The Note: Pointy Fingers

The DSCC plans to pressure Republican Senate candidates today to declare whether they are with President Bush or "the 16 intel agencies who think Iraq has exacerbated the terror threat."

The Way to Win:

As Matt Drudge revealed to the world yesterday in a DEVELOPING *****WORLD EXCLUSIVE*****, The Way to Win, the new book from Mark Halperin of ABC News and John Harris of the Washington Post, has a lot of material in it about Drudge himself. LINK

The book can be pre-ordered today through The Way to Win website. LINK

But if you want a free copy autographed by the authors, you can enter today's trivia contest, drawn from the book itself.

Today's question involves Bill Clinton and Fleetwood Mac. To win a free autographed copy of The Way to Win, go to the book's website at thewaytowin2008.com for the question and the simple directions for entering. LINK

Yesterday's question was: What future computer mogul serviced the Hewlett-Packard desktop computers that Karl Rove used in his Austin, Texas direct mail business during the early 1980s?

The answer was Michael Dell.

Our winner is Jeremy B. Van Haselen of Houston, Texas.

Meanwhile, the DC book party for The Way to Win was hosted by ABC's George Stephanopoulos and the Washington Post's Liz Spayd at David Greggory's restaurant, where the food was typically delicious, the drinks festive, and the book displays ultimately purloined.

Tim Griffin, Grover Norquist, and Time's Mike Allen kicked off the party. Senator John McCain leant his sanguine, merry presence, and was quickly enveloped by the crowd. Unflappable Congressman Rahm Emanuel accepted the good vibes of Democrats who greeted him as a potential savior. Governor Mitt Romney arrived, with venerable party animal Ron Kaufman in tow, direct from a fundraiser with President Bush for three gubernatorial candidates (including Iowa's Jim Nussle). Senator Hillary Clinton exclaimed to boyish trio Jonathan Prince, Jake Siewert, and Mike Feldman that they looked all "grown up." Charles Gibson chatted with Karl Rove. The homophonous duo of Terri McCullough and Terry McAuliffe hung out with Senator John Sununu.

Also there: Renaissance supercouple Dee Dee Myers and Todd Purdum; spokeswonders Ron Bonjean and Kevin Madden fresh off the Hill; inexhaustible, global Jay Carson; the New York Times' Adam Nagourney popping in for approximately 30 seconds, presumably taking a break from penning his boffo front-page piece; glowing honeymooners Jake Tapper and Jennifer Brown; Public Strategy's David Bates; better half Mary Matalin; ever-elegant Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn; dapper glacier explorer Dan Balz; tag-teaming Bill and Su-Lin Nichols; and the lovely Ann O'Hanlon, amusedly brushing aside awestruck queries on how she held down the Harris fort.

All went off beautifully, thanks to the amazing team of the ABC News DC bureau, honchoed by Andrea Jones, Jane Aylor, Alison Bridgman, and Julia Hoppock.

Bush Administration agenda:

It looks like only one of the two remaining big ticket security items will get wrapped up this final and frenzied week on the Hill. Legislation concerning the treatment of suspected terrorist detainees appears headed for passage, but legislation on the President's warrantless wiretapping program doesn't seem to be ready for pre-election movement. The New York Times' Carl Hulse and Kate Zernike have the details. LINK

2006: landscape:

Keying off of a Washington Monthly series of essays from conservatives entitled "Time for Us to Go," The Wall Street Journal's Yochi J. Dreazen looks at the disillusioned conservatives who believe the GOP has gone adrift on issues ranging from the growth of the federal government to the expansion of executive power to the war in Iraq. The RNC will laugh, however at the examples used.

Noam N. Levey of the Los Angeles Times looks at the impact of the GOP's values agenda on the party's turnout plan. LINK

USA Today has found a way to measure the affect that the "marriage gap" may have on the upcoming election finding that residents' marriage status may be an indicator of which way a congressional district votes. Democratic districts tend to have a lower number of married people than Republican held districts. You have to read this one in full to totally to get it. LINK

"Twenty-seven of the 38 Republican-held districts with seats considered vulnerable by independent political analysts have fewer married people than found in the average GOP district."

The Canton Repository reports on the success of Karl Rove's 72-Hour Task Force strategy in winning the Canton mayoral race for Janet Creighton. While skeptics questioned Rove's involvement in Canton, it "offered the opportunity to further fine-tune the program in a state everybody knew would be a crucial battleground." LINK

A Mason-Dixon poll shows Bush becoming more unpopular in Nevada. Approximately 49% of "likely Nevada voters" view the President unfavorably, versus 41% who view him favorably. Ten percent are neutral about Bush. The article says that his popularity has declined by 23 points in 2 years. The poll also shows that Sen. Harry Reid's (D-NV) popularity is at the same spot as it was in April of 2006: 43% favorable, 39% unfavorable, and 16% neutral. LINK

2006: House:

Gingrich made some November 7 predictions with ABC News' Diane Sawyer on "Good Morning America" when asked if he thought Democrats would take the House. "I think your earlier news report about the stock market and the 62 cent a gallon drop in gasoline, I think their chances are much less today than they were a month ago. And if we get a month more of gasoline prices going down and stock prices going up and arguing over terrorism, I think Republicans will keep the House," Gingrich answered.

In a must-read, the Colorado Gazette reports: "In a shocking new tack, Republican congressional candidate Rick O'Donnell said Tuesday that the Bush administration has bungled the war in Iraq and the United States should change course there."

LINK

The DCCC and Tammy Duckworth camp are incensed by Republican Peter Roskam criticizing Duckworth's position that a pullout of US troops should be linked to ensuring that police and national guard forces can defend the country as "cut and run."

The race to replace Rep. Harold Ford (D-TN) gets the New York Times treatment with a look at how race-based politics are never far from surface in Memphis. LINK

Per the Washington Post's Jim VandeHei and Chris Cillizza, Joy Padgett, running to replace Rep. Bob Ney's seat in Ohio's 18th district, is hard pressed to find a big-name GOPer with no strings of scandal attached. VandeHei and Cilliza report that Democratic candidate Zack Space believes that Padgett's ties to Ney will weaken her campaign run. LINK

James Nash of the Columbus Dispatch reports that First Lady Laura Bush's fundraised over $150,000 in her visit to Ohio for candidate Joy Padgett. LINK

Below an Al Gore banner ad (at least when we looked), the Seattle Times reports that Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA) remains "unsure about climate change or what role humans might play." LINK

2006: Senate: Allen v. Webb:

The New York Times reports a third acquaintance, in as many days, has come forward alleging she heard Sen. Allen use the "n" word in the 1970s. Sen. Allen's campaign says the incident never happened and continues to stand by Allen's full-throated denial on Monday. LINK

Democrat Jim Webb declined to say definitively Tuesday whether he had ever used a common derogatory term to describe blacks, reports the AP's David Espo.

"'I don't think that there's anyone who grew up around the South that hasn't had the word pass through their lips at one time or another in their life,' Webb told reporters."

When will Allen do Oprah? (Or Charlie Rose? Or, better yet, an ABC News sit-down network interview?)

The Washington Times Notes Republican efforts to get Virginia Senator George Allen's campaign back on track and his camp says the press has given his opponent, a "free pass." LINK

The Washington Post Notes that the attack ads run by the Allen and Webb camps are barely keeping up with the hip-high negativity, with Webb's latest ad attacking Allen on his decision to go to war. LINK