The Note: Freedom's Light Burning Warm

— -- WASHINGTON, May 11

NEWS SUMMARY
On the eve of what promises to be a decisive-ish Thursday in Washington, our updated scorecard for Wednesday:

"Solved" by Washington standards:

Whether the Rosen trial will officially be a referendum about Hillary Clinton (It won't, per the judge!), Cheney's energy task force meeting minutes and executive prerogative; passage of an emergency supplemental for Iraq and Afghanistan; the timing of the Bolton vote (no Biden-inspired delay tomorrow); Sen. Chafee's committee vote on Bolton; Joseph W. McQuaid's position on the filibuster fight; Tblisi cuisine's general awesomeness (raves from Presidents and journalists alike).

"Loggerheads" by Gang of 500 standards:

John Bolton's nomination (no new negative Jehl story, one new positive Kessler story, a potentially important Hill story about an internal State report); whether Democratic and Republican Senators will sacrifice the here-and-now political considerations for a permanent solution to the filibuster drama; whether Congress can pass a highway bill that Bush won't veto; how Real ID is implemented in the states; Tom Ridge, as reported in USA Today about whether he felt pressure on security alerts versus Tom Ridge on the Daily Show last week where he said he did not; Acela's future; the Delta Shuttle's future; the future of big airlines' pension plans; the future of big airlines;

"Pending" by Note standards:

Whether the Rosen trial will unofficially be a referendum about Hillary Clinton and get nightly dissection on Fox News; the topics President Bush will address to cameras from the Cabinet Room at 3:00 pm ET; BRAC, BRAC, and BRAC; security concerns about President Bush's trip; the ethics committee and DeLay; the (Emanuel-less?) Meehan lobbying reform legislation; John Wilhelm's entrance into the AFL-CIO presidential race; CAFTA; how well Mike Huckabee's new book will do; tax reform; reaction to today's surprising trade gap numbers.

Per ABC News' Dan Arnall: "The U.S. trade deficit shrank last month according to a government report out this morning. Figures from the Census Bureau show that the country bought $55.0B more in imported goods and services than it sold in exported goods and services during March. That's a one-month drop of 9.2% from the February's revised $60.6B figure."

Today in Washington, President Bush enjoys a well-deserved break as he recovers from jet lag. At 3:00 pm ET, he meets with members of Congress to brief them about his trip. The pool will be present to capture remarks and perhaps ask a question or two at the top of that meeting.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) will be doing an exclusive interview with Tony Snow on the Tony Snow show at 10:45 am ET.

The nation's political elite honors former first lady Nancy Reagan tonight at the building named after her husband. Vice President delivers remarks, Tony Bennett sings; ABC News' Diane Sawyer hosts. Reps. Hastert and Pelosi and Sens. Reid and Frist also speak.

On the Hill, the Senate Indian Affairs committee holds an oversight hearing on federal recognition of Indian tribes. The Judiciary committee debates the wisdom of the Specter-Leahy Asbestos Trust and its alternatives at 9:30 am ET. Rob Borsellino, the Des Moines Register columnist with Lou Gherig's disease, testifies at a committee hearing on appropriations to fight it. That's at 10:00 am ET. Also at 10:00 am ET, the Railroads Subcommittee of the House Transportation Committee holds a hearing on the Acela with Amtrak's CEO, I.J., and the GAO, as well as the maker of Acela.

House Chief Deputy Whip Eric Cantor, Sens. Rick Santorum and Jim DeMint have a news conference on small business and health care at 10:30 am ET. The Social Security picture of the day comes from Democrats; three Democratic Senators including Schumer, will unveil their latest "Social Security calculator" that they say will show workers what the Bush plan would do to their benefits.

Majority Leader DeLay holds a pen and pad at 2:55 pm ET.

The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee votes on pending nominations today. FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford testifies.

Tonight at 10:30 am ET, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich holds a news conference with Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Mel Martinez and Reps. Patrick Kennedy and Tim Murphy to announce a health information networks bill.

Tonight, the Competitive Enterprise Institute fetes PhRMA's Billy Tauzin. And Ellen Malcolm receives the Woman of the Year Award from the Women's National Democratic Club.

Seen at last night's cocktail reception for new Bryan Cave Strategies superlobbyists Jack Oliver and Steve Elmendorf: Rep. Steny Hoyer, Sen. Kit Bond, Reps. Mark Foley and Melissa Bean, White House Political Director Sara Taylor, RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, former RNC chairman Ed Gillespie, OMB director Josh Bolten, Chief Deputy Whip Eric Cantor, Sen. John Kerry, David Plouffle, Mary Beth Cahill, Jenny Backus, Stephanie Cutter, Erik Smith, John Lapp, Phil Singer and Kim Molstre. And journalists like Tom Curry, Dan Balz and Jeff Birnbaum.

One sentence that can never be written again: "For a brief moment last night, the person in closest proximity to Sen. John Kerry was Ben Ginsberg."

And kudos to an alert Steny Hoyer, who, as he exited Charlie Palmer Steakhouse, saved a young woman from being run over by his heavy black SUV by shouting loudly to his driver, who was backing up and didn't see her.

Filibuster battles:
The Democrats formally rejected Sen. Frist's offer to allow 100 hours of debate on all nominees, and Frist hinted that a vote on a filibuster rules change could come next week. Conservative activists upped their pressure on the Republican leadership to prevent them from compromising on an up or down vote for all nominees.

In the New York Times, James Dobson explicitly threatens the majority leader's political future (without Monopoly metaphors, no less): "'If this is true,' Dr. Dobson said in an interview Tuesday, 'it will represent an end run around the majority leader and will quite frankly be seen as a betrayal of the millions of people who put George Bush and the Republicans in office.'" LINK

"Returning from a weeklong recess, Republican senators admitted they were getting conflicting advice from constituents," the Wall Street Journal's David Rogers reports. "'Don't change the rules but give them all a vote. Thanks a lot,' said Sen. Gordon Smith (R., Ore.), paraphrasing what he had heard from voters. If any rules change is approved, he is one who seems to cling to the hope that it won't effect permanent change. 'We're caught between the pragmatic desire on all of our parts to preserve the Senate as an institution versus giving credible nominees by the president their day for a vote.'"

A Page 1 editorial in the Manchester Union Leader, under the headline "Primary Votes Will Be Watching," begins as follows: "PRESIDENT BUSH and U.S. Senate Republicans have the far better case in the matter of Democrats refusing to allow judges to be voted on in a straightforward, up-or-down fashion. The problem is that Republicans aren't very good at public relations 'spin' -- and the Democrats have a ready ally in much of Big Media."

"But if the Republicans don't wise up and have the guts to stop the Democrats' current misuse of the filibuster, they will find that a President Hillary Clinton and her pals will have no such problem in suddenly 'discovering' that the Founding Fathers never intended judges or other Presidential appointments to be blocked in this manner."

Republican and Democratic Senate leaders are saying it's time to forget the compromise plans of moderates in their respective parties in favor of a face-off over the filibuster, the Washington Post's Chuck Babington reports. LINK

The Los Angeles Times' Maura Reynolds casts Frist in the driver's seat, saying he intends to bring the first of several judicial nominations to the floor after the Senate passes the transportation bill, which is expected to happen by the end of this week. LINK

AP's Jesse Holland and David Espo write that Sen. John McCain on Tuesday privately urged his fellow Senate Republicans to compromise. LINK

Roll Call's Mark Preston reports that more than 50 of the country's most influential business executives will get the full-court press on the filibuster option in separate closed-door meetings with Senate Republican and Democratic leaders. Frist and his team sit down with the Business Roundtable this morning, and Reid and his team have them for dinner.

Roll Call's Paul Kane writes that Priscilla Owen "could become the most tangible symbol of the current judicial wars."

The Washington Post's Dana Milbank looks at the . . . candid (and for his spokesman Jim Manley, gut-wrenching) way of speaking of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid as he navigates his party's public stances on the agendas of both the White House and Senate colleagues across the aisle. LINK

Bolton:
Under the headline "Report could hurt Bolton," The Hill's Alexander Bolton writes, "State Department officials have shared with Senate Democrats the findings of a sensitive State Department inspector general's report that could further undermine the nomination of John Bolton to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations."

"The inspector general's report, which is considered sensitive but not classified, is critical of the expansion of a State Department bureau's role in assessing intelligence under Bolton during his service as the undersecretary of arms control and international security, according to sources who have read the report." LINK

Though, we're not sure we see how this changes the calculus of a potential party line vote.

Senate Democrats said Tuesday they wouldn't try to delay further the nomination of Bolton to be U.N. ambassador when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee meets this week and would participate in the debate and vote scheduled for Thursday, the Los Angeles Times' Mary Curtius reports. LINK

The Washington Post's Glenn Kessler reports that the controversial speech about North Korea that Bolton gave in the summer of 2003 that evidently got former ambassador to South Korea Thomas Hubbard and then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage up in arms was actually signed off upon in advance by the relevant officials. LINK

Kessler takes a closer look at a dispute over a CIA intelligence analysis in 2002 that Democrats say is indicative of a pattern of intimidation, and Republicans say is a small matter blown out of proportion. LINK

James Baker and Ed Meese defend Bolton in a Times op-ed. LINK

And a clinical psychologist tries to probe Mr. Bolton's behavior. LINK

The politics of national security:
"The Bush administration periodically put the USA on high alert for terrorist attacks even though then-Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge argued there was only flimsy evidence to justify raising the threat level, Ridge now says," writes USA Today's Mimi Hall of comments Ridge made Tuesday at a Washington forum on homeland security. Ridge also said he wanted to "debunk the myth" that DHS was responsible for raising the threat level under the color-coded system he introduced in 2002. LINK

Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld gave an interview with the New York Times yesterday, vowing to continue his quest for a leaner military, refusing to comment on his legacy, and "giving every indication of serving out the rest of the Bush administration." LINK

"After three unsuccessful tries, the Pentagon is asking Congress again this year to loosen major environmental laws to allow military training exercises around the country to proceed unimpeded," the New York Times' Michael Janofsky reports. LINK

Social Security:
The Los Angeles Times' Peter Gosselin turns in a great story about how it's one thing to talk about making wise investment choices with your money when saving for retirement; it's another entirely to actually do it. Gosselin talks to Nobel Prize-winning economists and academics who say they haven't always followed their own advice regarding retirement savings, and Notes that the President's plan for personal accounts would require some pretty savvy investment by average Americans if they hope to reap the kind of gains Bush talks about. LINK

New York Times guest columnist Matt Miller debuts with a call for his fellow Democrats to be responsible demagogues. "Responsibly Demagogic Democrats will blast Bush for wanting to borrow fresh trillions to create dubious new private accounts. But they won't dis 'progressive indexing' on the merits, even though it's a juicy gazillion-dollar pseudo-'cut.'" LINK

"I know this is asking a lot. Republicans didn't demagogue responsibly when they caricatured Hillarycare as 'socialist' back in the 1990's. But being a Democrat may mean being a little better even when you're bad."

CAFTA:
"With 2 million people who were born in Central America now living in the United States, the Democrats oppose CAFTA at their peril. These voters will not take kindly to nativist sentiment in the party that says it offers them opportunity and compassion," columnizes Dick Morris in The Hill. LINK

"Hispanic voters are much less concerned about immigration issues than about free-trade questions. Once they are here and have become citizens and voters, the opening of borders is a far-away issue at best. But likely each of these voters has family still living in Central America. The more than $10 billion sent home by Mexicans and Central Americans living here attests to their concern for the folks back home. If the Democratic Party wants to have an all-out battle with the Republicans over compassion for Central America, it would be a serious mistake."

"The danger in putting this treaty up for approval now is that a defeat for CAFTA will signal to the world that the United States can't walk the walk when it comes to curbing farm subsidies, thereby killing any prospect for the trade talks that really do matter -- those in Geneva aimed at a global trade treaty. To avert that defeat, a desperate White House might try to pick off enough sugar-state votes by promising not to include sugar in any future deals. But either way, the effect will be the same: Hundreds of thousands of high-paying export jobs in growing service and technology sectors will be sacrificed to preserve the livelihood of 10,000 subsidy-addicted farmers and agri-millionaires," writes Washington Post columnist Steven Pearlstein in his argument against the Central American Free Trade Agreement. LINK

Rove agenda:
Roll Call's Chris Cillizza reports that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove sat down on Saturday with Nevada politicos including Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), Republican consultant Sig Rogich and public relations executives Billy Vassiliadis and Pete Ernaut when he was in Las Vegas to deliver the keynote speech for the Clark County Lincoln Day Dinner.

"The nature and tenor of the meeting is in dispute, with some painting it as an unacknowledged but obvious attempt at bridge-building by Rove, while others cast it as an opportunity to vent against Reid's tenure as Senate Minority Leader."

"The meeting is the latest development in the complex relationship between Rove and Reid -- a partnership that has grown strained since the Senator ascended to his party's top post following the defeat of Sen. Tom Daschle (S.D.) in 2004."

". . . None of the participants involved in the meeting returned calls seeking a full account of the nature of the proceedings. But sources familiar with the gathering agreed that Rove expressed a desire to work with Reid going forward."

"Beyond that, some sources emphasized that several of the participants used the forum to express their displeasure with the way Reid has acted in Washington, D.C., since being elected Minority Leader. Other sources portrayed the meeting in a more positive light for Reid, arguing that it shows the Nevada Democrat has proven a stronger adversary than the White House expected."

Bush agenda:
Vice President Cheney scored a big victory yesterday when a federal appeals court in Washington, DC unanimously dismissed a lawsuit seeking to force him to turn over records of private meetings he held to form the Administration's energy policy in 2001, the Washington Post's Carol Leonnig and Jim VandeHei report. LINK

The Department of Agriculture paid a freelancer to write favorable stories about conservation programs and get them placed in hunting and fishing magazines, USA Today's Mark Memmott reports. LINK

House of Labor:
The International Association of Machinists, in a new Web video, pokes fun at Service Employees International Union President Andrew Stern for seeming to strategically outwit his own side in a long-running dispute over the future of the AFL-CIO.The video, called Mind Games, is available on the IAM's Web site, www.goiam.ORG.

It portrays Stern and, and an ally of his, UniteHere executive John Wilhelm as engaged in a cryptic game of chess Wilhelm is considered a potential opponent of AFL-CIO President John Sweeney in a July election, and some who want Wilhelm to run say he is waiting to see whether Stern will leave the AFL-CIO. Stern has told Wilhelm he'd support him and stay in if he agrees with Wilhelm's presidential platform.

The video portrays the "Stern" chess player as attempting to outmaneuver "Wilhelm" on the chess board, and eventually leaving Wilhelm's king exposed.

"It looks like Stern is playing mind games with himself," the video's narrator says at the end.

The dig at Stern comes a day after he joined James Hoffa's Teamsters, Bruce Raynor's UniteHere, and Terry O'Sullivan's Laborers in a vim-and-vigor Teamster rally in Las Vegas.

Wilhelm gave what sounded to some observers like a campaign speech.

For his part, Stern took aim at other unions he said were in the way reform, the New York Sun reported. "If unions think that the labor movement can allow this to happen, they can kiss my ass," he said to cheers.

IAM President Tom Buffenbarger and Stern have made no secret of their mutual wariness. Associates say they do not get along personally. And they've disagreed over substance, too: over the size of a rebate to unions to organize, over Stern's preference for forcing member-endorsed mergers without the consent of union leaders, and over the way Stern's allies have treated Mr. Sweeney.

A recent New York Times magazine, seen as highly favorable to Stern, portrayed Buffenbarger as an out-of-touch union boss who travels by posh private jet. The IAM has threatened to leave the AFL-CIO if Stern and his allies take control.

The five unions have agitated for a broad reform of the labor body and want to oust Sweeney from office. The union presidents met privately to discuss strategy after yesterday's rally. The leaders are working this week to write a blueprint for how these unions would coordinate their efforts. A preliminary announcement is expected Monday.

Together, they represent about 40 percent of the AFL-CIO's membership; they need several more unions to join up.

Sweeney stands unopposed for re-election, although several who initially supported him, like the firefighters' union president Harold Schaitberger, are having second thoughts.

It was unclear yesterday if Stern had seen the IAM video, though a reporter had e-mailed it to him.

"We're focused on changing the union movement, said Ben Boyd, Stern's communications director. "Others are focused on petty personal issues."

For its part, the IAM's web video signals the start of a more aggressive campaign on behalf of Stern's opponents and Sweeney's allies.

"It's time to end the charade," said Rick Sloan, IAM's communications director. "These guys don't give a damn about organizing, restructuring or reform. All the [dissident unions] want is power, the power to dictate to independent and democratic unions."

In other labor news, the UFCW's Paul Blank and Tracy Sefl, the research director for the SEIU-backed WalMartWatch, speak today at a conference in Baltimore to share with other Wal-Mart opponents their perspectives on how best to take on the company's business practices. LINK

The Rosen trial:
"As the trial of a top fund-raising official on Senator Clinton's 2000 campaign got under way in federal court here yesterday, the judge hearing the case vowed not to allow the proceedings to become a referendum on Mrs. Clinton, her politics, or her personal life," writes preeminent Rosen beat reporter Josh Gerstein of the New York Sun (who could no doubt identify the correct David Rosen in a photograph). LINK

"'This isn't a trial about Senator Clinton,' Judge A. Howard Matz said, as lawyers discussed written questionnaires filled out by potential jurors in the case. 'Senator Clinton has no stake in this trial as a party or a principal. . . . She's not going to be a witness,' the judge said."

Deb Orin gives Sen. Clinton's former trip director Kelly Craighead a starring role in her day one write-up of jury selection at the Rosen trial. LINK

"The proposed jury questionnaire lists Craighead and other key players -- including longtime Clinton loyalist Harold Ickes -- to prevent conflicts of interest by checking if jurors know any of them."

"Opening statements were supposed to begin today, but lawyers hadn't even started the process of individually questioning jurors yesterday," reports the New York Daily News. LINK

2008: Republicans:
George Allen gets the Geoff Earle profile treatment in The Hill where Earle calls the Senator "affable and easy going." LINK

Gov. Mitt Romney is less than clear about his re-elect plans, per the AP. LINK

The Boston Herald looks into Romney's support of tax breaks in the Bay State, as Fortune 500 companies and other large GOP campaign donors seems to be the benefactors. LINK

Congressional ethics:
The Washington Post's Mike Allen reports that House Republican leaders are considering a plan to have the ethics committee pre-approve privately sponsored trips for lawmakers and their staffs before they head out the door, and House Speaker Dennis Hastert is seeking bipartisan input on changes to travel rules. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi protested that the idea addresses just a symptom, not the problem of the system overall. LINK

The Los Angeles Times' Richard Simon and Tom Hamburger preview the tribute to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay tomorrow night in Washington, where a crowd of more than 800, including RNC chairman Ken Mehlman, American Conservative Union chairman David Keene, and Grover Norquist. But the show of conservative solidarity doesn't necessarily equal devotion. LINK

"Even some planning to attend the dinner privately acknowledged the possibility that DeLay might not survive as majority leader. DeLay, they said, is not indispensable to the conservative movement in the same way that earlier figures, such as Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich, were at various points in recent history."

"'The movement has reached a level of maturity,' one said, asking not to be identified. 'DeLay is just one among a strong and deep field. If he is taken out, the movement will be fine.'"

"Indeed, organizers say that one goal of the dinner is to shore up DeLay's standing among his Republican colleagues."

From The Hill: "Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) has offered to remove his name from a lobbying reform bill if Republican leadership agrees to give the bill a vote on the House floor." LINK

"The move follows warnings by House Republican leaders that the legislation would face strong opposition if Emanuel remained a co-author. It also comes as Democrats and Republicans are jockeying for higher ethical ground amid a heightened focus in Washington on lobbying practices."

"As the head of the [DCCC], I expect very few people to take Rahm seriously on this issue, and it is absurd that he would try to set the terms for negotiation on how this issue will move forward,' said Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio), the chairman of the House Administration Committee, which has jurisdiction on the lobbying reform bill."

"Ney added, 'In the days ahead, I intend to sit down with serious and sincere members such as Marty Meehan (D-Mass.) and others in order to come up with a good, bipartisan bill. I'll leave the silly political gameship to Rahm Emanuel. I don't negotiate nonsense.'"

The American Prospect's Art Levine breaks new ground in a look at Ney's alleged role in the Tigua Indian tribe matter. LINK

.

The Houston Chronicle reports that Tom DeLay's home district in Texas has passed a resolution of support for the Congressman. County GOP Chairman Jared Woodfill also warns a future challenger, "They better be ready for battle. Tom has told us he will fight to defend his district and we will be there to back him up." LINK

2006:
The New York Post peeks ahead to the expected Senate candidacy of Nixon son-in-law Ed Cox to be announced in the "coming months." LINK

"Westchester District Attorney Jeanine Pirro says that it's flattering to hear she's the choice of the White House to run against Sen. Hillary Clinton, but she refused to say whether she would make the race," reports the Associated Press. LINK

2005:
Quinnipiac University's latest poll numbers help support two key findings from the Marist Institute poll released a couple of weeks ago. Yes, it's May. Yes, there are no ads on television yet. But this is what the New York chattering class will be chattering about all day today. (Well, at least until the campaigns start releasing their fundraising figures for the filing period that ends today.)

1. Michael Bloomberg has become the general election frontrunner with only spending a tiny fraction of what he is likely to dole out by Nov. 8.

2. Democratic frontrunner Fernando Ferrer is locked in a much tougher primary battle than anticipated making his path to the nomination far less clear than it once was.

One other interesting finding to Note in today's poll: Should Ferrer or Fields emerge the nominee, it appears they might have a tough time keeping Miller and Weiner supporters in the Democratic fold. From Quinnipiac's release: "Among Democrats backing Ferrer, 71 percent say they will vote for the primary winner, no matter who it is. Among Fields backers, 57 percent say they will back the Democrat in the general election. Only 43 percent of Miller supporters and 46 percent of Weiner backers say they would back the Democratic primary winner instead of Bloomberg."

The poll "showed Bloomberg leading Ferrer 47 to 38 percent. The mayor was six points behind Ferrer, a Democrat, in Quinnipiac's last poll released March 30," reports the Associated Press. LINK

"Bloomberg led Fields 43 to 38 percent, and was ahead of Miller 42 to 35 percent, the poll found. He led Weiner 44 to 32 percent."

"Among Democratic primary voters, Fields continued to gain ground against Ferrer, whose numbers have tumbled steadily since his statement in March that the 1999 shooting of Amadou Diallo was not a crime. In the latest poll, 27 percent of primary voters said they backed Ferrer, versus 23 percent for Fields."

The New York Post editorial page takes Ferrer to task for his attack on Mayor Bloomberg's development plan for Greenpoint/Williamsburg. LINK

In his trail mix today, Stefan Friedman of the New York Post looks at Anthony Weiner's contributions from companies with city contracts despite his constant attacks on "pay to play." And don't miss the nugget on Gifford Miller's boycotting of City Hall. LINK

Giff Miller's penchant for song -- and that's not a euphemism for anything -- gets New York Times ink today. LINK

New Hampshire:
As Social Security simmers on the congressional burner, Rep. Jeb Bradley alerted Hookettites in Hooksett (NH) on Monday that the entitlement program will reach its boiling point by 2017 unless a new policy formula is devised: writes Matthew Call of The Manchester Union Leader. Despite discernible angst among locals, Bradley opposed the Notion that a repeal of President Bush's tax cuts is the answer, as they have served to rejuvenate a logy economy and their cancellation would likely choke small business owners. LINK

Politics:
The Washington Post's Dan Balz looks at the study by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press aiming to give a political typology to the country, which concludes that the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 were a major force for the "realignment" in 2004 that allowed Republicans to expand their base on the issues of terrorism and national security to include swing voters and some Democrats. Republicans were more successful in attracting voters without a strong pull to either party, though the GOP hasn't been as successful in either getting their new coalition on one page or getting everyone to self-identify as Republicans. LINK

The Los Angeles Times' Janet Hook writes that an actual realignment giving the Republican Party long-term power is far from complete, even though the 2004 political landscape is a testament to President Bush's personal popularity with voters, according to Pew Center Director Andrew Kohut. Hook also Notes the gains in popularity that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has made -- 10 points on the approval scale in two years. LINK

Hans Nichols of The Hill looks at the launch of the latest left-leaning think tank, the New Politics Institute. LINK

"Acknowledging their internal ideological differences, the group is putting a high premium on winning at the polls and is willing to put aside any potential policy disputes to return the Democrats to power, Deborah Rappaport said."

"A Baptist pastor accused of threatening to banish from his church anyone who didn't vote for President Bush has himself chosen to depart, leaving in his wake a divided community and a cultural chasm," AP reports. LINK

Former Washington state Gov. Gary Locke weighed in on the ongoing trial over Christine Gregoire's gubernatorial election as Democrats upped the pressure on Republican Dino Rossi to drop his legal challenge on Tuesday, writes Gregory Roberts of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. LINK

"What does the British election (and British politics) tell us about American politics?" Michael Barone asks in a Wall Street Journal op-ed?

"First, it suggests that Third Way politics is, after a while, fissiparous. It is an unstable chemical compound which, when it sticks together, is very powerful, but which tends to fall apart. And when it does, the center-left party becomes simply left." [Note Note: we looked up fissiparous, and it means, according to the American Heritage Dictionary, "Tending to break up into parts or break away from a main body; factious."]

All right: onward, then:

"Second, it suggests that a right party that wants to be a center-right party needs to combine economic and cultural conservatives. The problem in Britain is that there aren't very many cultural conservatives except on issues like immigration and crime -- which can easily get a party labeled racist. There is no equivalent of the American religious right: Tony Blair is the Christian leader of a pagan country."

"Third, it suggests that American nationalism is indeed exceptional. Mr. Blair stood and listened while opponents lambasted the war and the BBC allowed no positive case for it whatever to be made. No pride in Britain taking a lead role in liberating the Middle East; Mr. Blair just asked credit for sincerity in what he was doing."

"Fourth, it suggests that a politics of centrism and caution doesn't bring out new voters. Turnout was up only slightly, a big contrast with the U.S. elections of 2004. Popular votes for New Labour declined from 1997 to 2001 and from 2001 to 2005."

"Mario Cuomo has settled a $15 million lawsuit against the author and publisher of a best-selling book that he said portrayed him as corrupt," reports papa-to-be Dareh Gregorian in the New York Post. LINK

The Clintons of Chappaqua:
Page Six spies saw Bill (popcorn in hand) and Hillary Clinton "sneaking" into a movie theater to catch the Enron documentary. LINK

Free Matt Cooper and Judith Miller:
Lawyers for Time's Matt Cooper and the New York Times' Judith Miller have asked the Supreme Court to throw out the contempt orders against them for refusing to identify their sources in the Valerie Plame leak case. LINK

Schwarzenegger era:
The Los Angeles Times' Jordan Rau and Robert Salladay look at how the ballot for this fall's special election may end up looking, with eight possible initiatives whose petitions have been submitted. LINK

Spokane Mayor:
The FBI has opened an investigation into a possible "public corruption" case involving Spokane, WA Mayor James West, the Spokemsan-Review's Bill Morlin reports. LINK

Former mayors are urging West to resign. LINK