ABC News' The Note
W A S H I N G T O N, July 2, 2004—<br> -- NOTED NOW
TODAY SCHEDULE (all times ET)
FUTURES CALENDAR
Morning Show Wrap
Evening Newscasts Wrap
NEWS SUMMARY
JOHN KERRY'S CONFIDENTIAL SCHEDULE
Friday, July 2, 2004 - Monday, July 5, 2004AS OF 7/2/2004 AT 9:00 pm EDT
CONFIDENTIAL. DO NOT DISTRIBUTE.
Friday, July 2, 2004
Travel Overview: Washington, D.C. à Duluth, MN à Cloquet, MN à Bloomer, WI à Eau Claire, WI
Public meetings: Sen. Dick Durbin, Sen. Byron Dorgan, Sen. Blanche Lincoln, Franklin Raines, Gov. Janet Napolitano
TRAVELING PERSONAL STAFF
Personal aide: Marvin Nicholson
Assistant to the personal aide: Nicholas Marvinson
Traveling adviser: James Rubin
SS Lead: Special Agent Rock Hardcastle
TRAVELING PRESS STAFF
Stephanie Cutter: I'm getting the hang of this traveling gig.
Allison Dobson: Ask Stephanie.
Jim Loftus: We're leaving in 10 minutes.
Lars Erickson: We left 10 minutes ago.
HEADQUARTERS CONTACTS
Debra DeShong: Don't think I'm Cutter-lite
David Wade: If I were invisible . . . baby!
JUNE
JK AM
RESIDENCE
3:30 a.m.: Meet with Jim Johnson3:40 a.m.: MBC joins meeting via phone 3:45 a.m.: Sasso joins meeting via phone3:48:a.m.: Biden calls4:05 a.m.: Howard Dean arrives in rear4:50 a.m.: Breakfast with Howard Dean; THK joins5:00 a.m.: Friendly wave to NYT/ABC pool at front window6:00 a.m.: Service creates diversion; Dean exits through rear6:20 a.m.: Daily bitch session with Rosenblith6:30 a.m.: Call Gephardt6:50 a.m.: Call Edwards6:52 a.m.: Call Vilsack7:01 a.m.: Biden calls7:10 a.m.: Call Durbin7:11 a.m.: Biden calls8:10 a.m.: RTG8:15 a.m.: Depart residence enroute DCA8:30 a.m.: JOHN KERRY ARRIVES WASHINGTON NATIONAL AIRPORTEnroute: Rural American policy briefing11:00 a.m.: JOHN KERRY ARRIVES DULUTH INT'L AIRPORTNOTE: Turn clocks back one hour to adjust to Central Daylight Time.NOTE2: Press will hold at airport; Kerry holds on plane.11:04 a.m.: MBC calls Brooke Brower and Ron Fournier.11:06 a.m.: Noted Now flashes "KERRY PICKS DEAN"11:07 a.m.: AP flashes "BULLETIN -- KERRY-DEAN"11:15 a.m.: Kerry emerges from plane with Vice Presidential nominee Howard Dean. (Service will keep O'Connor out of the shot.)11:23 a.m.: John King throws phone down; complains that ABC broke ANOTHER major story.2:02 p.m.: MSNBC flashes "Kerry Picks Dean"
OK -- things might not happen exactly this way, but Note girls and boys are in a holiday revelry, broken quite nicely, by the Labor Department this morning reporting that the economy added 112,000 new jobs in June -- that's the fourth consecutive month of gains, but as ABC's Ramona Schindelheim Notes, that's less than half of the consensus forecast. So there's something for both President Bush and Sen. Kerry talk about.
And speak they will. At 10:55 am ET, the President speaks about the economy during a small business forum at the White House -- his only event today. He spends tonight and tomorrow night at Camp David. On the 4th he speaks in Charleston, W.Va.
With a variety of Democrats already trying to spin down the job numbers, this afternoon Sen. Kerry launches his three-day Midwest bus tour with a 1:30 pm ET Minnesota rally. Kerry is joined by his family as he travels to Bloomer, Wis. tonight, Independence, Wis. and Dubuque, Iowa Saturday, and Cascade, Independence, and Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Sunday.
He spends Sunday night and Monday night at the Heinz ranch in Pittsburgh. Kerry also delivers the Democratic radio address this weekend.
Vice President Cheney rolls out his own bus tour tomorrow, hitting Parma, Ohio, and Wheeling, W.Va. Saturday afternoon and Pittsburgh and Altoona, Pa. (to throw out a first pitch) on Sunday.
Anybody want to spend their holiday watching the installation of the Sheekey Bridge on 33rd Street and 8th Avenue in New York? We do.
Meanwhile Sen. Edwards is taking a stroll on Wrightsville Beach and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack is in Iowa with Kerry for the holiday, just to pick two random Americans.
The Note will not publish Monday, if we can help it. Asking Googling Monkeys not to Google is like asking Matt Paul to tell us where Gov. Vilsack will be this weekend and next week (but we know!).
To quote Belinda Carlisle and Michael Moore: Vacation, all I ever wanted, vacation, had to get away, vacation, meant to be spent alone.
And to (sort of) quote Scot Lehigh and Tom Oliphant: No I cannot forget where it is that I come from, I cannot forget the people who love me, yeah, I can be myself here in this small town, and people let me be just what I want to be.
Veepstakes:
On Good Morning America, a huge, pumped-up crowd turn up to see an exclusive with the North Carolinian who came in second . . . Clay Aiken.
Dick Durbin, Dan Balz? LINK
"ABC News has learned from several top Democrats that the man in charge of Kerry's vice presidential search, Jim Johnson, has hired outside pollster Ed Reilly, and he has conducted top-secret polls of various potential running mates," ABC's Jake Tapper reports. LINK
"Though most of the results remain secret, one Democratic source says the big winner in those polls is Arizona Sen. John McCain, a Republican who has repeatedly said he will not run on the Democratic ticket. The secret polls show Kerry essentially tied with President Bush, but Kerry-McCain beating a Bush-Cheney ticket by 12 to 15 points. Saying that 'we don't discuss our research,' Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter answered questions about the Reilly polling by declaring that 'the campaign does not have a research program directed toward the vice presidential process.'"
The New York Times' Adam Nagourney and David Halbfinger run through how Kerry feels about Tom, Dick, and John just one more time. LINK
But how, we keep wondering, can anyone say that John Edwards has campaigned for the job when all he has done is do what the Kerry campaign has asked -- and he's turned down, believe you us, plenty of offers.
The New York Post's Deb Orin surveys the scene and reminds us about Kerry's diapers remark to Edwards back in January. " class="blue" target="blank">LINK
The Globe's Pat Healy Notes the veep-rollout-friendly battleground barnstorming trip Sen. Kerry has planned for next week. LINK
The Boston Globe's Scot Lehigh tries to put himself in Sen. Kerry's mind and he ends up on the senior Senator from the Tar Heel State -- and, yes, we expect a call from Heinz Kerry to Elizabeth Edwards today no matter what. LINK
The Des Moines Register's Thomas Beaumont writes that "Anticipation was building Thursday" for Kerry's pick of running mate "possibly within days of an Iowa campaign swing that will include time with Gov. Tom Vilsack." LINK
That Gov. Bill Richardson won't be the veep choice is not terribly surprising. Richardson -- who wrote a classic, "Dear John" letter to Kerry ostensibly taking himself out of the running, a la Tom Ridge in 2000 -- was not fully vetted by the Kerry campaign and those with a sense of the process never thought he had a strong chance anyway, although the letter says that Kerry "seriously" considered him.
Excerpts: "I am both honored and flattered that you are seriously considering me for your running mate-as the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee-in the coming election. Our recent discussion in Phoenix and the fullness of our dialogue with you and your team about your vision for our country and our shared commitment to a strong America at home and abroad have reinforced my firm belief that you are truly ready to lead our great nation in a new and promising direction."
"In closing, on a personal note, as an Hispanic, I am particularly touched by your willingness to consider me for the Vice Presidency. It is further reassurance to the Hispanic and Latino communities that you are a man who respects and reaches out to our community and who will fight for our interests, our values and our culture. Also, I want to commend Jim Johnson's professionalism throughout the selection process."
