The Note

ByABC News
June 16, 2004, 12:09 PM

W A S H I N G T O N, June 15, 2004&#151;<br> -- NOTED NOW

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NEWS SUMMARY

Political people who have a delicious combination of a sense of humor and an appreciation for bipartisan comity/comedy:

A. whoever sat Lynne Cheney next to Bill Clinton at Friday's National Cathredral service for Ronald Reagan (We didn't see them embrace.)

B. whoever sat Karl Rove right behind Al Gore at the same event (We didn't see THEM embrace either.)

C. whoever wrote President Bush's extraordinarily gracious Clinton remarks yesterday

D. the late, great, and already missed Bob Teeter

Political people who have a determined combination of a sense of the jugular and an appreciation for the partisan killer instinct:

A. Michael Moore, whose "Fahrenheit 9/11" screening at the Ziegfield in Manhattan last night proved that the film will be a huge deal in this election year

B. Democratic Rep. Chris Bell, whose ethics complaint against Tom DeLay could remake Washington

C. Vice President Dick Cheney, who is back to touting Saddam Hussein's "long-established ties" with al Qaeda

D. Tad Devine (Kerry) and Steve Schmidt (Bush-Cheney)

If you are an elite (or want to understand that rarified group), read David Brooks' New York Times op-ed piece today, because he has, again, broken the code. LINK

President Bush meets with Jordanian King Abdullah and Afghan President Karzai before speaking to the press with Karzai. Bush also speaks to the Southern Baptist Convention via satellite and attends the congressional picnic on the South Lawn.

Sen. Kerry speaks about the economy to the New Jersey AFL-CIO this morning before flying to Cincinnati for a fundraiser and Columbus for a rally.

The consumer price index increased by 0.6 percent in May, the largest uptick in three years, according to the Department of Labor.

Whose interpretation of the CPI data will reign supreme? Will the market react to the bump on fears that the Fed will raise interest rates sooner than expected? Or is 0.2 percent in core prices -- no food or energy prices in the sample -- small enough to overcome their worries?

When will Democrats begin to argue that inflation is outpacing personal income growth in key states?

And how effectively can the White House make the argument that it's not a bad thing for companies to have more pricing power in a growing economy?

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is expected to move along the path to confirmation for a fifth term in a hearing before the Senate Banking Committee at the Capitol, Washington, D.C.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai addresses a joint session of Congress this morning.

Rep. Chris Bell files a complaint with the House Ethics Committee accusing Rep. Tom Delay of violating ethics and federal laws.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee holds a hearing on oil supply, gasoline demand, and retail gas prices. The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee holds a hearing on efforts to combat terrorism financing. The House Government Reform Committee debates contracting operations in Iraq.

The Senate debates the Defense Authorization bill.

President Bush's bishop, Melvin G. Talbert of the United Methodist Church, and others launch a new ad for Arab television expressing sorrow for Iraqi prisoner abuse and calling it sinful and systemic during a conference call.

Cinema Verite: Michael Moore Takes Manhattan:

The screening of Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" took place last evening at Manhattan's grand Ziegfeld, and if you have any doubt that numerous opinionmakers were present and that they had their opinions shaped (of President Bush and the role this movie might play in this election year), dispel them right now.

OK, maybe not "shaped," but certainly "stoked."

Since the event ended on the late side, the only coverage (we think . . .) you can read of it anywhere this news cycle is right here in The Note.

The evening was so chock full of bold-faced names, that we will simply list a few random attendees for flavor:

Moby, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Stepford queen bee Glenn Close, Deborah Needleman and her husband, Tony Bennett, Jeff Zucker, Gretchen Mol, Elaine "Heavens" May, sly fox Richard Dreyfuss, the whole Holbrooke family, Al Franken, Tim Robbins (one of the many celebrities who brought teen or tween offspring), the elegant duo of petite Yoko Ono and reedy potential daughter-in-law Elizabeth Jagger, and a good portion of the New York City comedy contingent.

The dress ranged from the casually dressed up (pastel Chanel tweeds, some scattered sequins for Tina Brown) to the comfortably dressed down (Philip Seymour Hoffman is cute-as-all-get-out, but were those long shorts or short trousers?); from basic post-work business attire to swank screening-wear (brisk, stylish Chloe Sevigny and Tara Subkoff).

Harvey Weinstein -- fresh back from a primo East Room seat at the Clinton portrait unveiling -- began with a brief, gracious acknowledgement of the passing of Ronald Reagan, credited planner Peggy Siegal (The last-minute switch to a larger venue went swimmingly . . . ), mentioned Ari Emanuel, reiterated his mock plea for a job for the brothers Weinstein, and offered a special thanks to Leonardo DiCaprio, the announced presence of whom sent a faint flutter through the crowd.

During the film, the vast majority of the audience snickered, laughed, hissed, booed, grumbled, sniffled, gasped, and applauded at places bound to please Michael Moore; any gnashing of teeth was in the minority in this group. (The Note fervently hopes the many journalists in attendance maintained a cool lack of bias.)

Then, to a partial standing ovation and enthusiastic cheers, the director took the mike to thank those who helped make the film, discuss his patriotism, and express his hopes for the outcome of the election in November.

Then past a good-natured Tom Brokaw shaking Harvey Weinstein's hand, down the steps, out the door, past the quivering paparazzi, past the milling gogglers, past Salman Rushdie and lovely bride mid-interview, past the lines of limos and town cars, and away into the night.

Meanwhile, Variety reports that the same group which pushed Leslie Moonves and Co. to ship "The Reagans" to Showtime, now with the help of Howard Kaloogian, is pressuring theatres to drop "domestic enemy" Moore's film. LINK

Who has the best opposition research done on this film, we wonder?

ABC News Vote 2004: Bush v. Kerry:

The AP's Nedra Pickler sums up the week ahead: "Kerry will try to blunt his rival's good news by focusing over the next two weeks on economic problems affecting families, beginning with stops in New Jersey, Ohio and Michigan." Meanwhile the Bush's re-election campaign will spin Kerry's negativity as a "misery tour." LINK

Bush and Kerry return from their corners this week to find improved support for Iraq, improving job numbers, and lower gas prices, signaling Sen. Kerry to shift to a "too little, too late" message to woo November voters. The Globe's Glen Johnson reports Kerry pollster Mark Mellman spins, "John Kerry is in a stronger position than any challenger has been against an elected incumbent in the last 50 years, George Bush in a weaker position than any elected incumbent has been in the last 50 years." LINK

The Hill's Jonathan Kaplan writes about Howard Stern's potential impact on voters, stemming from Kaplan's live call into Stern's show on Monday morning when Kaplan began to question Stern without identifying himself as a reporter and was then called a "son of a bitch" and subjected to questioning by Stern about whether or not Kaplan is a "gay reporter." LINK

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

The Washington Post's Amy Goldstein wraps President Bush's trip to Liberty, Missouri, where he acknowledged problems with the Medicare prescription drug cards, but also offered a strong defense of them. LINK

The New York Times' Dick Stevenson Notes that Medicare was "an issue that Republicans once had high hopes of turning to their advantage this year." LINK