The Note
W A S H I N G T O N, Nov. 3—<br> -- Today's Schedule (all times Eastern):
—8:30 am: Congressman Dick Gephardt addresses seniors, Exeter, N.H.—10:00 am: Congressman Gephardt participates in the Every Child Matters presidential candidate forum at the University of New Hampshire, Durham, N.H.—10:00 am: Senator Joe Lieberman addresses the South Carolina AME Central Conference, Orangeburg, S.C.—11:00 am: Senator Kerry tours the banks of the Mississippi River and makes remarks on clean water, Davenport, Iowa—11:00 am: Senate convenes for legislative business—11:15 am: President Bush attends a private meeting with business leaders, Birmingham, Ala.—11:30 am: Governor Howard Dean delivers a policy address at Grand View College, Des Moines, Iowa—11:40 am: President Bush makes remarks on the economy, Birmingham, Ala.—12:00 pm: Senator Lieberman speaks about his higher education reform proposals at Benedict College, Columbia, S.C.—12:10 pm: Congressman Gephardt addresses supporters before filing to run in the New Hampshire Democratic primary, Concord, N.H.—12:30 pm: Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun participates in the Every Child Matters presidential candidate forum at the University of New Hampshire, Durham, N.H.—1:00 pm: Senator Kerry meets with Democratic activists, Clinton, Iowa—1:25 pm: President Bush makes remarks at a Bush-Cheney 2004 fundraiser luncheon, Birmingham, Ala.—1:30 pm: Governor Dean meets with students at Johnson High School, Des Moines, Iowa—2:15 pm: Congressman Dennis Kucinich participates in the Every Child Matters presidential candidate forum at the University of New Hampshire, Durham, N.H.—5:00 pm: General Wesley Clark participates in an on-line chat with supporters, Keene, N.H.—5:15 pm: Congressman Gephardt addresses Harvard College Democrats, Cambridge, Mass.—5:30 pm: General Clark has dinner with first responders, Keene, N.H.—6:15 pm: Senator Kerry attends Ramadan services, Cedar Rapids, Iowa—6:30 pm: Congressman Kucinich speaks at Franklin Pierce College, Rindge, N.H.—7:00 pm: General Clark holds a "Conversations with Clark" forum moderated by his son at Keene State College, Keene, N.H.—7:00 pm: Senator Lieberman attends a campaign fundraiser, Virginia Beach, Va.—7:00 pm: Congressman Gephardt appears on "Hardball: Battle for the White House," Cambridge, Mass.—8:00 pm: Senator Kerry meets with Democratic activists, Cedar Rapids, Iowa—8:30 pm: Congressman Kucinich attends a Mothers Uniting forum, Keene, N.H.
NEWS SUMMARY
Dynamics the political insiders will be watching in the coming cycle or two or three or more: (and see if you can find precisely three jokes in the list … )
1. What will come out of the blender in the next few public opinion polls In Re POTUS when the GDP and Iraq casualty figures get mixed in?
2. How big will the Kentucky and Mississippi bounce be for one party or the other?
3. Will any political voices with more influence in determining the identity of the Democratic presidential nominee embrace Howard Dean's avowedly pro-Confederate views as strongly as Gigot & Co.?
4. Do y'all realize just how unprecedentedly wide open the Democratic nomination fight will be if Dean's bigger-than-you-realize lead is chopped down to size?
5. Who will be happy, and who sad, if Maine's casino initiative passes?
6. Will Anderson Cooper wear jeans Tuesday night?
7. How much money could we make if we sold our fellow political reporters "Democratic candidate major policy address" flash cards this week?
8. How many stories will Ron Brownstein write about the four open, currently Democratic Southern Senate seats if Bob Graham retires?
9. Would Trent Duffy prefer to go back to talking about the size of the deficit?
10. What explains Zell Miller's vote for Tom Daschle for leader?
What a shotgun weekend in the Invisible Primary — literally.
Senator Edwards was catching heat on Saturday for almost selling his house to someone who did public relations work for the Saudis while Edwards sat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. The deal fell apart, but Edwards still has the $100,000 deposit in escrow, and the whole thing is raising some eyebrows not necessarily because Edwards did something wrong, but because he didn't disclose the information or check in with the Senate Ethics Committee to make sure he didn't do anything wrong. LINK
Amazingly little pickup on that one.
There was more pickup, but not at the morning-show level, of another weekend brouhaha:
Trying to recover from a hit on guns, Howard Dean told the Des Moines Register on Saturday (LINK) something he had only said before in front of really small groups like the Democratic National Committee — that he wants people who aren't offended by the Confederate flag to consider voting for him.
Dean, who never represented Florida or North Carolina in the Senate, made no mention of NASCAR, hunting, the "Dukes of Hazzard" or "values." Nor was there any sighting or quoting of anybody with a nickname involving wet dirt and/or felines.
All of Dean's eight Democratic opponents (including pheasant-blasting John Kerry) decided to outflank him on the anti-Confederate side of the issue, having been assured by their pollsters that that played well with Democratic primary voters and caucus attendees.
Dan Balz and Jonathan Roos run down the responses. LINK and LINK.
The Wall Street Journal 's ed board comes to Dr. Dean's defense today, writing, "Democrats usually smear Republicans with this kind of race-baiting politics, but it isn't any more justified when Democrats use it against one of their own. Dr. Dean is hardly sympathetic to the Confederacy, or Jim Crow, or apartheid or any other kind of racial discrimination. He was merely saying he'd like to win the support of Southerners who over the years have fled the Democratic Party represented by the Kerrys and the Dick Gephardts."
President Bush makes remarks on the economy and attends a Bush-Cheney 2004 fundraiser in Birmingham, Alabama, today. He's in California on Tuesday. He's back in D.C. on Wednesday to meet with the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and to sign the Partial Birth Abortion Act. The president makes remarks at the celebration of the National Endowment for Democracy's 20th anniversary on Thursday, and will also pass out the National Medals of Science and Technology on Thursday in D.C. On Friday, the president will attend a Bush-Cheney 2004 fundraiser and make remarks on jobs and the economy in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Rock the Vote and CNN present a town hall forum for presidential candidates to speak with younger voters on Tuesday night at Faneuil Hall in Boston. All candidates except Congressman Gephardt are scheduled to attend. Andrew Miga previews the event in today's Boston Herald, Noting, "The show poses a hipness test of sorts for the candidates, who are mostly white, male, middle-aged and decidedly unhip." LINK
Governor Dean campaigns in Iowa today. He campaigns in Florida on Tuesday and he's in Boston on Tuesday night. He campaigns in New Hampshire on Wednesday and Thursday.
General Clark campaigns in New Hampshire today through Wednesday with a brief trip to Boston Tuesday night for the forum. He's in South Carolina on Thursday.
Senator Kerry campaigns in Iowa today. He's in Boston on Tuesday and he spends the rest of the week campaigning in New Hampshire.
Congressman Gephardt campaigns in New Hampshire and Boston today. He appears on "Hardball: Battle for the White House" tonight.
Senator Lieberman campaigns in South Carolina and Virginia today. He's in Boston on Tuesday. He campaigns in New Hampshire on Wednesday and in Florida on Thursday.
Senator Edwards campaigns in Iowa today. He's in New Hampshire for the rest of the week with a quick trip to Boston on Tuesday night.
Congressman Kucinich campaigns in New Hampshire today and tomorrow. He's also in Boston on Tuesday night.
Reverend Sharpton is in New York City today with no public events. He's in Boston tomorrow, back in New York City on Wednesday and Thursday, and then in Baltimore on Friday to speak at Morgan State University.
Ambassador Moseley Braun campaigns in New Hampshire today. She's in Boston tomorrow and back in New Hampshire on Wednesday.
In case you missed them: the weekend must-reads:The Washington Post 's David Broder and Dan Balz turned in a must-read on the ABC News/ Washington Post poll yesterday (along with some of their fabled door knocking), looking at the nearly 50-50 split that the American electorate has settled back into. Worries about progress in Iraq and jobs, regardless of other economic indicators, are the most important issues to voters. LINK
While Bush claims a 56% approval rating in the new survey, Broder and Balz write, voters increasingly have second thoughts about his approach in Iraq and the direction of the country. And the tax cuts that fueled the 3rd-quarter growth, which earlier polls showed weren't a priority for voters, aren't registering.
The Washington Post 's Richard Morin and Claudia Deane wrote up the new ABC News/ Washington Post poll that showed, "Democrats are divided over the direction of their party and sharply split over whether party leaders should be more willing to confront President Bush or compromise with him on the Iraq war, taxes and the budget deficit" … .suggesting that Senator Miller might be on to something. LINK
The Los Angeles Times' Ed Chen goes inside President Bush's recent poll numbers and finds that people like him even if they aren't all thrilled with the way in which he is handling his job. LINK
"When President Bush described himself the other day as 'a friendly guy,' he made a point that many of his critics concede: They loathe his policies but like him personally."
"Now that his job-approval ratings are hovering around the 50% mark, about the lowest of his presidency, Bush's affability has emerged as one of his more visible assets as he prepares to run for reelection."
The Los Angeles Times' Mark Z. Barabak goes to the heart of the swing states and writes from a Warren, Michigan dateline, "Michigan can be a tough place for Republicans, particularly when the economy is hurting … " LINK
Barabak goes on to point out that no Democrat has emerged as a major threat to President Bush, but that doesn't diminish Bush's vulnerability in the abstract.
ABC News Vote 2003: Kentucky, Mississippi, Philadelphia, and more:The Washington Post looks at the star power Haley Barbour brings to the Mississippi gubernatorial contest. LINK
USA Today declares the Musgrove/Barbour battle in Mississippi a dead heat and wonders if the race will once again be thrown to the House to decide the winner. LINK
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