The Note

W A S H I N G T O N, June 3, 2004&#151;<br> -- NOTED NOW

TODAY SCHEDULE (all times ET)

FUTURES CALENDAR

NEWS SUMMARY

Questions for the cycle(s) (news and presidential election cycles, that is):

What are the dominant impressions voters will take away from the President's foreign trips -- unifying world leader on an Iraq victory lap or defiant cowboy protested by thousands of Europeans and a certain Pontiff?

In local and national coverage, which will get the most breakthrough attention today in KerryWorld: his final major national security speech of this period (complete with retired military leader support and some endorsements); the new TV spot "Country"; or the efforts to turn America into a poetry seminar through deconstruction of Langston Hughes's "Let America be America Again." (LINK)?

Where is the next round of public polls and what will they say?

Can the New York Times, simply by front paging the Bush campaign's effort to get people of observant faith involved in the re-election effort, demonize for the left half of the Gang of 500 something that seems perfectly appropriate?

All the questions swirling around the President's semi-hiring of lawyer Jim Sharp -- Has money changed hands? Why Sharp? Has Vice President Cheney "hired" a lawyer?

Will the Kerry campaign continue to defer all questions about this matter to the DNC?

Who's right -- Karl Rove or Bob Novak -- about whether No Child Left Behind and the prescription drug bill are going to be net electoral pluses for the President or not?

Will David Wade show John Kerry the kicker of Mark Barabak's Los Angeles Times story on John Edwards', erh, ambition? And what will David Ginsberg and Steve Elmendorf think of that portion of the story? LINK

Besides his exclusive major media appearances, just how much broadcast and cable news coverage will Bill Clinton's book and tour get -- as compared to, say, Scott Peterson's trial?

Will today's round of Kerry-abortion stories cause the campaign to get the candidate to focus on what he really thinks and wants to say on the matter, or will they just collectively stumble into the next semi-crisis in reaction to events and reporters' questions? (And, no, Karen Hughes, that is not advice -- it is analysis.)

Who is more aware that Phyllis J. Hamilton was approved by unanimous consent on May 24, 2000, after Bill Clinton nominated her for a federal district court seat -- Republicans or Democrats?

When will the hosts of "Fox and Friends" get over their obsession with free stuff and gifts?

President Bush speaks to the press with Australian Prime Minister John Howard today at the White House. He departs for Italy this afternoon for a four-day trip to Europe.

Sen. John Kerry speaks about adapting the military to deal with terrorism at the Harry Truman Library in Independence, Mo. He flies to Minneapolis tonight.

Sens. Hillary Clinton, George Soros, and Gov. Howard Dean speak at the Campaign for America's Future conference in Washington.

Ralph Nader discusses "breaking the two-party system" at a luncheon at the National Press Club, Washington, D.C.

Bill Clinton gives the keynote at the BookExpo America meeting in Chicago. LINK

DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe attends a rally and press conference supporting Ohio job growth at the Scripps Amphitheater, Athens, Ohio.

Teresa Heinz Kerry attends the New York Jefferson Jackson Dinner at the Hilton Hotel, New York, N.Y.

The Senate resumes debate on the defense budget. As many as four votes are expected in the early afternoon.

CIA leak investigation:

This story could be huge and dominant and exploding, or nothing at all -- and at this point we are proud to say we don't have a clue where it is headed.

The Washington Post's Mike Allen reports that President Bush is talking to Washington lawyer Jim Sharp about representing him if the President is called to testify before (or "visit with") a grand jury in the probe into the leak of a CIA officer's name. LINK

The New York Times Lichtblau and Sanger. LINK

The Los Angeles Times Wallsten and Schmitt. LINK

The AP: LINK

Boy, Sharp is low profile. If you read the papers, you learn he allegedly represented Richard Secord in Iran-Contra, that he is from Oklahoma, and that he is a former government prosecutor who now has a "low-profile white-collar defense practice."

So far, at least, the man seems impervious to the strongest overnight efforts imaginable by a team of Googling monkeys and the staff of ABC News' Political Unit.

In our minds' eyes, we are thinking of a kind of GOP-leaning David Kendall doppelganger, but we'll see.

ABC News Vote 2004: Sen. John Kerry:

Sen. Kerry talks about strengthening the military today at the Harry S Truman Library in Independence, Mo., talking up plans to boost military readiness and expand the armed forces to deal with terrorism, and to use the National Guard to defend the United States.

The speech will feature a healthy dose of criticism aimed at the Bush Administration, saying that the military was ill-equipped to deal with the job it had to do in Iraq.

Some excerpts:

"We went into Iraq with too few troops to prevent looting and crime, and we failed to secure nearly a million tons of conventional weapons now being used against our troops. We failed to build alliances and squandered the opportunity to generate wider support inside Iraq, in the Arab world, and among the major powers. These mistakes have complicated our mission and complicated our objective: a stable Iraq with a representative government secure in its borders."

"The effect is clear: our soldiers are stretched too thin."

"The Administration's answer has been to put band-aids on the problem. They have effectively used a stop loss policy as a back-door draft. They have extended tours of duty, delayed retirements, and prevented enlisted personnel from leaving the service. Just yesterday, the Army announced this would effect even more soldiers whose units are headed to Iraq and Afghanistan. By employing these expedients, they've increased the forces by 30,000 troops."

In addition, the Kerry campaign announces today its senior military advisory group -- the retired admirals and officers who are advising on defense and the military. The team: Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral William Crowe and Gen. John Shalikashvili; Gen. Wesley Clark, former Supreme Allied Commander, Europe; Gen. Joseph Hoar, former Commander-in-Chief, US Central Command; Admiral Stansfield Turner, former director, Central Intelligence Agency; Gen. Tony McPeak, former US Air Force Chief of Staff; Gen. Johnnie Wilson, former Commander, US Army Material Command; LTG Daniel Christman, former superintendent, U.S. Military Academy; LTG General Kennedy, former Deputy Army Chief of Staff for Intelligence; Vice Admiral Lee Gunn, former Inspector General, U.S. Navy; Maj. Gen. Harry Jenkins, former Chief Legislative Liaison, U.S. Marine Corps.

Wednesday: another day, another terrorism proposal, another he-said-he-said involving Kerry and Falkenraith. LINK

Give the Kerry campaign credit, though -- their incremental roll-out of the anti-terrorism proposals are certainly getting favorable incremental coverage in the nation's newspapers.

The Washington Times' Rowan Scarborough says Kerry is moving to the "right of the Democratic Party's left wing" on terrorism, with help from some of President Clinton's former advisors. "Mr. Kerry even attempts to sound tougher than the hawkish president." LINK

The New York Times' Jodi Wilgoren reports "Senator John Kerry on Wednesday blasted the Bush administration for ever backing Mr. Chalabi as an Iraqi exile leader, saying he met him in London years ago and deemed him unworthy of American support." LINK

The Washington Post's Jim VandeHei takes a sophisticated look at how events, such as Tuesday's court ruling that the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act is unconstitutional, are reluctantly pulling Kerry into an abortion debate that he would rather avoid given that the election is likely to be decided in culturally conservative states. It's an interesting take on how the campaign and Kerry supporters are spinning the issue, how much abortion-rights advocates are willing to compromise to elect a Democrat, and how the "politicization" charge works in more ways that one. LINK