The Note

W A S H I N G T O N, Jan. 26&#151;<br> -- TODAY SCHEDULE AS OF 9:00 am (all times ET):

— 4:30 am: Vice President Cheney speaks to the Italian Senate, Rome, Italy — 6:30 am: Gen. Wesley Clark greets supporters at the Fort Truck Stop, Lebanon, N.H. — 6:30 am: Rep. Dennis Kucinich visits Jac-Pac, Manchester, N.H. — 7:30 am: Sen. John Kerry attends a "Town Hall for America's Future" event at Yoken's Restaurant, Portsmouth, N.H. — 7:45 am: Sen. Joe Lieberman has a "Cup of Joe" at Chez Vachon, Manchester, N.H. — 7:30 am: Gen. Wesley Clark's wife Gert appears on NBC's "Today Show"— 7:55 am: Gen Clark greets supporters at the Hullabaloo Coffee Co., Claremont, N.H. — 8:30 am: Gov. Howard Dean and his wife Judy have breakfast at the Crowne Plaza, Nashua, N.H. — 8:30 am: Gen. Clark's wife Gert appears on CNN's "American Morning"— 9:30 am: Sen. Lieberman and his wife Hadassah greet local residents on Main Street, Nashua, N.H. — 9:35 am: Gen. Clark greets supporters at Timoleon's Restaurant, Keene, N.H. — 10:00 am: Sen. John Edwards meets voters at Milford High School, Milford, N.H. — 11:30 am: President Bush speaks about medical liability reform at the Baptist Health Medical Center, Little Rock, Ark. — 11:30 am: Gov. Dean and his wife Judy attend a town hall at the Palace Theater, Manchester, N.H. — 11:40 am: Gen. Clark greets supporters at City Hall, Nashua, N.H. — 11:45 am: Sen. Lieberman meets with "Independents for Joe" on the steps of the State House, Concord, N.H. — 12:00 pm: Sen. Edwards meet voters at South Church, Portsmouth, N.H. — 12:15 pm: Sen. Kerry attends a "Town Hall for America's Future" event at the Keene State College, Keene, N.H. — 1:00 pm: Gen. Clark greets supporters at Avandi's Restaurant, Londonberry, N.H. — 1:00 pm: Politics Live on ABCNews.com and AOL— 1:15 pm: Sen. Lieberman and his wife Hadassah host a town hall meeting at the Belknap Mill, Laconia, N.H. — 2:00 pm: Gen. Clark greets supporters at City Hall Plaza, Manchester, N.H. — 2:30 pm: Gov. Dean and his wife Judy attend a rally at the University of New Hampshire, Durham, N.H. — 2:30 pm: Sen. Kerry attends a "Town Hall for America's Future" event at Conant High School, Jaffrey, N.H. — 3:10 pm: Gen. Clark greets supporters across from the State House, Concord, N.H. — 3:40 pm: President Bush returns to the White House— 3:45 pm: Sen. Lieberman and his wife Hadassah greet residents on Main Street, Dover, N.H. — 5:00 pm: Howard Dean appears on CNN's "Wolf Blitzer Reports" — 5:15 pm: Gen. Clark greets supporters at Isinglass Country Store, Strafford, N.H. — 5:30 pm: Sen. Kerry attends a "Town Hall for America's Future" event at Pinkerton Academy, Derry, N.H. — 6:00 pm: Sen. John McCain and Bush-Cheney '04 Campaign Chairman Gov. Marc Racicot attends a rally at the City Hall auditorium, Nashua, N.H. — 6:00 pm: Sen. Edwards holds a town hall meeting at the Palace Theater, Manchester, N.H. — 6:40 pm: Gen. Clark attends a house party at Sunny Slope Farm, Alton, N.H. — 7:00 pm: Gov. Dean attends a town hall at Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, N.H. — 7:30 pm: Sen. Kerry attends a "Rally for America's Future" event at Salem High School, Salem, N.H. — 7:30 pm: Sen. Lieberman and his wife Hadassah greet supporters at Milly's Tavern, Manchester, N.H. — 8:00 pm: Sen. Edwards holds a town hall meeting at Conant Elementary School, Concord, N.H. — 9:00 pm: Gen. Clark greets supporters at the Community Center, North Conway, N.H. — 10:00 pm: Sen. Kerry stops by his campaign headquarters, Manchester, N.H. — 11:00 pm: Voters in Dixville Notch and Hart's Location, N.H. gather before voting at midnight in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary— 11:30 pm: Multiple candidates' taped appearances air on NBC's "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" — 11:40 pm: Gen. Clark greets first-in-the-nation voters at the Balsams Hotel, Dixville Notch, N.H.

NEWS SUMMARY

The Note is about asking questions, not giving answers.

But that doesn't stop a lot of nice people from asking us the same things over and over again around the clock.

Who is going to win the New Hampshire primary?

Will that person be unstoppable after that win?

Why is there so much fruit in all the entrees at Richard's Bistro?

Those are all good questions, but, with all due respect, we think there are better -- or, at least, more germane -- ones.

Such as:

Which side is playing the more sophisticated New Hampshire expectations game with the media -- Kerry or Dean?

When the 19 political journalists who decide who has to do what in New Hampshire -- in terms of rank order, margin, and percentages -- in order to meet or exceed expectations -- will it be at Baldwin's, what will they decide, and will they have ice cream sandwiches?

What is it going to take to get John Kerry to stop saying "literally" when he literally means "figuratively" ("This President has literally thrown the baby out with the bath water.")?

Does Walter Shapiro understand that only someone who lives on the Upper West Side would cast doubt on whether the President's re-election effort could make "Massachusetts" an issue in the general election?

Have you read the New Republic story on John Kerry's record?

Which sounds more resonant with historicity: "Wayfarer bar" or "JD's Tavern at the Holiday Inn"?

What would every producer and anchor at the Fox News Channel write if forced to turn out 800-word essays about this remarkable exchange from this morning's Today show?

KATIE COURIC: "In many ways the polls are not that believable, are they, Tim?"

TIM RUSSERT: "No. The fact is they are small snap shots at a particular moment. They are a good indicator to use in talking to the campaigns. Otherwise the campaigns would tell us what their polls were. But we cannot rely on them."

Will bosses understand why it makes more journalistic sense to cover the Feb.3 contests from Charleston instead of Columbia?

In fact, beyond New Hampshire and it's polls, when looking ahead to Feb. 3, we ask that you broaden your horizons a little.

Yes, South Carolina is the first Southern test.

Yes, it is a state with a large African-America vote.

Yes, it has the only debate next week to which the candidates have committed as of now.

Yes, our colleagues in the media regularly talk about it as the "signature" event of Feb. 3 (or they use other comparable phrases).

Yes, on the Republican side the Palmetto State primary has been big in the past.

But there are at least three good reasons not to go overboard.

First, the voters of all states should get to play a role in the process, and over-focusing on South Carolina gives the media too big a role in disenfranchising the voters of some states.

Second, there are a lot of delegates at stake in other places that day, including Missouri -- as wide open as anywhere with Gephardt out -- and Arizona -- a big state without a favorite son.

Third, although candidate schedules are still in flux, this isn't going to be like Bush-McCain, where they candidates park in South Carolina for a week. They will move around and cherry pick.

So keep things in perspective.

Speaking of which: here are 10 reasons why we do not discount for a moment talk of a Howard Dean comeback, no matter how plainly and obviously his campaign is attempting to frame one by repeating the word.

And it has nothing to do with the polls. (As we have written before: If you live by Zogby, you die by Zogby…)

1. Many of his supporters here are angry at the media and the process and are fighting back (unlike in Iowa, where they seemed more angry at Dean).

2. Karen Hicks, his state director, is awesome. And she is totally in charge of the campaign, from deciding what interviews Dean does to influencing senior staff assignments to being the voice closest to Dean's ear. This is decidedly unlike Iowa, where there were probably too many cooks in the last few days. Other key Dean names in New Hampshire: Michael King, Tom Hughes, Maura Keefe . . .

3. His news coverage is getting better, and The Scream has faded a bit.

4. The campaign is doing an enormous amount of behind-the-scenes canvassing and a whole lot of maintenance of its "Ones."

5. Perhaps, Senator Kerry's barbed words for the Governor are based on some concern, either diffuse or specific, about Dean's momentum.

6. The organization Dean has in place -- from his house party contacts to his unions (SEIU, NH NEA, etc).

7. Judy is adorable. (Chad, the driver, is also adorable.)

8. Did we mention: Karen Hicks.

9. Clark is not quite as strong as the Dean believed he would be, and that's allowing them to focus on turning out women and independents.

10. The western border of the Granite State.

President Bush travels to Arkansas today to talk about medical liability.

Vice President Cheney speaks to the Italian Senate early this morning.

Sen. McCain and BC '04 campaign chairman Racicot rally this afternoon in Nashua, N.H.

Sens. Kerry, Edwards and Lieberman, Gov. Dean, Gen. Clark, and Rep. Kucinich are all in New Hampshire today.

Rev. Al Sharpton has no public events today. We wonder what Roger Stone thinks about that.

The Wex:

We at The Note like to think that "partly cloudy" isn't such a bad day in the New Hampshire neighborhood.

After all, 15 degrees and "partly cloudy" is nothing like Washington's "really, really snowy!"

But it seems the luck of the New Englanders won't last much longer when it comes to escaping the powdery white stuff --