The Note
Today's Schedule (all times Eastern):
—9:00 am: Senator John Kerry has breakfast with Scott County Democrats, Davenport, Iowa —9:30 am: Senate convenes for legislative business —10:15 am: Senators Tom Daschle and Ted Kennedy lead a press conference to discuss the Medicare prescription drugs bill, Capitol Hill —11:00 am: Senator Kerry makes remarks on jobs and the economy, Davenport, Iowa —11:00 am: Senator John Edwards meets with Black Hawk County Democrats, Cedar Falls, Iowa —1:00 pm: Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger meets with Governor Gray Davis, Sacramento —1:45 pm: Senator Kerry has lunch with Muscatine County Democrats, Muscatine, Iowa —2:00 pm: Senator Edwards meets with Polk County Democrats, Des Moines, Iowa —2:30 pm: President and Mrs. Bush tour Pearl Harbor, Hawaii —5:00 pm: Congressman Dennis Kucinich addresses the SEIU meeting, Miami —6:00 pm: Congressman Kucinich attends the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project dinner, Miami —6:00 pm: General Wesley Clark attends the New Hampshire Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, Manchester, N.H. —6:00 pm: Senator Kerry meets with Cedar County Democrats, Tipton, Iowa —7:00 pm: Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun keynotes the Harris County Women's Political Caucus Shattered Glass Award Reception, Houston —7:00 pm: Senator Joe Lieberman hosts a reception to press for full voting rights for the D.C. residents, D.C. —8:00 pm: Senator Kerry attends a fundraiser for State Senator Roger Stewart, Maquoketa, Iowa —10:55 pm: President Bush attends a closed Republican Party meeting, Honolulu, Hawaii —11:45 pm: President Bush attends a closed meeting with Pacific leaders, Honolulu, Hawaii —1:20 am: President Bush attends a Bush-Cheney 2004 fundraiser reception, Honolulu, Hawaii
NEWS SUMMARY
The president's foreign trip; the donors conference in Spain; the situation on the ground in Iraq; the Rummy memo fallout; the Hill agenda, especially mixed Medicare messages; and a lot of non-political news (school shootings, snipers, Schiavo, etc.) — there is a lot of news out there.
But in our world, the biggest stories are being played out under the Visible Primary of the Democratic presidential nomination battle big top:
Item: Howard Dean's new Iowa and New Hampshire ads that criticize "my opponents" and a memo attacking the spotty congressional voting attendance of his "opponents" begin to raise hackles. LINK and LINK and LINK
Item: How the candidates and campaigns in this multi-multi-candidate field are handling the current posture towards negativity (always sensitive in Iowa and New Hampshire, where the illusion, at least, of voters not liking The Negative worries some strategists) is now a Big Thing. See our campaign reporter reports for how each shop is handling things on this fronts these days.
Item: General Wes Clark's (limited) relationship with the media gets Major must-read Howie Kurtz treatment in the Washington Post LINK, as Clark appears poised to be the only presidential candidate to attend tonight's New Hampshire Democratic Party's Jefferson-Jackson dinner.
Item: The Washington Post 's Balz and VandeHei look at the Lieberman/Clark/Edwards map strategies without the prospects of numerically winning Iowa or New Hampshire. LINK
