The Note

W A S H I N G T O N, Jan. 16&#151;<br> -- TODAY SCHEDULE AS OF 9:00 am (all times ET):

— 6:15 am: Sen. Lieberman greets morning shipyard workers at the Naval Yard, Portsmouth, N.H.— 7:15 am: Sen. Lieberman meets with shipyard workers to discuss his middle class tax cut plans at the Friendly Toast Restaurant, Portsmouth, N.H. — 7:50 am: Sen. Frist attends a Chamber of Commerce Washington update breakfast, Salem, N.H. — 8:30 am: Sen. Lieberman shares a "Cup of Joe" at Betty's Kitchen, North Hampton, N.H. — 8:30 am: Sen. Kerry attends a town hall meeting at City Hall, Waverly, Iowa— 8:50 am: Gen. Clark holds a press conference at the Manchester Public Library, Manchester, N.H. — 9:00 am: Rep. Gephardt attends a "Countdown to Victory" event at his campaign headquarters, Fort Dodge, Iowa— 9:30 am: Gov. Howard Dean attends a pancake breakfast at Hotel Ottumwa, Ottumwa, Iowa — 9:45 am: Off-camera press gaggle with White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan— 10:00 am: Gen. Clark speaks to the Granite State Independent Living Disabilities Convention at the Wayfarer Inn, Bedford, N.H. — 10:15 am: Sen. Frist tours the Ruger Manufacturing Plant, Newport, N.H. — 10:45 am: Sen. Kerry attends a "Fighting for America's Future" event at the Chickasaw Center, New Hampton, Iowa— 11:00 am: Sen. Lieberman speaks at the Granite State Independent Living Forum, Bedford, N.H. — 11:30 am: Sen. Edwards visits the Bettendorf Public Library, Davenport, Iowa— 11:45 am: Sen. Frist meets with Grafton County leaders and local officials, Lebanon, N.H. — 12:00 pm: On-camera press briefing with Press Secretary McClellan— 12:00 pm: Gov. Dean attends a "Caucus for Change" event at William Penn University, Oskaloosa, Iowa— 12:15 pm: Sen. Frist participates in Dartmouth Medical Center's Grand Rounds, Hanover, N.H. — 12:45 pm: Sen. Kerry attends a "Fighting for America's Future" event at Luther College, Decorah, Iowa— 1:00 pm: Politics Live on abcnews.com and AOL— 1:00 pm: Rep. Gephardt attends a "Countdown to Victory" event at the public library, Rockwell City, Iowa— 1:00 pm: RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie attends a luncheon at the Cheshire Inn, St. Louis, Mo. — 1:30 pm: Rep. Katherine Harris announces at a press conference whether she will run for the Senate this year, Sarasota, Fla.— 2:00 pm: Senate and House Minority Leaders Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Tom Daschle discuss President Bush's State of the Union at the National Press Club, Washington, D.C. — 2:00 pm: Sen. Edwards campaigns at the National Czech and Slovak Museum, Cedar Rapids, Iowa— 2:15 pm: Gov. Dean attends a "Caucus for Change" event at the Aces Teen Club, Newton, Iowa— 2:30 pm: Rep. Gephardt attends a "Countdown to Victory" event at the public library, Pocahontas, Iowa— 2:30 pm: Gen. Clark gives a policy speech about New Hampshire Children at the Seacoast Family YMCA, Portsmouth, N.H. — 3:15 pm: President and Mrs. Bush depart the White House— 4:00 pm: Gen. Clark attends a "Conversation with Clark" event at Fisher Scientific, Hampton, N.H. — 4:00 pm: Rep. Kucinich hosts a meeting at the Muse Community Art Center, Tucson, Ariz. — 4:15 pm: Gov. Dean attends a "Caucus for Change" event at Iowa Valley Community College, Marshalltown, Iowa— 4:30 pm: Sen. Kerry attends a "Fighting for America's Future" event at Café Mississippi, Guttenberg, Iowa— 5:00 pm: Sen. Edwards visits Community Hall, Council Bluffs, Iowa— 5:30 pm: Rep. Gephardt attends a "Countdown to Victory" event at Hampton High School, Hampton, Iowa— 6:00 pm: Sen. Frist speaks at the NHGOP "Kick off to Victory 2004" Gala, Bedford, N.H. — 6:30 pm: Sen. Kerry attends a "Fighting for America's Future" event at Clarke College, Dubuque, Iowa— 7:00 pm: Gen. Clark hosts a conversation at Epping Elementary School, Epping, N.H. — 7:30 pm: Sen. Edwards visits the Noda Way Diner, Greenfield, Iowa— 8:00 pm: Rev. Al Sharpton appears on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher"— 8:30 pm: Rep. Gephardt attends a "Countdown to Victory" event at Central Intermediate School, Waterloo, Iowa— 8:30 pm: Sen. Edwards visits Creston Senior High School, Creston, Iowa— 9:00 pm: Sen. Kerry attends a "Fighting for America's Future" event at Maquoketa Middle School, Maquoketa, Iowa— 9:30 pm: Gov. Dean attends a "Caucus for Change" event, Iowa Falls, Iowa— 9:30 pm: Rep. Kucinich speaks at the California Democratic Convention, San Jose, Calif. — 10:00 pm: Sen. Edwards visits the VFW Hall, Winterset, Iowa

NEWS SUMMARY

Five most important dynamics to watch:

1. Per the New York Times (and our reporting matches this): "….party leaders and campaign officials say they have seen growing numbers of undecided voters turning up at campaign events of almost all the leading candidates, an indication that these voters are not alienated but instead are still shopping."

2. Where is the bar being set for the six leading candidates by the 19 reporters who dominate the (insane) expectations setting process for Iowa, New Hampshire, and Feb. 3?

3. Is Iowa still a must-win for Dick Gephardt? Is New Hampshire still a must-win for John Kerry? (See (2) above.)

4. How wide-open this nomination contest will be if Howard Dean doesn't come out of New Hampshire strong -- with a multi-candidate battle among (mostly) broke campaigns.

5. What remains in the pre-State of the Union bag of tricks of the White House. (AP's Scott Lindlaw has a preview, reporting that President Bush will highlight economic growth and successes in the fight on terrorism. The President will call on Congress to make his already-enacted tax cuts permanent, bring back a proposal to let younger workers to invest a portion of their Social Security taxes in the stock market, and "forcefully defend" his recent immigration initiative.) LINK

Five most important events this weekend:

1. Saturday night's release of the Des Moines Register poll.

2. Dr. Dean visits President Carter.

3. Last-minute TV ad changes, "secret" radio spots, church fliers on Sunday, closing direct mail and phone calls.

4. Katherine Harris: In or Out? LINK

5. Anyone seen Gerth, Isikoff, or Schmidt lately?

The six most important newspaper stories to read:

1. The Washington Post on Dean's electability question. LINK and LINK

2. The New York Times front page (!) on Chris Lehane's black arts--which will be the talk of the Democratic subcommittee of the Gang of 500 this morning.. LINK

3. Los Angeles Times' Ron Brownstein reports that Howard Dean is caught between an outsider message and insider backing. LINK

4. The Des Moines Register on turnout predictions and voter numbers.LINK

5. John Harwood in the pricey Wall Street Journal on those eight million new Dean voters.

6. It is not impossible -- and perhaps, almost as likely as not -- that 527s will find themselves significantly hampered in their political activities at some point soon -- to the benefit of the Grand Old Party. See, among others, LINK

Five most satisfying experiences any political reporter can have in Des Moines:

1. Getting a tour of one of the ABC News campaign buses.