ABC News' The Note: First Source for Political News

ByABC News
July 21, 2004, 8:02 AM

W A S H I N G T O N, July 20, 2004&#151;<br> -- NOTED NOW

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Evening Newscasts Wrap

6 days until the Democratic convention41 days until the Republican convention105 days until election day

NEWS SUMMARY:

At this writing, neither of the two presidential campaigns has responded to the news that Clinton national security adviser (and Kerry campaign adviser) Sandy Berger is the focus of a criminal probe regarding the removal of documents related to terrorism from the National Archives.

Since this appears to otherwise be another day of quiet-before-the-Democratic-convention-storm, the collected energies and passions of the Gang of 500 will be devoted to speculating about the answers to some questions about the Berger matter.

Some of these questions are non-partisan and shared throughout the Gang.

But others are hyper-partisan, and remind us all as if any reminder were needed that in 50-50, Red/Blue America, political elites feel they must be braced at all times for some external event to come crashing into the news cycle and, through some Rube Goldberg contraption LINK of democracy, affect the real votes of real voters.

The Associated Press broke the story after the Monday evening network newscasts, and/but a slow overnight news cycle was dominated in all media by the repetition of the same basic facts over and over.

Of the major dailies, only USA Today saw fit to scrap the afternoon planning meeting plan and rip up the front page.

But rest assured, distrustful Republicans: Tuesday evening newscasts and Wednesday papers are going to be all over this.

GOPers are all about accountability; Democrats are all about fanning the flames of "suspicious" timing.

The question for Justice Department reporters is how much they can advance the narrative.

The question for political reporters is how, if at all, does this enter the campaign dialogue.

We came in this morning and asked the Googling monkeys for the answers to those questions, and they shrugged the shrug they shrug when they don't know.

And neither do we . . .

Real voters go to the polls today in Georgia and North Carolina for senatorial and gubernatorial primaries. Polls in Georgia close at 7:00 pm ET; polls in North Carolina close at 7:30 pm ET.

President Bush meets privately with his economic advisers this morning before traveling to the Midwest for two appearances: a 1:40 pm ET "Ask the president" event in Cedar Rapids followed by a 6:30 pm ET campaign rally in St. Charles, Mo. Both Barbara and Jenna Bush are out on the trail with their father.

The expected Democratic ticket is down today: Sen. John Kerry is in Nantucket and Senator John Edwards is in Washington, D.C.

New state employment numbers are expected at 10:00 am ET today from the Labor Department.

The Senate considers the nomination of William Meyers of Idaho to be a circuit judge in Ninth Circuit Court.

The politics of Sandy Berger:

The New York Times' Mark Glassman reports that "Mr. Berger removed at least two versions of a memorandum assessing how the government handled intelligence and security issues before the millennium celebrations in 1999, his lawyer, Lanny A. Breuer, said. He also removed notes he took about classified documents, the lawyer said." LINK

USA Today's Kevin Johnson and Susan Page report that two officials from the National Archives "said Berger was reportedly seen stuffing some of the material into his clothing." LINK

The Washington Post's Susan Schmidt and Dan Eggen report that Berger's lawyer says the removal of the papers was inadvertent, and that while Berger has offered to cooperate, the FBI has not interviewed him. LINK

The AP's John Soloman reports "President Clinton's national security adviser, Sandy Berger, is the focus of a Justice Department investigation after removing highly classified terrorism documents and handwritten notes from a secure reading room during preparations for the Sept. 11 commission hearings." LINK

The New York Post on "file swipe:" LINK

The Wall Street Journal's Carla Anne Robbins has a story.

ABC News Vote 2004: Kerry-Edwards '04:

The Boston Globe's Glen Johnson reports that Sen. Kerry will accept federal funds after he accepts his party's nomination next week, will be paid back the $6.4 million loan he gave his campaign before Iowa, and will disperse leftovers to Democratic Party operations who can advertise and whatnot on his behalf. LINK

The Washington Post's Dana Milbank takes Note of the Kerry campaign's "one-word weapon": Halliburton. LINK

The Boston Herald's Miga and Guarino's Kerry profile topic of the day is his years between his marriage to Julia Thorne and Teresa Heinz Kerry. "Kerry soon found himself embroiled in controversial deals, some with political supporters and top fund-raisers, involving leased cars, cut-rate housing from developers and condos." LINK

The Boston Herald duo also looks at Julia Thorne's "suffocation" once her husband John began his career in public service. LINK

And then, under a headline "All the Senator's Women," Guarino and Miga look at Sen. Kerry's interest in ladies. "The senator was often seen prowling area nightclubs, attending parties at a million-dollar Commonwealth Avenue apartment and traveling extensively." LINK

"He called himself a lonely man looking for love."

The Washington Post's Paul Farhi takes a really interesting look at the combination of database jockeying and shoe-leather canvassing that Democrats are using to build a sophisticated system to target voters and catch up to the long-held voter database infrastructure of the Republican Party. Farhi includes a smart quote from direct-mail consultant Hal Malchow, who Notes that the techniques vastly improve how the party will allocate resources, but "'This doesn't improve [a candidate's] message one bit.'"LINK

We also liked the poetic imagery of an "enormous data torrent streaming toward Washington from all around the country," even if it makes us want to run for our lives like in a scene from a disaster movie.

Perhaps some softball-playing reporter on Nantucket can get John Kerry to weigh in on the burgeoning controversy over whether or not Hemingway's Ketchum home should be open to the public. LINK

"By rallying the Democratic base, the 51-year-old Edwards might be able to secure money, volunteers and votes from Democrats who were otherwise grudging in their support of Kerry," writes James Rainey of the Los Angeles Times in his assessment of Edwards' first solo trip. LINK

Be sure not to miss Sally Kirkland on her tiptoes, and don the bib before reading this one.

USA Today's Kathy Kiely writes about Edwards' recent travels where he stumps for both sides of his "two Americas." LINK

The Raleigh News & Observer's Rob Christensen reports on Edwards' home state haul yesterday. LINK

Michael Finnegan (filling in for Matea for that tough Nantucket assignment) has the Kerry-Edwards pre-convention itinerary all mapped out for you. LINK

There also seems to be an interesting Los Angeles Times story about Los Angeles yogis for Kerry, but the Calendar section restrictions prohibit us from reading it online.

Scott Maxwell of the Orlando Sentinel opines about the lack of access the traveling press had to Sen. John Edwards during his recent campaign swing in Florida, where, he writes, the press was herded like animals. LINK

Scott: you need to go on a White House trip!!!!

The Florida AP Notes Sen. Kerry's visit to Cape Canaveral on Monday, the first day of the Democratic National Convention. LINK

The Washington Post's E.J. Dionne opines that "the revisionist history of the Dean campaign has already begun," and that "above all, Dean's rise in 2003 was a symptom of the Democratic rank and file's intense desire to turn itself into a fighting force. The higher Dean went in the polls, the sharper his rivals became in their criticisms of Bush." LINK

The Minneapolis Star Tribune's Muriel Dobbin and David Westphal throw around words like "underwhelming" as they detail Kerry's campaign style and write that Kerry, "has not put to rest doubts about his ability to connect in a personal and dynamic way with voters." LINK

Roll Call's David Winston follows up Elizabeth Edward's boast about her ticket's largess on "60 Minutes." LINK

Felix Rohatyn, an investment banker and former U.S. ambassador to France, writes in today's Wall Street Journal why he plans to vote for John Kerry in November. Sounds like a good SecTreas rehearsal to us . . .

The Sun-Sentinel listened in on the presidential candidate's Jewish younger brother's appearance in Boca, where he, Cameron Kerry, spoke to an audience of about 400. "Playing to the mostly Jewish audience, Kerry, 53, focused on what he sees as the Bush family's friendship with the Saudi royal family, the administration's pandering to Arab states and the lack of aggression toward Iran."LINK

The New York Daily News gave some play to the DWI case involving John Edwards' brother. LINK

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

Jonathan Weisman of the Washington Post reports that the president is pushing for Congress to extend a series of his tax cuts before they recess at the end of the week. LINK

The AP's Dalrymple reports, "Republican divisions in the Senate could complicate efforts to extend three of President Bush's most popular tax cuts this week. If allowed to expire, Americans could pay $50 more in taxes and lose up to $300 in tax benefits for each child next year." This is the lead story in the Arizona Republic and the Arizona Daily Sun, plus more. LINK