The Note
W A S H I N G T O N, Feb. 20—<br> -- TODAY SCHEDULE AS OF 9:00 am (all times ET):
—8:30 am: The Labor Department releases the January Consumer Price Index—9:00 am: Sen. John Edwards campaigns in Johnson Square, Savannah, Ga. —9:45 am: Off-camera press briefing by White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan—12:30 pm: Vice President Cheney speaks at a Bush-Cheney '04 fundraiser at the Wyndham, San Juan, Puerto Rico—12:30 pm: On-camera press briefing by Press Secretary McClellan—1:00 pm: Sen. Edwards visits Prince George's Community College, Largo, Md. —1:00 pm: Politics Live on ABC News Live and AOL—6:00 pm: Sen. Edwards meets with voters at the Polish Cadet Hall, Buffalo, N.Y. —6:30 pm: Vice President Cheney speaks at a Florida Republican Party event, Tampa, Fla. —6:20 pm: Rep. Dennis Kucinich gives a presentation at Carpenter's Hall, Virginia, Minn. —9:30 pm: Rep. Kucinich gives a presentation at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, Minn. —10:30 pm: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger delivers the keynote address at the California Republican Party Convention, Burlingame, Calif.
NEWS SUMMARY
Here are today's most important quotes about the four people who -- it turns out in the end -- were the only ones with a chance to be elected president in 2004:
President Bush:"…(Bush campaign) strategists said elections are about the future . . ."
"A 1970 Harvard Crimson interview in which Kerry said that U.S. troops should be deployed 'only at the directive of the United Nations' will be fair game, the (Bush campaign) officials said."
-- from the SAME must-read Howie Kurtz Washington Post story on the BC04 ad strategy!! LINK
"For the first time some Republicans are facing the prospect that the president could lose."
-- from "a top staff member for a GOP senator" in a Boston Globe story -- one of several this news cycle in various places along these lines LINK
John Kerry:"The only other major delevelopment occurred at 12:01am EST as a three car Secret Service detail descended upon Senator Kerry's Beacon Hill home in Boston. Only moments prior to the body watch invasion, Kerry's minivan and home had been entirely unguarded."
-- from today's daily campaign report of ABC News' world-class Kerry reporter Ed O'Keefe, with his latest work of classic American journalism (More on this below.)
John Edwards:"But now I need a little give and take/The New York Times, The Daily News/It comes down to reality/And it's fine with me 'cause I've let it slide/Don't care if it's Chinatown or on Riverside"
-- from the Billy Joel classic"Hate New York City/It's cold and it's damp/and all the people dressed like monkeys"
-- from the Randy Newman classic"Some sweet day when blossoms fall/And all the world's a song/I'll go back to Georgia/'Cause that's where I belong
"-- from the Ray Charles classic"Why, oh, why, oh why, oh--/Why did we ever leave Ohio?!
"-- from the Broadway classic "Wonderful Town" LINK
"Avenge the patriotic gore/That fleck'd the streets of Baltimore,/And be the Battle Queen of yore"
-- from "Maryland, My Maryland"
Howard Dean:"I have to vent. I think he's nuts."
-- AFSCME's Gerald McEntee on Howard Dean, as quoted by the New York Times' Adam Nagourney, in what only Nagourney would call "a leisurely interview"
And build your weekend around this -- in an exclusive, this Sunday morning on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," get what every Democratic voter deserves and every political and media insider wants to see: John Kerry and John Edwards talking about the issues.
No process, no polls, no "who wants to be whose running mate?" Just the issues.
You'll see this nowhere else: the two men will explain in depth their views and plans for America on the big issues: jobs and taxes, trade, health care, Iraq, and the war against terror.
That's this Sunday morning on "This Week," with the two men talking to George Stephanopoulos.
Kerry-Edwards, head-to-head.
Check your local listings for times.
Beyond his "This Week" appearance, Sen. Kerry is down in Boston today. He will spend Saturday in Georgia, Sunday in Georgia and New York, and Monday in New York.
Beyond his "This Week" appearance, Sen. Edwards is in Georgia and Maryland today. He will spend Saturday in New York, Minnesota, and Ohio, and Sunday in Ohio and New York.
Rep. Kucinich is in Ohio and Minnesota today. He will spend Saturday in Minnesota and Sunday in Minnesota and California.
President Bush has no public events today. He hosts the state dinner for the National Governor's Association at the White House on Sunday evening.
Vice President Cheney is in Puerto Rico and Florida today. He will be in Minneapolis and Wichita on Monday.
Sen. Hillary Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore speak at Florida and Idaho Democratic Party dinners, respectively, on Saturday night.
ABC News Vote 2004: Bush-Cheney re-elect:
The Washington Post's Kurtz has a chock full report this morning about the Bush campaign's ad strategy. It will focus "not only on John F. Kerry's record as a senator but also on his days as an antiwar activist, a House candidate and Massachusetts's lieutenant governor." LINK
"'The beauty of John Kerry is 32 years of votes and public pronouncements,' said Mark McKinnon, the chief media adviser. McKinnon suggested a possible tag line: 'He's been wrong for 32 years, he's wrong now.'"
"Campaign officials said in interviews that they plan substantial positive advertising about the president, focused on his proposals rather than accomplishments, when they begin spending tens of millions of dollars on the airwaves next month. But they made it clear that many of the ads will accuse the Democratic front-runner of 'hypocrisy,' in McKinnon's word, in part by reaching back into his early career."
"A 1970 Harvard Crimson interview in which Kerry said that U.S. troops should be deployed 'only at the directive of the United Nations' will be fair game, the officials said. If they run ads about that period, they will probably focus on Kerry's high-profile opposition to the Vietnam War and comments about U.S. atrocities that could neutralize his record as a decorated veteran."
[Zach Seward and Samuel Z. Goldhaber, stand by for booking calls.]
"'We have a job to do to correct the false impression given about us and the false impression about Kerry himself,' said Matthew Dowd, Bush's director of polling and media. 'This guy did 15 attack ads on us in the last few months.'"
And perhaps the most astonishing paragraph in the piece, especially if you're Erik Smith, David Sirota or Mike Lux:
"Acknowledging that Bush has received major financial support from corporations, McKinnon said: 'The issue is hypocrisy in saying you're going to take on the special interests, not who took the most special interest money. You don't hear the president in the Oval Office railing against the special interests. You do hear John Kerry railing against the special interests.' The campaign has previewed this theme in an online video calling Kerry 'unprincipled' and 'brought to you by the special interests.'"
By the sheerest of coincidences, the Kurtz piece appears on the same day as two pieces serving as lagging indicators of the restiveness that has existed in Republican circles for weeks.
AP's Ron Fournier writes this in a must-read on whether BC04 allies are getting restless: "In nearly two dozen interviews, GOP leaders across the country said they were equal parts confident and concerned about Bush's political prospects, united in their belief that the president has time to recover from the pounding by Democratic candidates." LINK
And Boston Globe's Wayne Washington reports that some Republicans are concerned with President Bush's prospects -- not just because of the beating he has taken over the course of the Democratic nomination season but also because of self-inflicted wounds related to job creation, WMD, spending and that Sunday morning interview. LINK
