The Note

W A S H I N G T O N, April 2&#151;<br> -- TODAY SCHEDULE (all times ET)

FUTURES CALENDAR

HOT NEW EMPLOYMENT NUMBERS!!!

Good news for the college-aged Googling monkeys (and a certain President seeking to be re-hired by the American people):

The economy added more than 308,000 new jobs in March, exceeding the expectations of some economists and providing the White House a tangible, repeatable number to wave around.

According to ABC News' Ramona Schindelheim's tally, that's 513,000 new jobs since the beginning of the year. 759,000 since last August. Seven consecutive months of job growth, following seven months of job losses. The manufacturing sector did not lose jobs for the first time in 43 months.

The gains appear to be broad-based:

Per the AP: "Labor Department report released Friday showed widespread hiring in industries across the economy at a time when President Bush's re-election campaign, counting heavily on a pickup in hiring, jumped into high gear."

"For the first time in 44 months, the nation's factories did not shed jobs. But they weren't hiring either. March's figures show zero gains and losses for industries hammered by the economic downturn that began three years ago."

The unemployment rate nudged up to 5.7 percent.

Democrats are already saying "one month does not a comeback make" and "too little, too late," but in stark political terms, their weekends are now ruined.

Overall and thus — the best little talking point a White House could ask for.

We wonder what this does to the dueling Bush-Kerry radio address scripts!!!! And the new ad traffic!!!!!!

And in other news:

New TV ads released this cycle:

Kerry: Outsourcing and jobs, to air in 17 battleground states

BC04: Kerry's tax record, to air in 17 battleground states and on cable

AFL-CIO: Iraq, economy, to air in 11 states

Media Fund: Iraq, $87 billion, the economy, to air in battleground states TBD

Bush Administration investigative and legal flaps:

-- withholding of Clinton-era 9/11 documents

-- Dr. Rice slated for Thursday testimony

-- slow start-up of the WMD investigation

-- judge orders energy task force documents released

-- chemical industry-Administration collaboration

-- CIA agent leak investigation reportedly grows

-- Paul Krugman's complex narrative regarding Daryn Kagan, Wolf Blitzer, David Letterman, Dick Clarke, and Jim Wilkinson

Kerry on Imus: CANCELLED

Kerry fundraising shocker:

-- $43 million total (compared to BC04's expected $50 or so), per ABC News' Dan Harris.

-- $26 million+ on the Internet (compared with maybe a couple million for BC04 and way more than Howard Dean ever raised that way)

-- About $109 average donation (compares favorably to the BC04 numbers)

-- Around 250,000 contributors (ditto)

-- Just what can the man raise in the 2nd quarter?????

Hill business:

-- Democrats risk all by blocking the welfare bill

-- Republicans haven't solved their my-way-or-the-highway-bill problem

President Bush speaks about job training in West Virginia today before heading to fundraisers in Georgia this afternoon. He has no public events over the weekend. On Monday he is expected to throw out the first pitch at the St. Louis Cardinals' game against the Brewers.

Sen. Kerry, having cancelled on Imus, is supposed to record the Democratic radio address and meet with part of his economic team today -- with maybe a still photo or two coming out of that. His campaign announces its record breaking fundraising number for the first quarter of 2004 on a conference call this morning.

Tomorrow Kerry will meet with his foreign policy team, and on Sunday, he will attend church in Dorchester, Mass. On Monday he hosts reporter roundtables on the economy in Washington, D.C.

First Lady Laura Bush is in Forth Worth, Texas today.

Vice President Cheney has no public events today or over the weekend. He will travel to Ohio on Monday to throw out the first pitch at the Cincinnati Reds' game against the Chicago Cubs.

The Senate continues to debate the welfare reauthorization bill and the minimum wage. The House debates the highway bill.

On Monday, Secretary of State Colin Powell travels to Haiti.

ABC News Vote 2004: $en. John Kerry's money:

By raising so much on the Net, Kerry out Deaned the Dean campaign. And remember how much ink and airtime the Dean numbers got.

Key grafs from Jim VandeHei's Washington Post story:

"It appears Kerry is not draining money from fellow Democrats, as some party officials feared: The Democratic National Committee broke its previous record by raising $27 million, while the House and Senate campaign committees, which both topped $11 million, also set all-time highs last quarter. The figures, which were provided by top party officials, will be released today. Several Democrats credited anti-Bush energy, rather than excitement about Kerry, for the turnaround."

"But the unexpected fundraising surge shows Democrats are far more competitive financially against Bush and suggests the pool of Democratic money runs much deeper than officials from both parties originally projected, GOP and Democratic strategists say. The Kerry campaign initially projected it would raise $80 million this year, then Kerry fundraisers said in interviews last month it could top $100 million in 2004 alone."

"'You can easily see a scenario where he hits $120 million, particularly given the fact the race is so close and will continue to be close,' said Anita Dunn, a Democratic strategist."

"If Kerry, the presumed Democratic nominee, goes on to win the presidency, historians might look back on his decision to forfeit federal matching funds during the Democratic primary as a critical moment of his candidacy. By doing so, Kerry is not restrained by fundraising and spending limits as Al Gore was in 2000 and every Democratic nominee before him. Instead, Kerry is following the Bush model: Forget matching funds, and focus on small donors and party insiders who can bundle together tens of thousands of dollars in $2,000 checks."

"If needed, many Republicans believe Bush can top $250 million. Now that Bush has hit his $170 million goal, he will help raise money for the Republican Party, his aides said, and the campaign's top fundraising officials are turning their attention to the Republican National Committee's "victory" fund, which pays for get-out-the-vote activities. Last night, Bush began his party drive by speaking at a dinner for the National Republican Congressional Committee, which raised $7 million."

"Some Democrats worry Kerry is not spending enough money to counter Bush's ad barrage. "I would be spending money with both hands right now,' said James Carville, a strategist. 'The Kerry campaign is not where it needs to be right now, but I have never seen this type of intensity this early in a campaign.'"

The Boston Globe's Mooney spoke to Michael Meehan, who gave him an interesting tidbit: 21 trays of checks were still being counted yesterday. How many checks in a tray exactly? LINK

ABC News Vote 2004: the money:

Yes, the Democratic committees and the Kerry campaign did unusually well and are well positioned to be competitive with Republicans, financially, particularly in Senate races, where Democratic candidates had flush quarters. But Republicans still raised a lot more across the board.