The Note

W A S H I N G T O N, Dec. 5&#151;<br> -- Today's Schedule (all times Eastern):

—8:45 am: Sen. Joe Lieberman receives endorsements from state officials and local leaders, Yolanda's Restaurant, Bronx, N.Y.—9:00 am: Rep. Dennis Kucinich speaks at the University of Dubuque, Dubuque, Iowa —9:35 am: Off-camera White House gaggle with Press Secretary Scott McClellan —11:15 am: Gov. Dean discusses the economy and rural America, Mason City, Iowa —11:20 am: President Bush speaks at the Fort McHenry National Monument, Baltimore, Md. —11:30 am: Rep. Dennis Kucinich attends a rally at Luther College, Decorah, Iowa —12:15 pm: President Bush speaks at a Bush-Cheney '04 fundraiser, Baltimore, Md. —12:15 pm: Sen. John Kerry speaks about education with Mayor Bob Baines, Central High School, Manchester, N.H. —1:00 pm: Gen. Wesley Clark receives the endorsement of Rep. Lincoln Davis, McMinnville, Tenn. —1:15 pm: President Bush speaks about the economy, Home Depot, Halethorpe, Md. —1:30 pm: Vice President Cheney introduces Congressman John Sullivan, The Adam's Mark Hotel, Tulsa, Okla. —1:30 pm: Rep. Kucinich attends a public meeting at the Two Brothers Restaurant, Oelwein, Iowa —2:30 pm: Gov. Dean speaks with Hamilton County residents, RSVP Senior Center, Webster City, Iowa —3:00 pm: Sen. Kerry boards the "Real Deal Express" and makes retail stops in Dover, N.H., and Portsmouth, N.H. —3:00 pm: Rep. Kucinich attends a rally, Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa —4:00 pm: Gov. Dean meets with Webster county residents, Fort Dodge, Iowa —4:30 pm: Former President George H.W. Bush headlines a Bush-Cheney '04 fundraiser, Hyatt Regency, Coral Gables, Fla.—4:30 pm: Rep. Kucinich attends a rally at the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa —5:45 pm: Gov. Dean meets with Boone county residents at Des Moines Area Community College, Boone, Iowa —6:00 pm: Sen. Kerry attends a fundraiser hosted by Rep. Marty Meehan and Jeanne Shaheen, Seabrook Beach, N.H. —6:00 pm: Rep. Kucinich attends the Minority Leadership Meeting, Waterloo, Iowa —7:15 pm: Gov. Dean meets with Dallas county residents, Perry Elementary School, Perry, Iowa —7:30 pm: Vice President Cheney introduces Congressman Randy Neugebauer, The Abilene Civic Center, Abilene, Texas —8:00 pm: Rep. Kucinich meets with the Unitarian Universalist Society of Black Hawk County, Cedar Falls, Iowa

NEWS SUMMARY

Joe Trippi asks "Are we fighting the primary or the general" election?

That's a good question, Joe.

We've been wondering that ourselves.

Particularly since we are veritably on the eve of next Tuesday's ABC News/WMUR 7 pm ET Dust-up in Durham Democratic debate, for which the candidates are chomping at the bit, getting ready to reach vast Granite State and North American viewing audiences to ply their wares.

With some new mixed-bag unemployment numbers out this morning; the president targeting a Home Depot after some Balmer fundraising; and Karl Rove escaping virtually Scott (McClellan) free from the steel stories, it's another day when the noose tightens around the collective necks of five Democratic presidential candidates still struggling to convince Joe Klein, Mark Barabak, John Mercurio, donors, and Ron Fournier that they have the January/February narrative that will make them the Dean Alternative.

By some standards, it is shaping up to be a bad day for Dr. Dean — attacked by a Club for Growth ad on tax-and-spend; savaged by the deeply, cosmically influential New York Times and Boston Globe ed boards for the sealed gubernatorial records; and psychoanalyzed by his fellow doctor — Dr. Krauthammer — who hides his attack inside a diagnosis. LINK

But in other ways, The Doctor remains very much in … … line to enter the New Year quite strong.

For instance, all in the swirl of 48 hours or so, Chris Peterson, Bruce Babbitt, and Paul Simon all stand up and get counted for Howard Dean's 15 percent threshold reach.

If you don't know who Chris Peterson is, your name is not "Bill Bradley." LINK

And the New York Times ' Adam Nagourney lets Karl Rove in on a little secret — Karen Hicks has captured lightning in a bottle in New Hampshire for Dr. Dean. LINK

Speaking of Rove, as we suggested, his name floats above (or is it "below"?) almost all those steel tariff stories.

But the Wall Street Journal 's Hamburger and Hitt say the Bush-Rove White House plays tough.

Meanwhile, the men who want to elevate their games and elbow past everyone else towards Dean are grabbing at every reed they can.

Behind Dean in sketchy public polling in the Granite State by 35 points?

Trumpet it as great success!!!! So go Joe Lieberman and Wes Clark.

John Kerry gets an para-obit must-read from Dan Balz in the Washington Post LINK, and/but the endorsement of Manchester (NH) Mayor Baines, and he goes up with a new spot.

And who is pulling a 3/5 Ginsberg this Sunday?

None other than FFLOTUS/Senator Hillary R. Clinton, who still could, in theory, waltz in and have the nomination if she wanted it. But that is just a theory.

Consider it a reminder that it's time for your annual check of the batteries in your smoke detector at home, with New York's Junior Senator appearing on not one, not two, but three network Sunday shows. (The Googling monkeys are still checking on when someone last pulled this off from the Hill.)

Despite the implied gravity of this impressive logistical trifecta, we're assured that the H(RC)-bomb will be not be dropped, and that this was borne in large part by all the shows' anxiousness to talk to her post-road trip to Iraq and Afghanistan.

We are also assured that it is not a veiled attempt to skyrocket past Senate Armed Service colleague Carl Levin on Roll Call 's coveted Face Time chart.

Still unclear is whether she will bring slides.

Note Note to Philippe: skip the CBS breakfast and hold out for the perfectly cooked bacon in the ABC green room.

Those scoring at home remember that it's been nearly 15 months since her last Sunday show.

Check her out on "This Week," "Face," and "Meet."

And we are certain that the national political press corps won't let this little thing overshadow the actual Democratic presidential candidates appearing serially before Florida's Democratic Party activists over the weekend.

President Bush speaks at a fundraiser and about the economy in Maryland today. He is in Washington, D.C. over the weekend.

Former President George H.W. Bush headlines a Coral Gables, Fla., fundraiser for his son's re-election campaign today.

Vice President Cheney introduces two congressmen in Tulsa and Abilene, Texas, today. He is in Washington, D.C. over the weekend.

Gov. Dean discusses the economy and rural American in Iowa today. He addresses the Florida Democratic Party tomorrow and campaigns with Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. in South Carolina on Sunday.

Gen. Clark meets with supporters in Tennessee this morning. He attends the Florida convention tomorrow and campaigns in Virginia on Sunday morning.

Senator Lieberman receives endorsements in the Bronx this morning and attends the Florida convention on Sunday morning.

Senator Kerry campaigns in New Hampshire today, speaks to the Florida Democratic Party tomorrow and attends fundraisers in California on Sunday.

Rep. Gephardt, Senator Edwards, Rev. Sharpton, and Ambassador Moseley Braun have no public events today.

Rep. Kucinich campaigns in Iowa today. He attends the Florida convention tomorrow and campaigns in New York on Saturday.

Rep. Gephardt attends the Florida convention and holds a press conference with the Ohio steelworkers union tomorrow and campaigns in Iowa on Sunday.

Senator Edwards attends the Florida convention tomorrow and has no public events on Sunday.

Rev. Sharpton hosts "Saturday Night Live" this weekend and is in South Carolina and Washington, D.C. on Sunday.

Ambassador Moseley Braun will not attend the Florida Democratic Party Convention and has no public events this weekend.

She is a woman who is taking Durham prep VERY seriously.

The Dust-up in Durham:

As the excitement over the Dust-up in Durham builds to a fever pitch so high it could ("will," actually) melt snow, it's time to remind you again:

Highlights of the debate will air next Tuesday night on a special, one-hour edition of Nightline.

In addition, the debate will air live on monster powerhouse WMUR and on Brian Lamb's gift to the world (C-SPAN, which will have special coverage of the Dust-up before and after the 7 pm ET event).

Additional coverage can be found on ABC News Live (streaming video like you wouldn't believe) and ABC News Radio.

Today at 11:30 am ET, ABC News and WMUR will hold a press conference call for our colleagues in the media to go over the logistics, format, and other details of the debate.

If you are a fully credentialed member of the media (No, Jim Dyke, people on your staff don't count simply because they blog and write phony letters to the editor … ), send an e-mail to davy.kong@abc.com to receive the dial-in information.

The call will feature Nightline's legendary Executive Producer Leroy Sievers, WMUR General Manager Jeff Bartlett, and ABC News' Political Director, whose name escapes us.

Ten-year New Hampshire resident and former Orangeman, Scott Spradling of WMUR, is preparing for Tuesday's big Dust-up in Durham, but he was kind enough to carve out a few minutes to chat exclusively with The Note.

Spradling with join ABC News' Ted Koppel in questioning the candidates.

New Hampshire tips from Scott to his colleagues who are about to descend en masse into the Granite State:

1. Wear layers.

2. If you want to see a candidate within 15 minutes of any given time, go to the Merrimack Restaurant.

3. Keep an eye on local supporters. You don't always get your best stories from the candidates' mouths.

Spradling fully expects Granite Staters to tune in. "Given the number of undecided voters in New Hampshire who say they are going to go to the polls, I think you are going to see a lot of people very interested in what this debate looks like and what these nine people look like," he said.

On the battle to become the Dean Alternative: "I'm very interested to see what the Edwards, Kerry, Lieberman, Clark, strategy will be in terms of positioning themselves as the one other guy."

"I think there will be every opportunity for someone to do that."

And, because, as we told you, we are suckers for history, here is a fun matching game that reviews some past debate stuff.

In each case, pick from the lettered list to choose which journalist/questioner asked this questions from this year's earlier Democratic presidential candidate debates:

1. "I want to ask you, Senator Lieberman, how do you separate the good guys from the bad guys?"

2. "Lady and gentlemen, I have one question to ask all of you, and I don't want to mess up the format of this debate, so please answer very quickly. This is for the Gen X crowd, and it's very personal. What's your favorite song?"

3. " … it's not quite boxers or briefs, but Macs or PCs?"

For each, was it:

A Maria Elena Salinas (Univision)B. Huel Perkins (WJBK TV, Fox 2 News)C. Carl Cameron (Fox News) D. Farai Chideya (thebeehive.org)OrE. Alexandra Trustman (Brown University)

Food For Thought — a preview:

Attention Note readers trying to stay slim in spite of the holidays:

On Monday night, our esteemed ABC News colleague Peter Jennings (who rumor has it reads The Note on occasion) takes a hard primetime look at the reasons that Americans keep getting fatter that have nothing to do with lack of self-control (although we at The Note acknowledge late at night we are often tempted by just one more scoop of Haagen Dazs). Peter points to the role the food industry and the government play in America's obesity epidemic.

Peter goes where few on the Hill have been willing to travel — down the road of farm subsidies. With tough questions to some familiar Washington faces, including Secretary Thompson and Senator Lincoln, Peter finds that despite concerns over the implications of Americans growing girth, no one in Washington is making the connection between the billions of agriculture dollars Congress hands out and the battle to control the nation's bulge.

It gives new meaning to the term "fat cat lobbyist."

Tune in to "Peter Jennings Reporting: How to Get Fat Without Really Trying" on Monday at 8:00pm ET and see how the government and the food industry are helping to make us fat.

The economy:

According to ABC News' Ramona Schindelheim, economists had forecast an increase of 150,000 or more jobs for November. The Labor Department reported the economy added just 57,000, a very disappointing number. This is still below the 200,000-plus a month needed to make a significant dent in the unemployment.

Manufacturing lost jobs for the 40th consecutive month, but the rate of job loss has slowed.

Manufacturing lost 17,000 in November and 14,000 in October.

Per the AP:

"The nation's unemployment rate slipped to 5.9 percent in November, the lowest level in eight months, as employers added new jobs for a fourth-straight month."

"The Labor Department reported Friday that the rate fell from 6 percent in October. The last time it was lower was in March, at 5.8 percent."