who keeps you safer, that's the ground we want to be on.'"

The Washington Post sets up Dubuque, IA, where the parents of a US soldier killed in Iraq received repeat form letters of condolences from President Bush, as emblematic of the kind of swing area of the country where voters would be inclined to support the President on the war if it weren't for nagging concerns about the course the war has taken.

Bush v. Kerry: the air war
The Chicago Tribune says the Bush and Kerry camps are targeting their ads "with surgical-like precision.  That's why in St. Louis recently, viewers of shows as varied as 'American Idol' and 'America's Most Wanted' have seen a campaign ad from Bush, but not Kerry.  At the same time, Democratic commercials criticizing the Bush have appeared on shows ranging from 'The Simpsons' to 'Judge Judy.'"

"A Tribune examination of the ad placement... offered a show-by-show look inside the barrage of commercials.  The analysis, which covered ads aired during the first three weeks of March, showed Kerry and the Democratic groups did not advertise during televised sports in St. Louis but focused on programs that attracted more female viewers..."

The Washington Times previews tomorrow's debut of liberal talk radio network Air America:.

Fighting back against what he sees as a GOP effort to crack down on his radio show, Howard Stern is urging his listeners to vote Bush out of office, says the Dallas Morning News.  "Republicans have dismissed Mr. Stern's recent political tirades, deeming his Bush bashing as inconsequential as the flatulence jokes that precede it.  But media experts caution against underestimating the self-proclaimed 'King of All Media.'"

"Talk radio heavyweights Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are preaching to the converted, they said.  Mr. Stern has 8.5 million potential swing voters tuned in, and his loyal listeners have shown a willingness to do stunts far more outlandish than going to the polls at the shock jock's urging."

More Kerry notes
Edwards is hoping to be Kerry's running mate, says the New York Times.   Meanwhile, the New York Post says the Kerry campaign hopes to name a running mate by the end of May "to help raise money, build momentum and serve as an attack dog."

We were reading our Washington Post online this morning when a Kerry web ad caught our eye.  The cartoon video reads, "Bush is attacking John Kerry with a mountain of money (cartoon shows Bush with a crown on his head, sitting on top of a stack of bars of gold).  "But, with your help, John Kerry won't let Bush run from his record.  We're running a 'Never Back Down' campaign. Your $25 gift now can put us over the top and help topple Bush!  (cartoon shows Kerry atop a pile of mailed-in $25 contributions)." 

The ad's placement today?  In the Post's story on the Massachusetts civil union compromise, among others.
 
The Los Angeles Times covers the boom in Internet ads.

It also covers improving Candidate Kerry as "a canny practitioner of the photo opportunity." – Los Angeles Times

"SAINT-BRIAC-SUR-MER, France," says the AP dateline.  "John Kerry's relatives in France bristle at jabs from across the Atlantic that the presidential contender has a French connection.  They say Kerry has no link to France other than the home his grandparents bought here.  'John Kerry is incredibly American,' says Brice Lalonde, Kerry's cousin and mayor of this seaside Brittany village.  'He has absolutely nothing French about him.'"

"With the race for the White House turning nasty - and France-U.S. ties not quite mended from the Iraq war - Kerry's Gallic clan, when questioned, talks up his American-ness.  Some are keeping a low profile, saying too much talk about France could be political arsenic.  As Lalonde puts it: 'I'm afraid to hurt him.'  But that hasn't stopped the Frenchman from pasting Kerry bumper stickers on his car..."

The Washington Post profiles Kerry chief of staff and top problem-solver David McKean.

• Monday, March 29, 2004 | 9:25 a.m. ET
From Elizabeth Wilner, Mark Murray and Huma Zaidi
Week Two of White House v. Clarke opens with the debate squarely focused on a new version of an old theme: Bush Administration efforts to determine -- in the high-minded interest of preserving the powers of the executive branch, but also arguably in the more lowbrow interest of playing politics -- what kind of sensitive information should and should not made public.  As the White House selectively declassifies information discrediting Richard Clarke, Condoleezza Rice continues to decline to testify before the September 11 commission.  Clarke himself plays the game by calling for a more extensive release of classified documents before September 11 -- not just a few picked by the White House. 

Per the latest Newsweek poll, public support for Bush's handling of terrorism has slipped from 65% to 57% and a strong plurality think Rice should testify in public.  However, 50% say they think Clarke is politically/personally motivated, with 25% saying he is a dedicated public servant. 

Clarke does MSNBC's Hardball tonight at 7:00 pm.  MSNBC's Nina Bradley reports the Bush campaign hopes the release of longtime Bush advisor Karen Hughes' book tomorrow will help change the subject. 

Meanwhile, the Massachusetts legislature today considers a civil union-based compromise resolution to the gay marriage battle, in what the Boston Globe predicts will be "the most daunting day of parliamentary maneuvering, strategizing, and voting in modern Beacon Hill history."  Federal judges in New York, San Francisco, and Lincoln, NE "begin what could be a protracted battle over the constitutionality of the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act."  And,  in the Washington Post the Bush campaign jumps on Kerry for allegedly using Scripture to attack the President.  More on that below.

USA Today's latest survey of economists has them predicting job growth and increased business and consumer spending.  Still, gas prices are at a record-high average, the paper also notes: Bradley reports that the Bush campaign will host press conferences across the country today to highlight Kerry's support for higher gas taxes, which they say he has voted for at least 11 times. 

But the Bush campaign's efforts to define Kerry today extend beyond gas prices to his voting record on taxes and use of the Bible on the stump.  At a St. Louis church yesterday, Kerry spoke at length about the importance of following one's faith with actions or deeds: "The scriptures say what does it profit my brethren if someone says he has faith but does not have works.  When we look at what's happening in America today, where are the works of compassion, because it's also written be doers of the word and not hearers only."  Kerry did not mention President Bush by name, but the AP reported it as an attack on Bush's compassionate conservatism.  The Bush campaign then called Kerry's remarks "beyond the bounds of acceptable discourse, and a sad exploitation of scripture for a political attack." 

The Los Angeles Times focuses more on Kerry's quoting of the New Testament, but notes, "Kerry never mentioned Bush by name and targeted his call for more compassion and spiritual resolve only at 'our present national leadership.'" 

The Bush campaign also goes up today with a new radio ad in battleground states.  Bradley reports the 60-second spot will feature Boston police officer Jay Moccia criticizing Kerry's record on taxes, charging that Kerry has raised taxes before and will do it again.  (Incidentally, the Boston Globe reports today that Boston police are among the highest-paid in the country.)

And Vice President Cheney tackles Kerry's tax plan with remarks on the economy at the US Chamber of Commerce at 10:30 am.  The AP says Cheney will contend that "Kerry would sweep away an array of tax cuts the administration has enacted" -- but perhaps, we'd note, at the risk of fueling the Kerry argument that the Bush team is "misleading America."

Per the AP, Cheney will question "Kerry's commitment to extending other tax cuts that are due to expire: an increase in the child tax credit; tax reductions for some married couples who would pay more than they would as individuals; and an expansion of the bottom 10 percent tax bracket.  Kerry has said he would keep those tax cuts in place."

"Cheney says Kerry voted against creating the new 10 percent bracket; against repealing the inheritance tax; against cutting taxes on dividend income; and against raising the amount of investment expenses that businesses can write off."  But: "Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said [Kerry] had voted to expand the 10 percent tax bracket and for measures that would have allowed businesses one year to write off $75,000 in investments and create a 50 percent tax credit for small-business health care expenses.  In 2001, Kerry voted to increase estate tax exemptions, Cutter said."

"But in a speech text provided in advance to The Associated Press, Cheney says 'all those "no" votes now form the basis of Senator Kerry's economic plan.'"

President Bush returns from Crawford and addresses a ceremony welcoming countries to NATO at the White House at 3:45 pm.  MSNBC's Bradley advises to look for an updated version of the President's stump speech this week -- that he spent time working on it over the weekend at the ranch.

Kerry does a town hall in Sacramento today on jobs and job training, then holds a fundraiser, then heads to San Francisco for another fundraiser.  The Sacto fundraiser is the start of what he hopes will be a $20 million tour.  After asking how much the Sacto event will raise, MSNBC's Felix Schein says he was told by a campaign spokesperson they "are working on that."  Asked who would attend the fundraisers, Schein says, the campaign spokesperson promised someone would check it out.  Asked if any stars would show up, the same spokesperson indicated he would look into it. 

Kerry is scheduled to have outpatient surgery on an old, re-aggravated shoulder injury on Wednesday in Boston, and will then wear a sling for about a week.  He will spend his downtime in staff meetings and fundraising and should be back to campaigning full-time by Sunday or Monday.

We continue to await a Kerry budget.  Per the campaign, Schein says, because of the new Medicare numbers and new estimates on the deficit, Kerry and aides are again tinkering with the numbers.  On Saturday, Schein noted, Kerry claimed he continues to believe he can cut the deficit in half by the end of his term, but then added that he will have to scale back some of his plans.

This week also brings an anticipated shift in Bush campaign strategy, as Bradley has reported previously: Bush will host one of his last scheduled fundraisers on Wednesday in DC.  Sources tell Bradley to expect a large labor-sponsored protest outside the event at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel.  On Friday, Bush will travel to Greensboro, GA, home of finance chairman Mercer Reynolds, to thank some of his most generous supporters.  Bradley reports the two events there are "appreciation events" and are closed press.  White House chief of staff Andy Card told Bradley, "We will be working to help the victory side of the effort, which will be helping to raise money for some of the state and party operations."

The Clarke effect
USA Today, in its wrap-up of the Clarke, commission, and Administration Sunday TV appearances: "Sunday's developments suggested that the political battle that has engulfed Washington for a week since the release of Clarke's book... will not end soon."

The Los Angeles Times' Brownstein cautions that the dispute is being reduced to "a clash of personalities...  The media and the political community have simplified the issue to a cage match between White House national security advisor Condoleezza Rice and Richard Clarke..."  But, Brownstein writes, "The debate has moved beyond one man.  The reason is the findings by the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks."

The Boston Globe gets into the debate over the release of records and testimony: '"The request by Clarke, who has alleged that Bush did not do enough to fight terrorism before the attacks, was made as analysts debated the ethics of both Clarke's public disclosures and White House attempts to undermine his credibility by releasing carefully selected e-mails and other materials.  Some critics not only said the White House strategy stands out from its normal obsession with secrecy, but they also warned that it could have a chilling effect on internal and public debate by Bush's top aides."

"Seeking to turn the tables on Republicans who have suggested that the release of Clarke's classified 2002 testimony would show conflicts with his testimony last week before the commission, Clarke said that he wanted as much of his secret White House material released as possible."

"One of the key questions to be answered in coming weeks is whether the White House attacks on Clarke will dissuade other senior members of the administration who disagree with Bush's war policies from making their views public, or whether the publicity generated by Clarke and [former Treasury Secretary Paul] O'Neill will give internal critics confidence to come forward.  Although Clarke and O'Neill are the best-known former administration members to criticize Bush, they are not the only ones."  The Globe goes on to list "Rand Beers, Bush's former senior assistant for counterterrorism," who now advises Kerry; Joe Wilson; then-Army Chief of Staff General Eric Shinseki; and former Secretary of the Army Thomas White.

Bush v. Kerry: National Security
The Wall Street Journal says, "The Bush campaign will spend millions of dollars this year trying to convince voters that John Kerry would be a weak, wavering president for a nation at war.  But Republican senators who, like the Massachusetts Democrat, served in the Vietnam War, have warned the White House against overreaching in quick campaign bites.  And the administration's highly personal approach to defense and foreign-policy issues may raise questions about Mr. Bush's credibility as much as the Democratic challenger's indecisiveness."

"The attacks on Mr. Kerry bore in on defense and intelligence votes in the 1980s and 1990s, a complex time when many in both parties -- including some Republican hawks and intelligence supporters -- were experimenting with how to adapt to the end of the Cold War and budget deficits that threatened the U.S. economy."

The Journal says the Clarke book and Bush's WMD jokes at the radio/TV dinner last week point to the risk for Bush in focusing on these issues.

Karen Hughes
"She has a tremendous amount of knowledge about the President, his beliefs, and his record going back to when he was Governor.  Through the years, she's been on the front lines of communicating his vision.  She knows how he thinks and how he feels.  Karen is a tremendous resource like no other person," Bush campaign spokesperson Scott Stanzel told MSNBC's Bradley.  Stanzel also said Hughes will be on the Bush campaign plane starting in August.

The Washington Post says Hughes "plans to weave her combative defense of the White House into a six-week book tour, then go on the campaign payroll in mid-August."  Her memoir "is no tell-all, and readers looking for dirt on Bush and his administration inner circle will be disappointed.  He is portrayed as a commanding presence ('Write this down!' he tells her at one point) who likes short sermons and despises leaks from lower-level aides."

The Post notes, "An entry in the index is 'Rove, Karl, author's disagreements with.'  But Hughes declined advice to dish about Rove.  Instead, she writes that the differences are not personal and that 'most of our disagreements are born of our different jobs and perspectives.'"

More Kerry notes
Pegged to Kerry's shoulder surgery on Wednesday, the Washington Post observes, "Kerry, by most measures an unusually fit 60-year-old, has spent key parts of his presidential campaign battling ailments ranging from prostate cancer to a stubborn cough and cold.  Kerry frequently complains to reporters of a stiff right shoulder or allergies that leave his voice raspy and sore.  For much of this year, Kerry has curtailed speaking and sipped hot lemon tea to nurse a voice strained by hacking and yakking.  In mid-February, he described the ailment to reporters as a 'chest thing' and griped about its persistence."

"In some instances, the aches and illnesses have come at inopportune times, slowing his campaign at critical junctures.  But mostly, they have simply frustrated an athletic candidate who plays hockey and bikes, snowboards and windsurfs, and once bragged to reporters he might ride a bull..."

"Indeed, based on Kerry's partial medical records, which were released last year, the Massachusetts senator appears to be in fine shape."  The campaign tells the Post more medical records are coming.

The Los Angeles Times says of this leg of Kerry's fundraising tour, "The signature event of Kerry's California trip is scheduled to take place Tuesday evening at the lush Beverly Hills estate of Ron Burkle, an investment banker and former supermarket mogul who has often opened his home to political and charity events since he purchased it for nearly $18 million in 1993."  Kerry friend James Taylor will perform.

"Stars who have lent their names to the bash are the usual who's who of Hollywood's Democratic A-list - Warren Beatty, Barbra Streisand, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck, Francis Ford Coppola, Jamie Lee Curtis and Sharon Stone...  Among the event chairs are entertainment executives Jeffrey Katzenberg, co-founder of DreamWorks; Paramount Chairwoman Sherry Lansing; and producer Lawrence Bender, whose Holmby Hills home has become a locus of local Democratic fundraising."

Picking up on adjustments to Kerry's stump speech, the Boston Globe notes that since returning from vacation, "Kerry has largely shelved the signature line of his presidential campaign, the taunt to President Bush that adorned magazines and newspapers as the Massachusetts senator rose in popularity this winter: 'Bring it on!'"

"Instead, the Democrat is delving more into policy, sprinkling his new plan to create 10 million jobs into his speeches and chats with voters...  He is also directly appealing more to undecided voters and Republicans, proposing tax cuts and extolling GOP heroes like Theodore Roosevelt, while starting to exhort Democratic audiences not just to vote for him, but to donate to his campaign as well."

"Now, he is seeking to exude the confidence of the party's standard-bearer...  Before Saturday night, he had never made an explicit fund-raising appeal as part of his stump speech at a rally.  Nor had he ever shared some of his ideas about the Democrats' July convention in Boston, his hometown, as he did after an audience member hollered a catcall about Bush, 'Down with King George!'"

"Greater discipline is a work in progress for Kerry: His speech on taxes Friday was briefer and more focused than several policy speeches of the past, yet his remarks at the World's Fair Pavilion rally Saturday night -- while often humorous and pointed -- grew expansive at the end, jumping from North Korea to veterans' issues to White House attacks on its critics.  Yesterday, he blended Scripture and imagery denouncing Bush into his speech before a predominantly black audience at a St. Louis Baptist church..."

Culture politics
On that speech, the New York Times: "Nicolle Devenish, a Bush spokeswoman, said Mr. Kerry was 'walking a fine line' by campaigning in a church, adding, 'I think that's a sacred thing.'"

Kerry's remarks at the church came as Time magazine reported regarding his relations with the Catholic Church: "Kerry's positions on some hot-button issues aren't sitting well with members of the church elite.  Just listen to a Vatican official, who is an American: 'People in Rome are becoming more and more aware that there's a problem with John Kerry, and a potential scandal with his apparent profession of his Catholic faith and some of his stances, particularly abortion.'"  The magazine quotes Kerry saying it isn't a problem, but notes, "when Kennedy ran for President in 1960, a candidate could go through an entire campaign without ever having to declare his position on abortion-much less stem cells, cloning or gay marriage.  It was before Roe v. Wade, bioethics, school vouchers, gay rights and a host of other social issues became the ideological fault lines that divide the two political parties and also divide some Catholics from their church."

The Washington Times says Kerry's near 100% opposition to the death penalty -- he makes an exception for terrorists -- makes "him the first major-party presidential candidate in more than 15 years to take such a strong stand against capital punishment."  The Times notes, "The debate has drifted into calmer waters in recent years because DNA analysis has exonerated some death-row inmates.  Kerry spokesman Chad Clanton said more than 100 such inmates have been cleared through DNA."

The Washington Post reports that "several hundred" advocates of a bill that would provide more education for immigrants "stormed the small yard of President Bush's chief political strategist, Karl Rove, yesterday afternoon, pounding on his windows, shoving signs at others and challenging Rove to talk to them about" the bill.  "Rove obliged their first request and opened his door long enough to say, 'Get off my property'... The crowd then grew more aggressive, fanning around the three accessible sides of Rove's house, tracking him through the many windows, waving signs... and pounding on the glass..."  Then the Secret Service and police showed up.

The protestors charged that Rove is "'sitting on'" the bill, which has not come up for a full Senate vote.  Rove eventually met with two representatives of the group after the rest agreed to depart.

The Los Angeles Times says that despite then-Candidate Bush's promise "to slash the backlog of applications for legal immigration," today, "more people than ever are facing longer-than-ever delays."

"Annual levels of immigration have held steady since the terrorist attacks.  Now the growing backlog raises questions about the ability of the system to handle the additional load that would be created by the president's proposed guest worker program.  As many as 8 million to 12 million illegal immigrants could file for legal status."

Making every vote count
The American Enterprise Institute's Fortier and Ornstein urge that steps be taken to protect US elections from being affected by terrorist attacks in a Los Angeles Times op-ed.

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