The Note
W A S H I N G T O N, Feb. 5—<br> -- TODAY SCHEDULE AS OF 9:00 am (all times ET):
— 7:40 am: President Bush speaks at the National Prayer Breakfast, Washington, D.C.— 8:00 am: Gov. Dean attends a town hall meeting at the Lunch Studio, Flint, Mich. — 8:30 am: Gen. Clark greets supporters at the Castle Heights Military Academy, Lebanon, Tenn. — 11:00 am: President Bush speaks about homeland security, Charleston, S.C. — 11:00 am: Rep. Dennis Kucinich attends a state Democrats pre-caucus breakfast at Howard Johnson's, Seattle, Wash. — 11:30 am: Gov. Dean attends a town hall meeting at Jack and Patti Salter Community Center, Royal Oak, Mich. — 11:30 am: Gen. Clark meets with local Democrats at Coffee County Administration Building, Manchester, Tenn. — 12:00 pm: Sen. Kerry attends a rally with local at the Boys & Girls Club Gymnasium, Portland, Maine— 12:30 pm: Gov. Dean tours the Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Mich. — 1:30 pm: President Bush returns to the White House— 2:00 pm: Gen. Clark meets with local Democrats at the Holiday Inn, Chattanooga, Tenn. — 3:00 pm: Rep. Kucinich attends a State Democratic Party pre-caucus lunch at the Westin, Seattle, Wash. — 3:30 pm: Sen. Edwards speaks with students and faculty at Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tenn. — 5:30 pm: Gen. Clark visits Calhoun's on the River before the University of Tennessee basketball game, Knoxville, Tenn. — 6:00 pm: Gov. Dean attends a town hall meeting at the Northwest Activity Center, Detroit, Mich. — 7:00 pm: Sen. Edwards speaks about jobs at Patrick Henry High School, Roanoke, Va. — 7:00 pm: Gen. Clark attends the Tennessee-University of Connecticut women's basketball game, Knoxville, Tenn. — 7:30 pm: Rep. Kucinich attends a rally at Gonzaga University, Seattle, Wash. — 8:30 pm: Gov. Dean attends a rally at Renaissance High School, Detroit, Mich. — 8:45 pm: Rep. Kucinich speaks at the Spokane County Democratic Jefferson Jackson Day Dinner, Spokane, Wash.
NEWS SUMMARY
The Note likes to project an image of being disciplined, principled, tough on crime and communists, and deeply supportive of family values.
But The Note also knows that if we don't spend EVERY day (re-)defining ourselves that way, one of our opponents will define us as weak, possessed of a cable-news-like sensibility, and permissive.
For those readers who don't work in politics or political journalism directly, allow us to let you in on the biggest dirty little secret in our world right now: There is extraordinary pressure to begin covering the Bush v. Kerry general election matchup immediately.
This pressure comes from many quarters and on many fronts.
But before anyone gets all hot and bothered about what the Massachusetts Supreme Court is doing to John Kerry's life, read the end of Tom DeFrank's New York Daily News story:
"Bush political aides say the President is walking a political tightrope. Espousing traditional values is an electoral winner, Bush believes. But a constitutional amendment or legislative remedies could backfire." LINK
"'There's a live-and-let-live attitude out there,' a Bush political source noted. 'Strengthening marriage is great for us. But when you start talking about what you're going to do about it, your opponents will make it look like you're punishing gays, which isn't great.'"
Fantasizing about a 50-state election is all well and good, but as both Ellen Malcolm and Matt Dowd know, this battle is about the electoral votes of the citizens of fewer than 20 states, and, increasingly, the real players on both sides see this election coming down to one thing: defining John Kerry in the hearts and minds of people in Orlando and Cleveland and comparably vital places.
Along these important lines, there is only one must-read today -- Robin Toner's nostalgic magical mystery tour (somewhere, Lee Atwater is smiling, and Ron Kaufman is stroking his chin) -- a look at whether John Kerry (2004) can be Dukakisized.
Bernie Weinraub, Sam Donaldson, Kim Hume, Tom Edsall, and T.R. Reid are going to feel all tingly and golden oldie reading this one.
Toner writes up the Republican's "familiar" line of attack against Sen. John Kerry. LINK
Note the key phrases "out of sync," "culturally out of step" and Massachusetts liberal. Also Note the focus on the gay marriage matter.
Note also the specter of the partial birth abortion issue, and this toughest of tough gal/guy quote:
"Another Kerry adviser was more blunt. 'This is not the Dukakis campaign,' the adviser said. 'We're not going to take it. And if they're going to come at us with stuff, whatever that stuff may be, if it goes to a place where the '88 campaign did, then everything is on the table. Everything.'"
The mind boggles . . .
On many levels, John Kerry has grown so strong, and his Democratic opponents so weak, that he seems able now to be suddenly running on a Clintonesque general election message of solider/prosecutor/Gramm-Rudman-Hollings supporter.
Every BC04RNC utterance and press release is clearly intended to decimate those impressions.
And we are ALL going to need a scorecard larger and more nuanced than a Frank Luntz MSNBC focus group to keep track of how this is going each and every day.
Beyond the Toner must-read, here are the things your eyes should rest on ASAP:
1. The Los Angeles Times' David Savage and Richard Serrano have more reporting on Supreme Court Justice Scalia's previously known duck hunting trip with the Vice President -- adding narrative detail galore, most Notably that Mr. Justice traveled down with the Veep on a small government plane that served as Air Force Two, raising questions for some about Scalia's impartiality on the upcoming case on Cheney's energy task force.
"Aides to Cheney say the vice president, like the president, is entitled to travel to vacation spots on government jets and to take along guests at no cost," the Times reports. LINK
We like any story with a Red-Blue sentence this fabulous: "It was terrible…There were very few ducks killed."
2. (Note to Terry Holt: please don't think us reprehensible for including this one)…The Boston Globe's national treasure -- Walter Robinson -- finally unfurls his updated take on the President's National Guard service. LINK
Amateurs and pros alike will devour every syllabalic morsel of this one.
The heart of Robby's take: "records contain evidence that a lackadaisical Bush did not report for required Guard duty for a full year during his six-year National Guard enlistment."
3. For anyone wondering if John Kerry is tough enough to stand up to Karl Rove, check out how he did against Campbell "Cammy" Brown on Today today:
CB: YOU PROMISED IN IOWA YOU WOULD MAKE PUBLIC EVERYONE WHO LOBBIED YOU. WHY HAVEN'T YOU DONE THAT YET?
JK: I THINK THEY ARE COMPILING THOSE RECORDS RIGHT NOW. IT WON'T TAKE LONG. I DON'T MEET WITH THAT MANY LOBBYISTS.
CB: WILL YOU MAKE A PLEDGE NOW THAT YOU WILL RELEASE THAT INFORMATION BEFORE THE GENERAL ELECTION?
JK: WELL, IF GEORGE W. BUSH WILL ALSO RELEASE EVERYBODY THAT THEY HAVE MET WITH PRIVATELY AND SECRETLY, YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT. I THINK WE OUGHT TO LIVE BY THE SAME STANDARD.
CB: EVEN THOUGH YOU ARE CALLING FOR IT IN YOUR STUMP SPEECH.
JK: I WILL RELEASE IT.
CB: REGARDLESS WHAT PRESIDENT BUSH DOES?
JK: ABSOLUTELY.
We wonder what John Sasso and Michael Whouley think of that "absolutely."
4. The exclusive, "shoe-leather" work of the AP's John Solomon, who magically obtained documents showing what John Kerry did for a big insurer (AIG) with big Big Dig problems. LINK
The story gets next to no TV or paper pickup (ask yourself why, Ed Gillespie), but, believe us, it is a sign of things to come, and to the extent that these stories define John Kerry for those battleground state voters -- instead of Vanessa and Chris town meetings -- well, it COULD be a re-run of '88.
Sen. Kerry is in Maine today.
Sen. Edwards is in Tennessee and Virginia
Gen. Clark is in Tennessee.
Gov. Dean is in Michigan.
Rep. Kucinich is in Washington.
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