The Note
W A S H I N G T O N, Feb. 7—<br> -- TODAY SCHEDULE AS OF 9:00 am (all times ET):
—7:00 am: Gov. Howard Dean appears on NBC's "Today Show"
— 7:45 am: Gen. Wesley Clark attends a breakfast with supporters at Tudor's Biscuit World of Virginia, Roanoke, Va.
—9:45 am: Gen. Clark tours a National D-Day Memorial with veterans, Bedford, Va. — 9:45 am: Rep. Dennis Kucinich attends a meeting, Livonia, Mich.— 10:00 am: Michigan caucus sites open.— 10:00 am: Sen. John Kerry attends a rally with Davidson County Democrats at the Belmont College, Nashville, Tenn.— 10:15 pm: Sen. Edwards speaks with voters at the University of Memphis, Memphis, Tenn.— 10:30 am: Rep. Kucinich attends a meeting at the Dearborn Center for the Arts, Dearborn, Mich.— 11:00 am: Gen. Clark greets supporters at the Jubilee Family Development Center, Lynchburg, Va.—12:00 pm: Rep. Kucinich attends a meeting at the Ferndale Public Library, Ferndale, Mich. — 12:30 pm: Sen. Edwards receives the endorsement of UNITE from President Bruce Raynor at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wis.— 1:00 pm: Washington caucus sites open— 1:30 pm: Sen. Edwards meets voters at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wis.— 1:35 pm: Vice President Cheney attends a lunch event with House Speaker Dennis Hastert at the Donald E. Stevens Convention Center, Rosemont, Ill.— 3:00 pm: Washington caucus sites close— 4:00 pm: Michigan caucus poll sites close
— 4:00 pm: Gen. Clark greets supporters at Virginia Wesleyan College, Norfolk, Va.— 5:30 pm: Sen. Kerry attends a rally with Richmond Democrats at the Marriot Hotel, Richmond, Va.—6:00 pm: Washington caucus poll final results begin to come in — 6:30 pm: Sen. Edwards visits the Hyperlink Café, Richmond, Va.— 7:00 pm: Sens. Kerry and Edwards, Gen. Clark, and Rev. Al Sharpton speak at the Virginia Jefferson Jackson Dinner, Richmond, Va.— 7:35 pm: Vice President Cheney speaks at the Missouri Republican Party Lincoln Day banquet at the Renaissance Grand Hotel, St. Louis, Mo.— 8:00 pm: Michigan caucus final results expected— 9:00 pm: Rep. Kucinich attends a fundraising reception at his campaign offices, San Francisco, Calif.
— 9:00 pm: Washington caucus final poll expected
Politics today
It might be election day for Democrats in Michigan and Washington state, but for Republicans, it's almost time to see if the president can become the first politician in recent memory to increase the chances of getting elected president by appearing for an hour with Tim Russert.
On the very day of a massive cable run into the Oval, the New York Times publishes an interview conducted with First Lady Laura Bush (who has been on quite a media binge). LINKThe interviewer, Elisabeth Bumiller (who combines the eye of Maureen Dowd with the sting of Elizabeth Kolbert), gets lots of good stuff, but here is the part that Bushologists, trying to get a sense of what is REALLY happening at 1600, will seize on:
"In a nearly hourlong interview with The New York Times on Thursday, Mrs. Bush … .characterized Karl Rove, her husband's chief political adviser, as not as powerful as 'the chattering class' believes."
"'I would say his role is definitely overstated, but he probably loves it,' she said, smiling. 'He's very happy to have his role overstated.'"
The Note is stunned and/but finds this fascinating — despite the fact (or, actually, because of the fact) that this runs counter to our long-standing thesis that Rove is MORE powerful than even the chattering class believes him to be. (Dare we say: More powerful than the First Lady herself?)
