The Note

W A S H I N G T O N September 4&#151;<br> -- Today's Schedule (all times Eastern):

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—:30 am: Senate convenes for legislative business—9:30 am: House Energy and Commerce Committee hears testimony from energy executives on the blackout, Capitol Hill—10:00 am: House convenes for legislative business—10:00 am: First Lady Laura Bush speaks about education at Savannah Grove Elementary School, Effingham, S.C.—11:30 am: First Lady Laura Bush attends a Bush-Cheney 2004 fundraiser, Florence, S.C. (closed press)—11:45 am: Congressman Dick Gephardt meets with seven of the Texas Democratic state senators in hiding, Albuquerque—12:30 pm: President Bush makes remarks on the economy, Kansas City, Mo.—1:30 pm: Governor Bill Richardson, DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe, and Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman Ciro Rodriguez hold media availability, Albuquerque—1:30 pm: Senator Joe Lieberman holds meet and greet, Albuquerque—3:00 pm: Arnold Schwarzenegger makes remarks to Inland Empire residents and helps to register new voters, Riverside, Calif.—3:30 pm: First Lady Laura Bush tours, makes remarks, and participates in a ribbon cutting dedication ceremony at the National First Ladies Library Education and Research Center, Canton, Ohio—5:00 pm: Governor Gray Davis makes remarks about funding for school construction and modernization, San Diego—5:30 pm: Former Governor Dean holds pre-debate rally, Albuquerque—6:00 pm: Congressman Kucinich holds pre-debate rally, Albuquerque—8:00 pm: Democratic National Committee presidential debate hosted by Governor Richardson and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque—10:00 pm: New Mexico Democratic Party post-debate event at the Albuquerque Hilton

NEWS SUMMARY

In print journalism, there are two kinds of headlines.

Good headlines — by which we means ones that sum up the story and are actually accurate. And then there are bad headlines — those that are misleading or wholly unrelated to what's going on.

Leave it to the Associated Press overnight headline writers to completely master what's happening with our two big September political stories in only 13 words.

"Dean Braces For Criticism In Dem Debate" and "Schwarzenegger Hit By Egg, Avoids Debate"

There are plenty of print big feet congregated in Albuquerque for what could be the most significant multicandidate Democratic presidential event since the candidates collided in Columbia.

Ever since that May day, there have been, by our count, more than a dozen times when all nine of the candidates or most of them have come together in one place.

What's different about tonight's event, which kicks off at 8 pm ET, is that it's being labeled a "debate" and it has the Democratic National Commmittee imprimatur as the first of six planned for 2003.

So we wouldn't be surprised if major news occurred. But we'd place bets (hedging, of course) that there'll be no news because of the math with which we're all now familiar: ( 90 minutes — moderator verbiage ) / 9 candidates simply doesn't = much time for any 1 candidate to make too many points.

The political press corps is salivating at the prospect of a gang-bang gang-up on Howard Dean. But it's not easy to see someone pulling that off effectively, with an attack just as likely (if not more so) to reflect badly on the attacker than it is to do damage to the Doctor.

And it's not as if Howard Dean isn't fully prepared, both substantively and stylistically, to bat stuff back.

See our debate preview section below for our pre-debate analysis and reporting of what might happen, along with the Boston Globe 's Glen Johnson saying that the macro debate in the Kerry campaign about whether to attack Dean as a general matter has been settled. And don't miss Bob Novak on John Kerry and GE properties.

As for the recall, the reviews of last night's debate are starkly uniform, although the Associated Press is remarkably opinionated in casting Republican Tom McClintock as the big winner.

And as the AP headline we cited above suggests, with 33 daily news cycles left to go, Arnold Schwarzenegger is now on his fourth one and counting in which his debate avoidance is not just his campaign's press lead, but that of the story overall.

There is both justice and injustice in the fact that Arnold seems to be being blamed for a California Broadcasters Association format which is at once, not his idea, and, when you actually study how it would work, isn't such a bad format after all.

Nonetheless, it does not appear that the Schwarzenegger campaign is on a clear trajectory to end the "Arnold Is Afraid To Debate" storyline, given the CBA's refusal to change their format.

In other recall news,

-- Arnold gets egged while skipping the first debate in the recall. He heads back out on the campaign trail today in Riverside.

-- Governor Davis promises to remain more connected to his constituents and in that spirit holds his 3rd town hall meeting today in San Diego.

-- Debate reviews have the replacement candidates covering a wide variety issues in a mostly staid affair.

Breaking as we write are latest economic numbers and reaction to the Wall Street Journal 's newsitorial announcing that Miguel Estrada is withdrawing his nomination. Watch 'em both today — and see them get inserted almost magically into debate talking points.

Per Reuters: "The number of Americans filing first-time claims for jobless benefits rose unexpectedly last week, a government report showed on Thursday, underscoring the labor market's continued fragility."

Today, President Bush travels to Kansas City today to talk about the economy. The First Lady travels to South Carolina today to make remarks about education and attend a fundraiser. She then goes to Canton, Ohio, to tour the First Ladies Library Education and Research Center.

The Democratic presidential candidates are of course in Albuquerque to have a chat. The format, per the DNC is:

1) An introduction by the moderators and a welcome by Governor Bill Richardson.

2) Approximately 20-22 minutes of questions focusing on Thursday's top news of the day.

3) Two segments of approximately 28 minutes in length; one focusing on international and one on domestic issues (order to be determined by the moderators).

The moderators, María Elena Salinas and Ray Suarez, will select the questions and their order. The networks will keep track of balancing the response time among the candidates.

Also, per the DNC, "Elena Salinas will introduce each of the new segments in Spanish and then translate that into English. There will also be several questions sprinkled throughout the debate which Maria Elena will ask first in Spanish and then in English. The candidates will be standing behind podiums in a semi-circle facing the two moderators, who will be seated, on the stage of the Popejoy Center. The order of seating will be determined by Univision and PBS."

Thus: no opening or closing statements.

And don't be thinking that every PBS station is carrying this thing — live or otherwise.

Congressman Gephardt will meet with seven of the eleven fleeing state senators from Texas who are holed up in the Albuquerque Marriott, as will Governor Dean.

Dean plans a big pre-debate rally.

Matt Lieberman campaigns for his father in New Hampshire today.

In the recall world:

Governor Davis speaks about school construction and modernization in San Diego today.

Arnold Schwarzenegger meets with newly registered voters in Riverside this afternoon.

State Senator Tom McClintock does a few radio interviews today with the Larson and Marino Show, Michael Savage and Brian Wilson.

Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante has no public events announced.

There will be Peter Ueberroth Meetup.com meetings tonight.

The debate:

Glen Johnson has come a long way from the shackles of writing wire leads!

"The debate within the campaign of Senator John F. Kerry about how to deal with Howard Dean is over," the heaven-sent reporter from the Hub opens today's blockbuster. LINK

"As he tries to reinvigorate his Democratic candidacy for the presidency, Kerry has made it clear he is not going to wait and see if Dean's surging campaign will fade. Since Sunday, the Massachusetts senator has criticized the former Vermont governor, who leads in the latest polls in New Hampshire, for his opposition to the Iraq war, lack of government experience in foreign policy, economic plans, and membership in the National Rifle Association."

What's not clear is whether we'll see the attacks continue tonight.

(The Boston Herald's Andrew Miga reports that Mrs. Heinz Kerry wishes the television spots had gone up months ago, and urges everyone to add her "to the lengthy list of Democrats expressing doubts about how her husband's slow-starting presidential campaign has been run so far.") LINKThe AP's Fournier has Bill Richardson predicting "fireworks" and Kerry's campaign debating what to do about Dean: