The Note

W A S H I N G T O N, Dec. 10&#151;<br> -- Today's Schedule (all times Eastern):

—7:00 am: Gov. Howard Dean appears on all three network morning shows—7:30 am: Gen. Wesley Clark appears on CNN's "American Morning"—7:45 am: Sen. Joseph Lieberman appears on Fox News' "Fox and Friends"—7:45 am: Rep. Dennis Kucinich has breakfast with diners, Portsmouth, N.H.—8:03 am: Sen. Lieberman appears on CNN's "American Morning"—8:15 am: Rep. Richard Gephardt participates in a town hall meeting at the New Hampshire Technical College, Berlin, N.H.—9:00 am: Sen. John Kerry speaks about early education at Little Frogs and Polliwogs School, Manchester, N.H.—9:00 am: Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun attends a corporate responsibility forum at the University of New Hampshire, Durham, N.H.—9:15 am: Sen. Lieberman meets with diners at Robin's Place, Dover, N.H.—9:45 am: Off-camera White House press gaggle with Press Secretary Scott McClellan—10:00 am: The Supreme Court convenes—10:00 am: DCCC Chairman Rep. Bob Matsui holds a pen and pen with reporters, D.C.—10:30 am: Gov. Dean is endorsed by the New Hampshire NEA, Concord, N.H.—10:30 am: Rep. Charles Rangel endorses Gen. Wesley Clark for president in Harlem, New York City—10:45 am: Rep. Kucinich holds a press conference at Memorial High School, Manchester, N.H.—11:00 am: Gen. Clark unveils his plan to give all Americans the ability to attend college, Somersworth, NH—11:00 am: Rev. Al Sharpton visits the Aging Senior Luncheon, D.C.—11:00 am: Sen. Lieberman speaks to Concord High students about integrity in government, Concord, N.H.—11:15 am: Virginia Lt. Governor Tim Kaine registers Sen. Lieberman for the Virginia Democratic Primary at the Virginia Board of Elections, Richmond, Va.—11:30 am: Sen. Kerry attends a chili feed at the Earl M. Bourdon Senior Center, Claremont, N.H.—12:00 pm: Sen. John Edwards holds a town hall meeting at Merrimack Restaurant, Manchester, N.H.—12:15 pm: Gov. Dean attends New Hampshire AFL-CIO rally in honor of International Rights Day, Hooksett, N.H.—12:15 pm: Rep. Kucinich attends AFL-CIO International Human Rights Day Rally, Hooksett, N.H.—12:30 pm: On-camera White House press briefing with Press Secretary McClellan—1:35 pm: President Bush meets with the Iraqi principal diplomatic representative and members of the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra, The White House—2:15 pm: Texas Gov. Rick Perry registers President Bush for the Texas Republican Primary, Austin, Tex.—3:00 pm: Rep. Kucinich holds a press conference at the Northeast Organic Farmers Association, Hopkinton, N.H.—3:30 pm: Sen. Lieberman appears on CNN's "Inside Politics"—6:00 pm: Sen. Kerry attends a chili feed, Nashua, N.H.—6:00 pm: Rep. Kucinich holds a press conference at the Plymouth State Hub fireside lounge, Plymouth, N.H.—6:15 pm: Gov. Dean attends a concert fundraiser featuring Carly Simon at Davio's Restaurant, Boston—7:30 pm: Gen. Clark attends a fundraiser dinner featuring Al Franken at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York City—7:30 pm: Rep. Kucinich attends a house party, Rumney, N.H. —9:15 pm: Gen. Clark attends a late night fundraiser with the Sugar Hill Gang at Club Spirit, New York City

NEWS SUMMARY

SOMEWHERE ALONG 95 SOUTH — Banging out sweeping, rational analysis while bumping along in a rented passenger van with stacks and stacks of cages of trained monkeys is not the easiest thing in the world, but it is the burden we bear.

In the aftermath of a very action-packed Dust-up in Durham, the central narrative in American politics is still about Howard Dean, and the two major plot branches remain

a. Can any Democrat stop Dean?

b. Can Dean beat President Bush?

The five other major candidates for the Democratic nomination and their supporters all believe that the answer to (b) is "no," and that that fact will lead to an answer of "yes" on (a).

Stop reading The Note right now and check out the legendary Tom DeFrank's Daily News piece about how the Bush campaign is trying to stay poker faced regarding how badly they want to face Dean in the general election. LINK

Here is the money quote:

"'The best thing Bush has going for him is that Dean is a weak Michael Dukakis,' a key Bush official told the Daily News. 'Dukakis won 10 states. Unless things turn very bad for Bush, I don't see Dean winning more than five.'"

So last night — in an echo of Bill Clinton's famous profession of relevance — there were impassioned words from the Non-Deans about this nominaton fight not being over, about endorsements not deciding this, about rejecting a coronation, and about anti-bossism.com.

There are a lot of reasons many Democrats with records of success in electoral politics greater than Al Gore's are worried about a Dean nomination.

To list just a few coming out of the debate:

-- There are at least seven people affiliated with the Bush-Cheney campaign who are more familiar with Dean's record as Vermont governor than he is — and can talk about it on terms that will be very compelling to the American people.

-- "Even" the Boston Globe editorial page takes Dean to task today for his squishy answer to Scott Spradling's question last night about Dean's continuing propensity to be loosey-goosey with accusations about President Bush alleged advanced word of 9/11. LINK

"Not ready for primetime on national security," is the mantra.

-- Anything Al Gore is for, some Washington Democrats are (gag) reflexively against.

All five of the leading Dean Alternative candidates showed deft flashes of their core positive messages last night, but none have broken through yet in a way that gives them a clear leg up.

Dean survived the Dust-up and three morning show appearances today, with nary a scratch.

See our debate section below for all the round-ups of last night's action.

Not for the first or last time, we will let Note readers in on a secret (but you can't tell anyone):

Iowa and New Hampshire will matter big time, but the key to the Democratic nomination will almost certainly be the answer to this question:

Do the nation's 12 dominant news organizations treat the "results" of the Feb. 3 election contests as a battle over state "wins" or as a status check of delegate accumulation?

As for Dean, here is what you must read today:

a. Balz and VandeHei fill the Washington Post with a perfectly-pitched "whither questions (a) and (b)?" piece, including the tease that Dean is lining up some gubernatorial endorsements (which have been conspicuous by their absence); whispers of secret Stop Dean meetings in Washington; and a rough ranking of how the Gang of 500 currently sees the Dean Alternative sweepstakes: Clark, Gephardt/Edwards, Kerry, Lieberman, in that order. LINK

b. In a proud, time-honored national ritual, foodie Johnny "R.W." Apple goes on the road and kicks the Dean tires, getting a must-read quote from Tom Daschle on the Gore nod; engaging in some self-parodic concern over the traveling press not getting victuals; and compares The Doctor to RFK, Joe Califano, and a bantam rooster. LINK

c. The Wall Street Journal 's Gerry Seib columnizes on the Fab 5's best-case scenarios for stopping Dean. LINK

d. The Wall Street Journal ed board, not having read the DeFrank story and not getting the Ken Mehlman memo, jumps the gun and begins to reveal the BC04 strategy for painting Dean as a Dukakisian tax raiser.

e. That Globe editorial wrapping Dean on the knuckles.

f. Walter "Mr. Invisible Primary" Shapiro in USA Today on the practicalities and symbolism of Gore's endorsement and Dean's political style.LINK

g. Jeanne Cummings in the Wall Street Journal defies Dennis Kucinich and learns from history by re-looking at how key Dean's money advantage will probably be.

h. Peter Wallsten in the Miami Herald gathers up some "centrist Sunshine State Democrats fear Dean is Dukakis II" on-the-record quotes. LINK

Today, Dean formally gets an endorsement potentially bigger than Gore's (!) - the NEA of New Hampshire. Dean also has other New Hampshire campaign events today.

President Bush meets with the Iraqi principal diplomatic representative and members of the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra at the White House today.