ABC News' The Note: First Source for Political News

W A S H I N G T O N, Aug. 17, 2004&#151;<br> -- NOTED NOW

TODAY'S SCHEDULE (all times ET)

FUTURES CALENDAR

Morning Show Wrap

Evening Newscasts Wrap

13 days until the Republican convention77 days until election day

NEWS SUMMARYWhich of the following sections best sums up the day in American politics:

A. With Don Imus, Larry King, 2/3 of all Googling monkeys, various other cable and broadcast anchors, and assorted print big feet on vacation, we've got proof, as if more were needed, that the Petri dish where the bacteria of political stories incubates is not viable this August week:

Look at what happened yesterday with no real bounce effect into today:

-- In the aftermath of a huge natural disaster, very real questions about Florida's ability to pull off an important election in two weeks come to the fore. (And the supervisor of elections in a county badly hit by the storm — Hardee — dies of a heart attack.)

-- There's a front-page New York Times story about the Bush Justice Department having FBI agents go door-to-door to ferret out would-be violent protestors.

-- The president announces an important, far-reaching, and controversial new policy to reorganize the U.S. military, and Kerry sends Ash Carter and Wes Clark to respond in his stead.

-- Move On, that shadowy 527, runs a new ad which personally attacks the president's military service record and plays the McCain knight, and John Kerry is not forced to respond.

-- In the middle of his positive, turned-the-corner campaign, BC04 launches a major new negative ad against Senator Kerry, criticizing him for his previous votes on intelligence reform and his attendance record. The Kerry campaign's interest in revealing Kerry's private attendance record is on par with the candidate's traveling press corps' interest in getting them to come clean.

-- A court in Florida rules the Sunshine State's path-breaking school voucher law unconstitutional, setting up a state supreme court showdown and giving both presidential candidates a hot-button issue with which to toy.

-- There are news reports that New Jersey Democrats are "privately" threatening Jim McGreevey that if he doesn't "do the right thing" and step down, they will call on him publicly to quit before the September 3 deadline.

B. With Karen Hughes back on the road and the payroll with the president LINK

; the Democrats flailingly try to counter with Whouley, Sosnik, Thomas, Corrigan, Hale, Lynch, and Salemme. LINKC. Match the media-saturated trial with the name of the presiding judge:

1. Michael Jackson2. Scott Peterson3. Kobe Bryant4. Oprah-Winfrey-as-juror

i. Judge James B. Linn ii. Judge Rodney Melvilleiii. Judge Roger Beauchesneiv. Judge Terry Ruckriegle

D. The Washington Post 's E.J. Dionne's Tuesday opus, a must-read, point-by-point layout of what Senator Kerry needs to do to counter President Bush's jabs — from the flip-flopper charge to taxes and Iraq. "The real tests of Kerry's toughness will be whether he can explain himself clearly and whether he can force Bush to defend views that the president would prefer that the public not know he holds," writes the Brookings scholar. LINKThe piece goes farther than most in answering that ringing political question: why did Kerry's "sensitive" remark put him on the defensive for days, while Bush's sales tax remark leaves virtually a trace? The examples are legion, and if Kerry loses the race, this piece will go in a time capsule — or at least will be read aloud by Tad Devine at the Institute of Politics post-election deconstruct, while Matthew Dowd smiles knowingly.

President Bush focuses on manufacturing today, traveling to the Ridley Park, PA Boeing Plant, in a county Gore won easily in 2000, for a tour and speech to employees at 1:40 pm ET. Bush later travels to Republican-leaning Hedgesville, WV for a 6:20 pm ET rally at Hedgesville High.

Senator Edwards, continuing to focus on jobs, heads into Republican-leaning Fort Smith, Arkansas for a 12:00 pm ET town hall meeting at the University of Arkansas. He finishes his day in Birmingham with an 8:00 pm ET fundraiser.

Laura Bush is in Missouri today to speak at a "W. Stands for Women" rally in St. Louis at 4:00 pm ET. She overnights in Denver.

Senator Kerry travels from Ketchum, ID to Cincinnati before his Wednesday morning speech to the VFW Convention.

In North Carolina today, Winston-Salem city councilman Vernon Robinson and state Senator Virginia Foxx face off in the Republican primary.

ABC News Vote 2004: Bush-Cheney re-elect:

As we said, President Bush heads to suburban Philadelphia today to tour a Boeing factor that makes Chinook helicopters and deliver remarks to employees and supporters.

The Philadelphia Inquirer's Harold Brubaker Notes that the Chinook "has been flying platoons of soldiers in and out of hot spots since the early 1960s." LINK"The $416.2 billion fiscal 2005 defense budget that Bush signed this month contains $143 million for eight new Chinooks — the first in more than a decade," Brubaker reports.

President Bush announced yesterday the biggest realignment in almost half a century in a speech at the VFW convention in Cincinnati.

The Cincinnati Enquirer's headline read: "I've worked for you, Bush tells veterans."LINK

Mike Allen and Josh White of the Washington Post look at the conversation that President Bush was able to start — "a chance to talk about bringing troops home at a time when his opponent, Senator John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), has pledged to substantially reduce U.S. troop levels in Iraq. LINKThey Note that the president's plan, however, does not affect the number of troops in Iraq.

The Los Angeles Times' duo of Peter Wallsten and John Hendren look at the back and forth on the president's troop realignment plan, Noting the "intense partisan exchange offered a glimpse of the underlying differences between Bush and Democratic challenger Senator John F. Kerry and their conflicting visions of how best to assure the nation's security."

LINK

In the New York Times , Elisabeth Bumiller points out the politics of President Bush's speech yesterday: LINK"Mr. Bush's announcement, in a swing state that the White House has identified as essential to the president's chances for re-election, came with heavy political overtones. It is part of an effort leading into the Republican National Convention to promote Mr. Bush's record on national security, which polls show is his greatest advantage against his Democratic competitor, Senator John Kerry."

And Bill Sammon in the Washington Times : LINKThe Wall Street Journal 's editorial page supports the president's military reorganization.

The New York Times ' ed board thinks President Bush's military realignment plan makes "little long-term strategic sense. It is certain to strain crucial alliances, increase overall costs and dangerously weaken deterrence on the Korean peninsula at the worst possible moment." LINKThe Washington Post ed board looks at President Bush's military re-deployment plan and thinks it's a bad idea in Asia. LINKDana Milbank declares that the "Bushism" has returned, Noting "[t]he malapropisms that adorned Bush's 2000 campaign before going into remission during much of his presidency have reemerged to garnish his reelection bid."LINK

The New York Daily News Bazinet catches up with Senator Tom Harkin's recent remarks about Vice President Cheney and his criticism of Senator Kerry last week on a "more sensitive" war on terror.LINKAllison Dobson certainly knows about these spicy remarks, but just in case you missed them:

"'When I hear this coming from Dick Cheney, who was a coward, who would not serve during the Vietnam War, it makes my blood boil,' Harkin said yesterday, elevating an already vicious war of words between the two campaigns and their allies. "

"'He'll be tough, but he'll be tough with someone else's kid's blood,' Harkin said of Cheney."

The Minneapolis Star Tribune's Dane Smith reports that Ralph Reed will stump for the Presidetn in Minnesota for a couple of days.LINKPeter Canellos of the Boston Globe writes of how, should President Bush win re-elections, his administration will likely be an entire sea of new faces. Ex. "Powell and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge act a lot like good soldiers dutifully serving out their enlistments. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Attorney General John Ashcroft have been on fewer Christmas-card lists every year they've been in office, and each is expected to skip the second term." LINK

ABC News Vote 2004: Bush-Cheney v. Kerry-Edwards:

Kerry goes to Idaho for a little R&R and the Bush attacks keep on comin', Patrick Healy of the Boston Globe reports. LINK

Flouting our lede, the AP's Liz Sidoti looks at the unprecedented number and intensity of campaign ads in August. LINKDick Morris writes that Osama bin Laden will be the one to determine who wins the presidential contest. LINKThe New York Post gives the AP account of Rudy Giuliani's comments on the race for the White House while in Singapore. The DNC response didn't get included here. LINKThe AP reports that findings of a British genealogy say Senator Kerry is more of a blueblood than President Bush. LINK