The Note

ByABC News
September 11, 2003, 10:00 AM

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

9:30 am: Senate convenes for legislative business9:45 am: Off-camera White House press gaggle with Scott McClellan10:00 am: House convenes for morning business11:25 am: President Bush meets with the Prime Minister of Kuwait, White House12:30 pm: On-camera White House press briefing with Scott McClellan12:30 pm: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld speaks at to the National Press Club luncheon, D.C.1:00 pm: Senator Joe Lieberman addresses the Council on Foreign Relations, New York City1:00 pm: Arnold Schwarzenegger hosts an education summit, San Jose2:15 pm: Fundraiser for Arnold Schwarzenegger at the Pasadera Country Club, Monterey, Calif.3:00 pm: California First Lady Sharon Davis speaks to high school students and faculty, San Mateo, Calif.3:05 pm: President Bush makes remarks on homeland security, Quantico, Va.3:15 pm: Secretary Rumsfeld gives a closed briefing to senators, Capitol Hill4:30 pm: Vice President Cheney makes remarks at the unveiling of the marble bust of former Vice President Dan Quayle, Capitol Hill5:30 pm: Senator Lieberman attends a fundraiser, Florham Park, N.J.6:00 pm: Senator John Kerry attends an "unplugged" jam session with Moby, Boston7:30 pm: Senator Lieberman attends a fundraiser, Tenefly, N.J.8:00 pm: Fundraiser for Arnold Schwarzenegger at the Blackhawk Museum's Auto Gallery, Danville, Calif.8:00 pm: California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley keynotes League of Women's Voters forum at UCLA, Los Angeles10:00 pm: Governor Gray Davis holds a town hall meeting, Fresno, Calif.

NEWS SUMMARY

Will Americans feel the economy is still a weak, job-hemmoraging mess one year from now?

Will the Democrats figure out how to nominate someone for president who is credible on national security and can talk convincingly about the economy?

Who will turn out to vote in the recall election?

Sure, we could try to come up with a new, punchy lead every day, but why hide the truth from our loyal readers?

All political wisdom can be distilled down to those three queries.

CAFE standards; Breaux's potential retirement; Bill Thomas' temperament; three governors races sure, there ARE other things out there on any given day.

But just stay focused on our Big Three questions, and we'll all be safely on the same page.

Today, the president meets with the Prime Minister of Kuwait at the White House. He is scheduled to have a brief meeting with the Dalai Lama at the White House this morning.

After that, he heads just a little south to make remarks on homeland security at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. The AP reports he has a private dinner tonight at the White House with a screening of the Academy Award-winning documentary "Twin Towers."

Vice President Cheney will be in the Capitol today to make remarks at the official unveiling of the marble bust of former Vice President Dan Quayle.

Senator Kerry is in Boston tonight for his unplugged session with Moby.

Senator Lieberman addresses the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City and attends a pair of fundraisers in New Jersey today. We wonder if he will mention Howard Dean.

Reverend Sharpton is in New York City with no public events announced.

Ambassador Moseley Braun, Governor Dean, Senator Graham, Congressman Kucinich, Senator Edwards, and Congressman Gephardt have no public events announced for today.

In the recall:

Governor Davis holds another town hall forum tonight, this time in Fresno. Mrs. Davis will speak at a high school in San Mateo today.

Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante has no public events scheduled for today.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is in San Jose hosting an educational summit featuring former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan. He goes to closed-press fundraisers in Monterey and Danville, and Maria might join him for those. And he just might have another event tonight that needs to be Factored in.

Tom McClintock is in session in Sacramento and on "Good Day in Sacramento" in the morning and on Fox's "Hannity and Colmes" in the evening.

ABC 2004: Bush-Cheney re-elect, national security:

The New York Times ' David Sanger has this amazing section that is must-reading for Terry McAuliffe and Rod O'Connor in his piece on the president's relatively low-key plans for tomorrow's somber anniversary:

"The contrast could not be greater with the second anniversary, on Thursday, when the president will not leave Washington in a day of low-key remembrances, starting at the small church across from the White House and ending at a nearby military hospital where, out of sight, he will visit soldiers wounded in Iraq." LINK

"And inside the White House and the Bush campaign, discussion has begun on how to handle next year, when the Republican convention is deliberately scheduled for New York a week before the third anniversary. In the heady days of April, when the air was thick with the sounds of military victory in Iraq, convention planners were talking about rolling the political events seamlessly into the solemn remembrance. But the White House now has different ideas."

"'I think next year will look a lot like this year,' a close Bush aide said today. While the last Sept. 11 was a moment for the president to lead the nation in grief, 'from here on out, the president believes this is not a day about him, but a day about those who lost their lives.'"

"In fact, as Mr. Bush prepares for the second anniversary, the tone of remembrances past, present and future underscore the continued sensitivity at the White House and within the Republican Party about how to mark not only the 9/11 attacks, but all that followed."

"It is a calculus that hinges not only on measures of taste, but measures of success especially now that the glow that surrounded Mr. Bush in May as he landed in full flight suit on the aircraft carrier Lincoln, beneath the banner proclaiming 'Mission Accomplished,' has burned off, and the successful reconstruction of Iraq is an open question."

The New York Daily News' Tom DeFrank has a hauntingly similar piece with this:

"'If he's reelected, it will be on the strength of his leadership since Sept. 11,' a senior Bush adviser told the Daily News." LINK

"His aides contend the public's perception that Bush is keeping the country safe is so potent that even another massive attack wouldn't damage him politically."

"'It's possible some Democrat can beat him on the economy,' a senior Bush counselor theorized. 'But no Democrat can beat him on the security issue unless something really terrible happens and he appears to have mishandled it.'"

And John Harwood's Wall Street Journal column also looks at this topic, saying that Bush is no LBJ, Iraq is no Vietnam politically, and that the president and his party have an advantage with voters on national security matters that is still the foundation of his electoral strength.

ABC 2004: The Invisible Primary: taking the "charm" out of Charm City:

Another Democratic presidential debate in which the candidates largely competed to be the most critical of President Bush on the economy and foreign policy, rather than turning their attacks on each other.

And another one with no big news.

Although there were expectations (again) that this time there would be many efforts to take on Howard Dean, there were almost none.

It was one of the few times in the evening when the moderator (fella named "Brit Hume") allowed the candidates to directly engage each other, but the sparks were medium-grade and Lieberman did not seem to do Dean much damage.

In general, there was a real split between those who opposed the president going to war with Iraq and those who supported it, with the audience clearly supportive of the anti-war side and its "I told you so" ethos.

Joe Lieberman succeeded again in making the story "Lieberman v. Dean" with his attack on the Middle East.

The Washington Post 's Dan Balz led with it. LINK

The New York Times ' Nagourney and Wilgoren made that their off lead, with the pro- and anti-Iraq war clash getting their top billing. LINK

Jano's masterplan totally captures the Wall Street Journal 's Jake Schlesinger, who makes his whole debate piece about it, closing with this oblique reference to George Stephanopoulos, whose "This Week" is going to be very special this Sunday LINK