The Note
W A S H I N G T O N, May 21, 2004—<br> -- NOTED NOW
TODAY SCHEDULE (all times ET)
FUTURES CALENDAR
NEWS SUMMARY
News out of Iraq — our culture loves moving video over still photos, don't you know — will dominate the media consciousness today, but if you want to know where the minds of the political insiders are focused, think of these things:
1. With new state job figures due today, the focus is on Ohio, Ohio, Ohio, with Treasury Secretary Snow and Tar Heel Senator Edwards in the Buckeye State talking separately about the economy.
2. USA Today 's Judy Keen correctly reports that the Bush-Cheney campaign will go on the air next week with an ad challenging John Kerry's record and statements on the Patriot Act.
3. The Wall Street Journal says that the Kerry campaign is about to switch its ad traffic from bio to issues (Which ones, we wonder … .?).
4. USA Today 's Walter Shapiro shares with us an inside look at the biweekly meeting organized by America Votes that is so vivid and insightful that it's sure to give Sean Hannity nightmares for at least a week, and the presence of one of John Kerry's advisers is sure to perk up the Sisyphusian ears of GOP superlawyer Ben Ginsberg. LINK5. Are Leader Pelosi's anti-Bush words from yesterday just par for the course in the Gingrich-Clinton world of Washington, or do they represent a watershed?
6. What staffers/advisers are getting on the Kerry plane soonish?
7. What will Ralph Nader (on "This Week") and Hillary Clinton (on the Rupert Murdoch Sunday show) have to say in less than 48 hours?
8. Post-POTUS pep rally, what will MOCs hear at home during the recess about peace and prosperity from their constituents?
President Bush delivers the commencement address at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge today and then attends a fundraising reception at a private residence in Metairie, La. This weekend, the president is out of Washington as he attends a dinner for his daughter Jenna's graduation in Austin, Texas, on Saturday and another for his daughter Barbara on Sunday in New Haven, Conn.
Senator Kerry records the Democratic radio address today in Washington (to air Saturday) and attends a fundraising reception at a private residence in White Plains, N.Y. this evening. Over the weekend Kerry will be in Boston with no scheduled public events. On Saturday, the campaign will hold "Kerry National House Party Day" where supporters will gather in 2,000 house parties in all 50 states to show their support for their candidate. Kerry will join them via conference call.
Today, Vice President Cheney campaigns for congressional candidates in Texas. He will speak at a breakfast for congressional candidate Judge Ted Poe in Houston and at a reception for congressional candidate Arlene Wohlgemuth in Waco in the afternoon. This evening the Vice President also will speak at a reception for congressional candidate Judge Louie Gohmert in Longview.
The Labor department releases its monthly state-by-state unemployment and aggregate job gain and loss numbers today.
Lynne Cheney travels to La Crosse, Wis. today and speaks at the Republican Party of Wisconsin's state convention.
Ralph Nader sits down with George Stephanopoulos on "This Week" for a conversation on the presidential race, the Bush Administration, and more.
In addition, Senator Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich are scheduled to join ABC's George Stephanopoulos, George Will and Linda Douglass.
On Saturday, Senator John Edwards (D-N.C.) will speak at the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party's state convention in Duluth, Minn.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) visits Washington state, where he will campaign with Washington Senate candidate Rep. George Nethercutt (R-Wash.) in Seattle and Tri-Cities, Wash.
In Plainfield, N.J., former Gov. Howard Dean (D-Vt.) attends a fundraiser for Senator Kerry.
Rep. Marty Meehan (D-Mass.) attends the New Hampshire Democratic Party's state convention breakfast as the keynote speaker.
In Detroit, Mich., the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network holds an event at the Fox Theatre.
On Sunday, Senator John Edwards (D-N.C.) campaigns with North Carolina Senate candidate Erskine Bowles in Raleigh, N.C.
Former Gov. Howard Dean (D-Vt.) attends a campaign fund-raiser for Pennsylvania Senate candidate Rep. Joe Hoeffel in Montgomery County, Pa.
Prison abuse scandal:
The Washington Post 's Josh White, Christian Davenport, and Scott Higham detail the scenes depicted in as-yet-unreleased photos and videos of alleged prison abuse and misconduct at Abu Ghraib prison. LINK
Higham and Joe Stevens of the Washington Post report new allegations arising from statements of 13 Abu Ghraib prisoners, saying they were "ridden like animals, sexually fondled by female soldiers and forced to retrieve their food from toilets." LINKThe New York Times ' Johnston and Shanker report "interrogators at the Guantánamo Bay prison camp received Pentagon approval to use special, harsher interrogation procedures on a Saudi Arabian detainee who was believed to be the planned 20th hijacker in the Sept. 11 terror plot." LINKNBC's Tim Russert told Katie Couric this morning that the video "continues a string of very bad news for the Bush Administration … When you observe these today, I think it's going to have an enormously powerful effect on the American people."
Russert also said the abuse story is beginning to shake Republicans' faith in the administration's handling of the war. "These pictures are perceived by many Republicans I speak to as a metaphor for the mismanagement of the war," Russet said. " … They know in the absence of no weapons of mass destruction, the reason we are using for saying we went into Iraq was to do good for the Iraqi people. These pictures are just devastating when you try to make that claim."
The politics of Iraq:
The New York Times ' David Sanger on Ahmad Chalabi's "open political warfare with the Bush administration.". LINKPer the Wall Street Journal 's Cloud, Fields and Fassihi, "U.S. intelligence agencies believe" Chalabi, "once strongly backed by some Bush administration officials, may have passed classified information on the American occupation of Iraq to the government of Iran."
The Washington Post 's Robin Wright writes that the standing of Ahmed Chalabi, the Iraqi exile once championed by the Bush Administration as a leader of the new democratic government, has fallen to a new low, both in the region and in terms of his standing among high-level Administration officials — as evidenced by yesterday's raid on his compound. LINK"Throughout much of its relationship with him, the United States has been willing to shrug off Chalabi's past as a convicted felon disliked and mistrusted by many in the Arab world. . . . But Chalabi's close relationship with Iran, the only neighboring state that regularly deals with him, is now a further cause of concern in Washington."
USA Today 's David Lynch writes, "Ahmad Chalabi picked the wrong day to sleep late." LINKThe AP reports on House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's comments that the president's "Iraq policies show incompetence and that the only conclusion to draw is that 'the emperor has no clothes.'" LINK
ABC News Vote 2004: Bush-Cheney re-elect:
USA Today 's Judy Keen reports that the Bush campaign will launch a new 30-second TV ad next week "attacking Kerry's stance on the Patriot Act." LINKThe 30-second ad will air in 19 states and "will accuse Senator John Kerry of 'playing politics with national security.'"
Keen: "The campaign will reinforce its message in the next few weeks with a speech by Vice President Cheney and a news conference in key states with Republican governors, former state attorneys general and law enforcement officials supporting the Patriot Act."
ABC's Kate Snow reported this morning that President and Laura Bush won't attend their daughters' college graduations this weekend but will instead host dinners in Austin and New Haven. Laura Bush has talked about maintaining Barbara and Jenna Bush's privacy, and the White House has done a pretty good job at shielding them from the press for the last four years — despite lots of tabloid headlines. Now that they're done with school, Barbara and Jenna Bush plan to work on their father's campaign and shack up with their parents, who have a few extra bedrooms.
