NEWS SUMMARY

Today's big policy/politics event is the President's Washington speech on the war against Iraq.

Saturday's big politics/politics event is the President's first pure campaign rally -- to be held in Orlando (which was the Cleveland of the 2000 election).

The Note remembers when a presidential visit to Orlando wasn't run of the mill -- seeing George H.W. Bush attend a campaign rally at Church Street Station downtown and reading days and days of obsessively detailed media coverage bracketing the event.

Today, the Sentinel doesn't go overboard, preferring to use the President's visit as a way to assess the Orange County Convention Center's preparedness for such things. LINK

(Perhaps more to the point, the front page of the paper is running an Iraq anniversary series that looks at how the war touched five individuals, individually.) LINK

Anyone still looking for tickets for tomorrow? LINK

The Note remembers watching Ric Flair take on Barry Windham in 1989 at this convention center, which, at the time, was covered by an ugly, rotted, mirror-glass exterior and could barely fit 5,000 people.

The new convention center is sparkling and broad, and was built with the expectation that Orlando would one day host a national political convention. And there are plenty of secure locations for the Secret Service and their orthodox embusses.

There's plenty to do this weekend in O-Town.

For instance: take a tour of Reggie, the RNC registration bus.

Or, today, you can watch gay and lesbian couples protest for same-sex marriage rights in Orlando. LINK

Hungry entouragers can cross the street and sup at one of the Peabody Hotel's fine restaurants.

Tiger Woods is there for the Bay Hill invitational. The NCAA's in town, too. LINK

Art lovers can venture to Winter Park for its annual sidewalk arts festival.

We send you into your weekend (happy snowboarding!!!) with these Friday must-reads:

1. Sen. John Kerry is uniting party resources in an effort to raise $100 million for his efforts to White House, write Jim VandeHei and Thomas B. Edsall of the Washington Post. They go on to Note that Kerry has "pulled in more than $26 million, including $18 million over the Internet," since the Iowa caucuses. LINK

Interesting blind paraphrase here.

"Kerry, who appears to be capitalizing more on animosity toward President Bush than on excitement for his own candidacy, is positioning himself for a big financial lift heading into his party's summer convention, the officials said."

"Although Bush is virtually certain to raise more money than Kerry -- and perhaps double -- Democrats are no longer concerned that the president will spend the Democratic nominee into the ground even before most voters tune into the race months from now. Some Republicans privately express concern that Bush's money advantage will not prove invincible, as they had once believed."

And Note that Terry Lierman is identified as a Kerry fundraiser (graduating from his former incarnation as one of Howard Dean's top money men.) Plus, great info from Susman, Grossman and Maroney.

And this: "....Democrats are copying Bush's successful model of creating scorecards for their top fundraisers, and have added special Internet tracking systems so that the people who raise large amounts get credit from the campaign and their peers."

2. We're not sure where this will go: "Senator Kerry of Massachusetts yesterday retreated from his earlier steadfast denials that he attended a meeting of Vietnam Veterans Against the War at which a plan to assassinate U.S. Senators was debated," reports Josh Gerstein in the New York Sun. LINK

"The reversal came as new evidence, including reports from FBI informants, emerged that contradicted Mr. Kerry's previous statements about the gathering, which was held in Kansas City, Mo. in November 1971."

"'John Kerry had no personal recollection of this meeting 33 years ago,' a Kerry campaign spokesman, David Wade, said in a statement e-mailed last night from Idaho, where Mr. Kerry is on vacation."

"Mr. Wade said Mr. Kerry does remember 'disagreements with elements of VVAW leadership" that led to his resignation, but the statement did not specify what the disagreements were.'"

3. The New York Times' Andrews and Pear write that "Trustees for Medicare and Social Security will report next week that the two entitlement programs will eventually need more than twice as much money as previously estimated, experts who helped prepare the calculations say." LINK

4. "Richard S. Foster, the government's chief analyst of Medicare costs who was threatened with firing last year if he disclosed too much information to Congress, said last night that he believes the White House participated in the decision to withhold analyses that Medicare legislation President Bush sought would be far more expensive than lawmakers knew," reports the Washington Post's Amy Goldstein. LINK

5. The Wall Street Journal's Schlesinger reports that with voters already worrying about a weak economy and slow job growth, soaring gas prices could further decrease Bush's approval ratings. 6. Ron Brownstein of the Los Angeles Times delivers the must-read of the day for those tooling with their E-College calculators. Both campaigns claim they get to at least 200 electoral votes with relative ease and will doggedly fight over 10-12 tossup states. And if you haven't been paying much attention of late& it's all about Ohio! LINK

"The Democrats' focus appears to have moved from Southern states that Gore fought for but lost in 2000 toward other possible pickups: Southwestern states -- especially Nevada and Arizona -- and states that have lost jobs under Bush, such as Ohio, West Virginia and Missouri."

"Bush advisors see states with large numbers of rural and culturally conservative voters -- principally Minnesota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Oregon -- as their best opportunities to capture electoral votes Gore won in 2000."

7. The Washington Post's Robin Wright and Dana Milbank on the Administration's war predictions, one year hence. LINK

President Bush delivers a speech on the situation in Iraq and visits soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He will attend a rally in Orlando, Fla., on Saturday.

Sen. Kerry is on vacation in Ketchum, Idaho until March 24.

Rep. Kucinich campaigns in Alaska. He will be in New York City on Saturday.

Ralph Nader campaigns in San Antonio, Texas. He will be in Texas on Saturday and Oklahoma on Sunday.

Saturday brings three more caucuses: Wyoming, Guam and Alaska.

And happy Spring!

ABC News Vote 2004: Sen. John Kerry:

ABC News' Kerry campaign reporter "Diamond" Ed O'Keefe, who, (not) incidentally, looks hot in his ski gear, files this exclusive report from atop Bald Mountain in Idaho:

As Sen. John Kerry carved his Burton snowboard down a green rated Upper College run, another skier interrupted his stride, colliding with the presumptive Democratic nominee at 9,010 feet.

The slope-cade of two Ski Patrollers, several Secret Service agents, two journalists, one camera and one Kerry aide suddenly came to a halt. The Massachusetts Senator lay on the ground, removed his Smith sunglasses, and surveyed the damage.

Assured that the ABC News camera accompanying the entourage had not captured Kerry's fall, the Senator glared at your sloping Noter and assured, "I don't fall down. That son of a bitch ran into me."

Alas, the Senator's private vacation in a very public place was filled with interruption. While Kerry took a break on the "Warm Springs" run, a woman stopped to shout, "We're from Oklahoma and we love you!"

The Senator's breath-catching moment quickly became an irresistible Christmas card opportunity as the woman gathered her family around the still-sitting Senator.

A duty-bound husband sheepishly said while pointing to his camera, "Hey, can we, do you mind?"

Before Kerry could weigh in, the man answered his own question observing, "I guess it's kind of your job."

Fortunately for the Senator, the exchange just may pay off. When asked if he intends to vote for Kerry, the Oklahoman Noted, "After seeing him ski? Yeah."

But not everyone in the solidly red state of Idaho was pleased to see the President's opponent ride Sun Valley's Challenger chair lift.

While the Senator waved to light applause outside the base camp ski lodge, inside he was greeted by a quiet chant of "Bush, Bush!"

All of which brings The Note to a weighty, serious, but in no way scientific or limited to this list analysis of a major issue of the day: Ketchum vs. Crawford.

	Ketchum	Crawford
Population	3,873	705
Elevation	5,750 feet	734 feet
Stoplights	2 full-fledged stoplights	1 blinking yellow
Candidate Leisure Fodder	Snow	Brush
Best Restaurant	Pioneer Saloon	The Coffee Station
Nearest McDonald's	13 miles	13.5 miles
Most Famous Resident	Ernest Hemingway	George W. Bush
Best Shop	Iconoclast Books	The Yellow Rose
Guns Sold at Best Shop?	No	Yes
Average New Home Price	Over $1 million	Less than $1 million
Press Filing Center	Condos	Elementary School
Availability of NYTimes	Yes	Not so much
Politics	Spot of blue in sea of red	RED
Candidate Home Name	None*	Prairie Chapel Ranch

^* Any suggestions?

Bearing in mind that Teresa Heinz Kerry has a fondness for Mt. Baldy runs; proven recently, when the press corps discovered that Heinz Kerry named her private jet the "Flying Squirrel" after her favorite Sun Valley slope of the same name.

Here are some authentic Ketchum area slopes to get the creative juices flowing:

"Broadway Face"
"French Connection"
"Lefty Bowl"
"Limelight" (only Black Diamond skied by Kerry)

In O'Keefeian colorful detail, The New York Times' Halbfinger characterizes Sen. Kerry's badly needed vacation after making several missteps and being confronted with a Bush ad "saying Tuesday that he had voted both for and against the $87 billion appropriation for military operations and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan." LINK

Note real estate developer and Kerry friend Sam Grossman's expectations setting for the vacation. What if John Kerry doesn't emerge from Idaho a better candidate?

Pat Healy of the Boston Globe writes a deliciously descriptive account of Sen. Kerry's first day off the campaign trail and on the ski slopes. All the Googling Monkeys working overtime on The Note are crazy jealous. (Test: who can find the obscure O'Keefe reference first?) LINK

The Washington Post's David Ignatius suggests that John Kerry just might not "have the toughness and wisdom to lead the United States and the world in wartime." LINK

The New York Daily News' DeFrank does John Kerry's bad week. LINK

Matea Gold of the Los Angeles Times looks at the not-so-wanted international endorsements for John Kerry. LINK

Scott Lehigh of the Boston Globe writes a glowing column on how Sen. John Kerry is a model of leadership, despite arguments to the contrary. LINK

ABC News Vote 2004: Bush-Cheney re-elect:

The campaign reported this morning that they had $110 million on hand as of Feb. 29.

As President Bush heads to Florida, the St. Petersburg Times reports that Bill McCollum, a Republican candidate for the Senate from the Sunshine State, criticized the President for having a weak stance on spending. LINK

The New York Times' Elisabeth Bumiller wraps Bush's trip to Fort Campbell which White House sources say was meant as a thank you to the troops, "but in the context of new terrorist attacks in Iraq and a presidential campaign dominated by the debate over the American-led invasion, Mr. Bush's trip had intense political overtones." LINK

The Los Angeles Times' Chen and Anderson Note the scent of politics in the President's trips, where "the presidential campaign is now a backdrop for nearly all of his speeches." "In an indirect slap at Kerry, Bush praised members of Congress who voted last year for an $87-billion spending bill to fund military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq." LINK

And the political overtones of the trip did not escape the local press.

The Lexington Herald-Leader's Estep writes that maybe we will see yesterday's video again before November. "The scene could have made a campaign video for the president in this election year when the war in Iraq will be a key issue. It was a bright day with warm springlike temperatures; Bush looked out over a sea of soldiers in camouflage who waved small American flags and cheered him often during the 26-minute speech." LINK

"Bush also noted that he has signed three military pay increases," reports the Louisville Courier Journal's Cross. LINK

The national political reporters write up the President's trip to Kentucky:

USA Today's Keen on the President's trip to Fort Campbell: LINK

The Washington Post's Milbank: LINK

The New York Post's Orin LINK

AP's Tom Raum looks at the role that Vice President Cheney will play in this year's election -- potential attack dog. "Bush, himself, has challenged Kerry by name, but his jabs have been relatively gentle compared to Cheney's."

But Cheney's visibility could be a double edged sword -- his more prominent role "also hands Democrats new ammunition, as Cheney's slumping poll numbers and questions about his business ties have cast a cloud over his campaign activities, turning him into a target." LINK

A recent poll found that Miami-Dade County Hispanics shows strong support for President Bush's re-election, but that could be a tenuous support unless the President toughens his stance on Cuba, the Miami Herald reports. LINK

The Wall Street Journal's Jackie Calmes reports in the Washington Wire that some Republicans are worried that President Bush cannot stay in "attack mode from now 'til November."

Yeah, baby, yeah &

The RNC has released a new Web video poking fun at Sen. Kerry's claims of support from foreign leaders. Complete with groovy graphics and smashing Austin Powers background music, the video brings to life the recent RNC catch-phrase for Kerry: International Man of Mystery. While we admit the video is quite humorous (almost laugh out loud), exceedingly clever, and especially cutting, it does contain slightly juvenile antics not necessarily befitting the President of the United States.

The ad is already getting some response. From CNN:

Donna Brazile, speaking about the RNC video release: "I think it's just funny."
Soledad O'Brien: "What about you, Andy. Do you think it's funny?"
The New Yorker's Andy Borowitz: "I think the Democrats should make an ad taking Janet Jackson's breast and morphing it into George Bush's head -- it's time to expose this boob."

The real question remains: is that truly Austin Powers doing the voice-overs or another actor or two?

The Democrats were not to be outdone. Here's a first look at their response: LINK

The Bush character looks like Rich Little, somehow.

ABC News Vote 2004: the politics of national security:

And one Donald Rumsfeld marks today's anniversary on the New York Times op-ed page. The Secretary of Defense cites the United States' reasons for going to war: "In Iraq, for 12 years, through 17 United Nations Security Council resolutions, the world gave Saddam Hussein every opportunity to avoid war. He was being held to a simple standard: live up to your agreement at the end of the 1991 Persian Gulf war; disarm and prove you have done so. Instead of disarming -- as Kazakhstan, South Africa and Ukraine did, and as Libya is doing today -- Saddam Hussein chose deception and defiance." LINK

The New York Times' editorial board writes on the one year anniversary of U.S. occupation in Iraq and suggests "this is a good moment to take stock of what has been accomplished and what has not, especially since the day is rapidly approaching when the United States hopes to turn over the governing of Iraq to the leaders of the nation's three major ethnic or religious groups - who have shown no serious signs of being able to cooperate." LINK

The New York Times and the Washington Post both go to town on John McCain's failure to be in full attack mode against John Kerry on a morning show on Thursday.

McCain said his friend John Kerry was not "quote, 'weak on defense." LINK

"Some of Bush's staunchest backers seemed infuriated by McCain's comments, which ran counter to the Republicans' theme of the week and landed on an otherwise quiet day, with Kerry on vacation in Idaho. Conservative talk show hosts, including Laura Ingraham, denounced McCain's remarks, and by midday the senator was declining most interview requests," the Washington Post's Babington reports.

"Two associates close to McCain said that he is weary of such criticisms from within his party but that he refuses to join what he considers unfair attacks on Kerry, a friend and fellow decorated veteran of the Vietnam War. They noted that McCain was asked point-blank whether he thinks Kerry is weak on defense, not a more nuanced question such as how his and Kerry's voting records differ."

"'John Kerry is his friend,' McCain's chief of staff, Mark Salter, said. 'He's not going to attack his friend.'"

Todd Purdum of the New York Times does his usual smashing job in squeezing a well-written story out of a blip in the news cycle. And if you don't read all the way to the end to catch Jano's bizarre PB&J/Bennifer metaphor you are denying yourself a special Friday treat. LINK

"Now, his defense of Mr. Kerry, a friend and fellow Vietnam veteran, shows once again how Mr. McCain's incorrigible independent streak and ill-disguised distance from President Bush make him one of Washington's most unpredictable -- and unavoidable -- men," writes Purdum.

The New York Times' Paul Krugman writes of Bush's foreign policies: "at no point has it been legitimate to hold Mr. Bush accountable. And that's the way he wants it." LINK

Dr. Rice In the Morning:

On the one year anniversary of the start of hostilities in Iraq, Dr. Condi Rice made the morning show rounds-appearing on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.

In her interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC's "Good Morning America," Dr. Rice said of the operation on the Pakistani border: "this is a Pakistani operation."

On NBC's "Today Show," Matt Lauer played a clip of Republican Sen. John McCain saying of Kerry on Thursday: "No, I do not believe that he is 'weak on defense.' He is responsible for his voting record as we all are. But no, I do not believe he is 'weak on defense.'"

Rice responded by saying: ""I think what Sen. McCain said is that people will have to examine the record and that's what a presidential election is about."

On the CBS "Early Show," Rice was asked about a report from the Democratic staff of the House Government Reform Committee that Rice and other Bush Administration officials made 237 misleading statements about the threat posed by Iraq. She was also asked about a CBS poll that shows 59 percent of Americans believe the Bush Administration's handling of intelligence on Iraqi weapons was "exaggerated to build support for war" while only 32 percent think the Bush Administration "interpreted accurately."

Rice said in response: "I have no idea what they are talking about because this man is a threat."

ABC News Vote 2004: Bush vs. Kerry:

The AP's Ronald "Ron" Fournier (this time give the assist to Sidoti) looks at the updated ad from the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign which uses Sen. Kerry's own words on the $87 billion Iraq supplemental to show his flip-flopping on the issue.

"Privately, Kerry's advisers acknowledged that the response was a mistake that played into Bush's efforts to cast his rival as a politician who takes both sides of every issue. The development also underscored how difficult it will be for Kerry to defend the thousands of votes he has cast as a four-term Massachusetts senator," reports Fournier. LINK

Mark Memmott of USA Today writes that it is that time when the candidates are trying different word games in order to define themselves, their messages, and each other. LINK

Just because they're cool like that, those folks at USA Today decided to include a handy dandy chart with the key terms, who's saying it, about whom, and what it means. LINK

The Washington Post's Al Kamen writes that the Bush and Kerry campaigns need new themes because the Democrats' efforts to compare Bush to Herbert Hoover and republicans' attempts to align Jane Fonda together with Kerry has one major flaw: most Americans do not know who Hoover and Fonda are. LINK

ABC News Vote 2004: the battlegrounds:

BC04 chairman Marc Racicot opened a headquarters in Albuquerque yesterday "New Mexico is absolutely essential to our efforts . . . "We don't have a president that's afraid of terrorists." <LINK

Dean's new group:

The Washington Post -- LINK

The New York Times -- (written, in her usual style, by Wilgoren, who also flew commercial!) LINK

The Los Angeles Times -- LINK

Anyone with suggestions for book titles for Dr. Dean should please send them our way. While appearing on CNN's "American Morning," Dean was asked by Soledad O'Brien about his conference call remark regarding the Madrid bombing.

Dean defended his statement by saying that the Notes and tapes from the terrorists made it clear that the attacks were in part a retaliation for Spain's cooperation in the war with Iraq.

When O'Brien asked if he was saying that the U.S. was to blame for the more than 200 deaths in Madrid, Dean said that he said no such thing.

The economy:

The New York Times' Uchitelle reports about the pulled manufacturing czar candidate that "what Mr. Raimondo's company did, experts of all stripes say, has become standard business practice in response to domestic and international pressures. Hundreds of American companies, among them Mr. Raimondo's Behlen Manufacturing of Columbus, Neb., own facilities abroad that produce goods and services for overseas customers rather than for shipment back home." LINK

Nino refuses to recuse:

USA Today's Richard Welling writes that Justice Scalia's 21-page explanation on why he should not recuse himself is not standard practice. "Scalia's memo was unusual in its length and detail. Justices rarely give a reason for removing themselves from a case, and they seldom file memos that spell out why they have denied a recusal motion. LINK

The New York Times' Michael Janofsky reports that Scalia cites new details of his trip with Cheney that he hopes will exonerate him. LINK

Scalia sees no great stakes for Dick Cheney in the outcome of the case. LINK

"In rejecting their motion Thursday, Scalia disputed that the case of 'Richard B. Cheney vs. U.S. District Court' was of a special importance to Cheney."

"Contrary to what has been said, 'this is a 'run-of-the-mill legal dispute about an administrative decision,' Scalia wrote. 'To be sure, there could be political consequences from the disclosure of the fact (if it be so) that the vice president favored business interests, and especially a sector of business with which he was formerly connected. But political consequences are not my concern.'"

The Wall Street Journal editorial board seems to believe Justice Scalia has successfully made his case. "Mr. Scalia argues, and persuasively so, that merely being friends with federal officers shouldn't require Justices to recuse themselves from cases involving those officers in their government duties. The Justice could find no such recusal precedents, and in fact he found notable examples in which Justices with friends in high places had refused to recuse."

ABC News 2004: the Senate races:

As of Feb. 29, the DSCC reported $2.6 million on hand and about $900,000 in vendor debt.

Mile-high Mandy (Grunwald) has been hired by Ken Salazar for his fight for Colorado's open Senate seat reports The Denver Post. LINK

Sen. Daschle took his campaign for a hometown swing. LINK

The clash at CUA:

The national chairmen of the Republican and Democratic Parties --the DNC's Terry McAuliffe and the RNC's Ed Gillespie -- sparred over war and the economy at Catholic University this evening during a debate moderated by ABC News' George Stephanopoulos.

The debate, which included questions from students as well as from Stephanopoulos, grew contentious when Gillespie and McAuliffe were allowed to question one another.

McAuliffe challenged Gillespie to join him in sending a letter to the Department of Justice, asking them to investigate allegations of impropriety concerning House Majority Leader Tom DeLay using federal resources to chase down Texas legislators involved in a fight over redistricting, a member of Congress who suggested that he was offered inducements to support the Administration on the Medicare prescription drug bill and the recent allegation from a Medicare actuary who said his job was threatened if he told the truth about the true cost of the same drug bill.

Gillespie said that the member who had originally claimed that he was extorted has since retracted that claim.

He said that the House has always policed itself and that there are constitutional concerns about one branch of the government investigating another.

Gillespie also said DeLay plays hard but that he always plays by the rules.

As for the Medicare actuary matter, Gillespie said that the matter was being looked into by the Department of Health and Human Services.

When it was his turn to ask a question, Gillespie took a moment to remind the audience about Kerry's crooks and liars comment before challenging McAuliffe to repudiate a recent fundraising solicitation from the chairman of the Minnesota Democratic Party that referred to President Bush and other Republicans as a band of thugs.

McAuliffe said that he hadn't heard the allegations. When Gillespie walked the letter over to McAuliffe, the DNC chair said he didn't have his glasses. He then said he was all for a "higher level of discourse" before mentioning several lowball Republican attacks on Democrats.

During his introductory remarks, Stephanopoulos said that this was the first time -- as far as he was aware -- that the chairmen of the two national parties had attended the same college.

Gillespie graduated from Catholic University in 1983. McAuliffe graduated in 1979.

TODAY SCHEDULE (all times ET):
—9:45: Off-camera gaggle by White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan
—11:00 am: President Bush makes remarks on Operation on Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, The White House.
—11:30 am: Gov. Dean speaks about his new organization at The New School, New York, N.Y.
—12:30 am: Bush-Cheney 04 campaign manager Ken Mehlman and former Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi speak about the Internet and politics at the Politics Online Conference at George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
—1:00 pm: Politics Live on ABC News Live and AOL
—1:30 pm: Ralph Nader campaigns at the University of Texas at San Antonio
—1:55 pm: President Bush and Mrs. Bush visit with Soldiers and Families at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C.
—3:00 pm: Rep. Dennis Kucinich attends a press conference at Carlson Center, Fairbanks, Alaska
—4:00 pm: Rep. Kucinich gives a speech at Carlson Center, Fairbanks, Alaska
—4:15 pm: The Federal Reserve releases the weekly conditions report of large commercial banks
—4:30 pm: Ralph Nader attends a library convention at the San Antonio Convention Center, San Antonio, Texas
—4:45 pm: Gov. Howard Dean speaks to the press about his new organization, Burlington, Vt.
—10:00 pm: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld appears on Fox News' "On the Record" with Greta van Susteren