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Accompanying all of this is a veritable Washington chorus: President Bush will sign whatever corporate accountability bill lands on his desk, which could be quite soon given the WorldCom fire now lit under Congress' collective backside.

The accountability legislation is another reminder that this President lives by one of the rules of his old friend, the late Lee Atwater: if something is certain to happen, be for it. There's lots of items in the Senate-passed package that Bush's team isn't really for, but there is no evidence that the White House is ready to take a bullet to stop them.

The possible danger for the administration in the increasingly publicized rumblings of dissatisfaction with the Bush economic team from Wall Street via the media: that it becomes dissatisfaction with Bush's economic policies, and fuels Democratic election-year, bumper-sticker arguments.

As concerns about the economy continue to crowd out the war against terrorism in voters' minds, keep this idea front-and-center: tax cut politics have, until recently, largely been off the table because of the war. Don't get us wrong: Democrats are hindered by their lack of agreement on how to handle the Bush tax cut. But anything that brings back this kind of politics, and accompanying buzzwords (a la Howard Dean talking about "voodoo economics" on Meet the Press), on the eve of an election with a slumping economy is bad news for Republicans.

Perhaps a good rule of thumb to apply in measuring all of this dissatisfaction is that it is directly proportionate to the frequency of the media's and the Wall Street Chattering Class' use of the "R" word.

As in, Rubin.

Clinton's roundly esteemed Treasury Secretary spoke over the weekend via a Washington Post op-ed and a Newsweek interview. The op-ed, dressed up as proposals to calm jittery investors, appeared to be a between-the-lines effort to build up the GOP-torn-down economic policies of the Clinton/Gore era, and also questioned President Bush's tax cut.

"The portion of the 10-year tax cut that occurred in the short-term may well serve a useful expansionary purpose at a time of economic weakness. But the great preponderance of this tax cut occurs in outer years. Moreover, nobody is talking about a tax increase; the question is whether the cuts enacted for later years should be canceled. In my view, all matters pertaining to taxes and spending should be on the table, with a commitment to reestablishing a sound long-term fiscal position for the federal government." LINK

Once you get past Rubin's bland language, it really is quite an indictment of Bush. And for all the Note's respect for the counter-attack abilities of Podesta/Lockhart/Sosnik/et al, it's Rubin who's the best card to be played against the GOP's Clinton blame game.

Rubin was even clearer in a Newsweek interview: "Rubin … says an 'adjustment' is essential. He tells NEWSWEEK that the 10-year, $1.5 trillion tax cut is a much bigger threat to the economy than the corporate scandals. Rubin suggests a kind of domestic 'loya jirga' (a big Afghan council) on the economy. 'Get everyone together and put everything on the table,' he says. 'We don't have to "raise" taxes, we just have to postpone or cancel what would otherwise happen in the later years. The fact is, deficits are once again the biggest threat to the economy. We've gone in less than two years from $5 trillion worth of surplus to new and growing deficits as far as the eye can see. That's having its own effect on the markets.'" LINK

Newsweek's Alter and Fineman write up this interview, along with the grim politico-economic news for the president in the latest Newsweek poll, in a must-read about how George W. Bush is following, and trying not to follow in his father's footsteps — a complex effort made even more so because, as they note, some of 41's footsteps crossed over each other.

"Part of the problem is presentational," they also say. "Reading the well-crafted rallying cries of speechwriter Michael Gerson isn't cutting it anymore, especially when contrasted with Bush's often-hesitant and uninformative spontaneous remarks. Modern-day presidents must be good explainers of a complex world; Bush isn't. And … this administration has no Donald Rumsfeld to articulate economic policy. The vice president is compromised by his history of running Halliburton Inc., where his tenure is now under SEC investigation; the Treasury secretary, Paul O'Neill, is a gaffe-prone former corporate executive best known for touring Africa with a rock star; lesser officials have no juice on Wall Street. Like his father, Bush lacks an oracular Robert Rubin figure with the clout to calm markets." LINK

"White House aides say they have no plans for 'hug-a-shareholder' events. In fact, the president will go ahead and campaign this summer for California gubernatorial candidate William Simon, though Simon is under fire for alleged accounting irregularities. Bush worries, with some reason, that the rush to action on Capitol Hill might inadvertently hurt the economy. But he'll nonetheless sign a bill-any bill-that addresses corporate governance."

This comes on the heels of a David Rosenbaum Sunday New York Times front-pager about how the administration lacks a single soothing, strong voice on the economy. Juxtapose the Rubin mystique with Rosenbaum's lead — that Treasury Secretary O'Neill was in Kyrgyzstan during some of the recent upheaval and expressed "'constant amazement'" that "'anyone cares'" about what he does. LINK

"In a series of interviews, supporters and opponents of the president alike criticized administration officials' failure to deal deftly with economic policy," Rosenbaum goes on to say. "They contrasted that failure with the confident way Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld have handled foreign and military policy and the aggressive stance Attorney General John Ashcroft and Tom Ridge, the president's adviser, have taken on domestic security issues."

The Wall Street Journal today offers this: "Top policy makers have concluded that there is virtually nothing they can say or do in the short term to stabilize markets. In fact, they accept that their actions may end up making things worse for a time — by flushing out more bad corporate news over the next month — in order to lay the foundation for renewed investor confidence."

"Among the many incalculable 'fundamentals' priced by the market is the wisdom of economic policy makers to figure out the right answers and their leadership ability to get them enacted. On that front, the performances last week by Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and Mr. Bush seemed unnerving."

"For years, Mr. Greenspan inspired faith that he could steer the economy and markets. Now, he is second-guessed by those who think he let the stock-market bubble get too big, and others who argue he raised interest rates too much. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill — who was touring the former Soviet bloc last week and didn't make any public comments amid the market rout — lacks the Wall Street expertise of Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin."

One suspects a moment of truth must be imminent: President Bush prides himself on loyalty and on not being buffeted by news cycles. But by the tenets of the administration of 41, it would be up to George W. Bush himself to go tell someone like O'Neill that he had outlived his usefulness.

In other times, this likely would be a job for Vice President Cheney. But Cheney comes with Halliburton.

The Washington Post 's Allen and Grimaldi on Saturday noted, "As Cheney travels the country to raise money for Republican candidates, local news coverage has begun to focus on the SEC investigation and Democrats have begun making an issue of Cheney's lucrative stewardship of Halliburton. The result is a new vulnerability for President Bush as he struggles to persuade markets and investors that his administration is committed to prosecuting corporate fraud." LINK

"House Republicans in tight campaigns are increasingly worried that Democrats will succeed in pinning corporate excesses on them, GOP aides say, and Cheney has become the focus of that concern."

The Note pauses to once again thank definitive Clinton biographer John Harris, who is carving time out of his authoring responsibilities to guest edit our little rap sheet.

From the ABCNEWS London bureau: The stock markets started the week with a renewed bout of gloom, as European and Asian indexes spiraled lower. Nervous traders fear there may be no end to the stock market rout, after a week that saw steep falls in blue-chip stocks on both sides of the Atlantic, and with little good news in prospect. London's leading FTSE index had dropped 88 points to 4,010 within the first 20 minutes of trading on Monday. And blue-chip indexes in both Frankfurt and Paris also moved lower at the open.

It has become cliché to say that what could really hurt the Republicans is the condition of the economy come election day, and not the Bush/Cheney personal business dealings or the general corporate scandals, or even the stock market decline.

Sure, that's the most likely dynamic to hurt the GOP in November, but we continue to believe that the other three areas shouldn't be underestimated as, at a minimum, mood-setters, and as pegs for the press and the Democrats to keep the storyline focused on this economic mélange.

As the week starts, Republicans' best push-back lines are: -- We are passing a tough bipartisan bill on corporate abuse. -- We think people should go to jail. -- Democrats take money from corporate interests also.

Unfortunately for the GOP: -- Democrats have more and more politically potent lines to deliver right now. -- The blind quotes from save-ourselves-first Republicans, ready to throw the White House over the side, are becoming more common.

Welcome back to work, Mr. President. The New York Times ' biz guy Floyd Norris is happy to see you resume your station, and he kicks your week off with this: "President Bush who marked his 18th month in office this weekend, is off to the worst start of any president in the last 75 years." LINK

"A least, that is, as measured by the performance of the Standard & Poor's index of 500 stocks."

On the other hand, and we bet the Rove research shop already knew this: "But the bad start may not herald anything harmful to Mr. Bush if he seeks a second term in 2004. For history suggests that presidents who get off to a bad start in the stock market often recover, as voters are quite willing to blame their predecessors for early economic problems. That appears to be especially true if the previous president was from a different party."

Unfortunately for this President, he can't afford to get a bad grade on his midterms, because he needs to control both chambers of Congress to get any of his agenda passed, and this guy ran for president to get things done, not to just hold the office.

As Knight Ridder's Thomma writes, "Democratic victories in the Senate and the House of Representatives would likely doom Bush's domestic agenda for the rest of his term." LINK

USA Today 's Page repeats the October Surprise/401k third-quarter statements theory. But this is sorta new and interesting: "At the White House, senior officials say they made a mistake by waiting too long to respond to the corporate scandals, delaying until July a speech that Bush first discussed giving in April. Top aides acknowledge that the lack of an effective administration spokesman on economic issues, of the sort it has on foreign policy and national security issues, has become a growing problem." LINK

"To stem the swelling controversy, the president is resigned to signing a bill regulating the accounting industry, although it will include provisions he doesn't support. But a Rose Garden signing ceremony isn't likely to quiet questions now peppering Bush and Vice President Cheney about their own past conduct as corporate executives … "

"The White House is 'babysitting' congressional Republicans who are panicking without good reason, says a senior White House official who is working on the issue. However, he acknowledges, 'to say there's not the potential for a problem would be blind.'"

"White House economic advisers predict that the recovery will gain more steam later this summer once the furor over corporate behavior dies down and the legislative debate is over, restoring a sense of certainty for corporate decision-making. But some political advisers worry about a 'jobless recovery' that might feel to some voters like a recession."

The AP out of Tennessee reports that Al Gore piled on over the weekend: "Former presidential candidate Al Gore accused the Bush administration Saturday of lying to Americans about the nation's economy. At a campaign event for a congressional candidate, Gore told Democrats that electing Lincoln Davis could be the difference in continuing the Bush administration's economic policies."

"The Bush administration has 'lied about the future liabilities they have put on our shoulders as taxpayers,' Gore said."

Six Mondays from today will be Labor Day. Halfway through an arguably bad-any-way-you-slice-it summer for the Bush/Cheney White House. Questions to start asking: Do they have the self-confidence this year to go undercover for weeks at a time? Will the media even let them go undercover? Vacation spreads in Texas and Wyoming paid for with 1990s-era personal prosperity don't provide quite the same comforting backdrop this year as last.

Aside from the corporate accountability/homeland security legislative frenzy on Capitol Hill this week, one other battle is being fought out. And the Los Angeles Times ' Brownstein reminds us, in the midst of the prescription drug legislation wars, of this very key Big Casino point: "Senate Democrats this week are pushing for a vote on a proposal that elevates prescription drugs for seniors over all other domestic needs. The plan is so expensive that if it ever passed, it could squeeze out the party's other priorities--such as education or health coverage for the uninsured--for years. Compounding the problem, the Senate Democrats haven't identified how they would pay for this big new expense because they are still unwilling to challenge President Bush's huge tax cut." LINK

"Neither the Senate Democrats--nor the House Republicans, who passed a more modest plan earlier this year--will acknowledge the obvious: Unless they retrench the tax cut, it will be virtually impossible to fulfill the promises they are making to seniors without raiding Social Security or increasing the national debt."

President Bush heads to Illinois today for a homeland security event. The AP's Lindlaw reports, "In his sixth visit to politically vital Illinois, a state he lost in 2000, Bush was touring the lab on Monday and viewing new technologies aimed at thwarting terrorism." LINK

President Bush's visit is surprising the state's party leaders, the Chicago Tribune says. "Given the disarray plaguing the state's Republican Party, including scandals dogging the governor and the state House GOP leader, as well as the inability of party leaders to settle on a new chairman, Bush was the last person they expected to see in Illinois anytime soon." LINK

Also today, as the Orlando Sentinel's Silva nicely notes, "Janet Reno, 64 and a day, will formally qualify as a candidate for governor Monday, leading a walk of state workers to the Capitol to file papers and stake her claim to a campaign many Democrats warned her against waging." Reno will take a short walk to the Capitol in Tallahassee to file around lunchtime, accompanied by a group of state employees.

And out in California today, Gov. Gray Davis (D) will sign a law "that for the first time will reduce the amount of greenhouse gases coming from the tailpipes of all passenger vehicles sold in the state, even the beloved SUV, in a move that could change the kinds of cars Americans drive in coming years." LINK

Davis, locked in a tough re-election campaign, swipes at the administration and toots his state's/his own horn in a Washington Post op-ed: "The federal government and Congress, by failing to ratify the Kyoto treaty on global warming, have missed their opportunity to do the right thing. So it is left to California, the nation's most populous state and the world's fifth largest economy, to take the lead." LINK

The Democratic National Committee's convention site selection committee is visiting Detroit during the early half of this week; they will make their final scheduled site visit a week from now, to New York City.

On Tuesday, President and Mrs. Bush will help kick off the Adoption PSA Campaign at the White House, and Al Gore kicks off his campaign training school at Vanderbilt University.

On Wednesday, Bush will meet with the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. Also on Wednesday, Senate committee hearings are set to begin on the Department of Homeland Security. And, the National Conference of State Legislatures will convene its annual meeting in Denver.

Thursday, Bush will head to North Carolina to give a speech on health care and headline a fundraising dinner for Senate candidate Elizabeth Dole.

On Friday, Bush will give a speech commemorating the 12th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

From the ABCNEWS London bureau: Relatives of Palestinian militants have dropped a legal challenge to Israel's attempt to exile them from the West Bank after being told they will be given reasonable time to appeal against their deportations. The 16 men withdrew their case after Israel promised them a 12-hour notice period if it is decided that they should be removed to the fenced-in Gaza Strip. The men, some of the 21 male relatives of Palestinian militants arrested in the West Bank on Friday, had been challenging Israel's attempts to exile them on the grounds that such a move would be illegal under international law.

Israel had handed over to Palestinian authorities about $20 million in customs and other tax funds frozen shortly after Palestinian militant violence began in 2000. Israel says more could follow if the funds are not misused. Also, the office of the top Palestine Liberation Organization official in Jerusalem, Sari Nusseibeh, was reopened today, almost two weeks after it was shut down by Israeli police. These actions are seen as a gesture of good will by Israeli government to ease the hardships of Palestinians in West Bank cities reoccupied by the Israeli army.

Coalition forces, including U.S. troops, have been called in to guard Hamid Karzai's presidential palace in downtown Kabul amid security threats against the Afghan president. It is not clear how many American soldiers are involved in the security operation, but a spokesman at the presidential palace tells us that they are likely to number about 50 men, including some US special forces.

Harken/Halliburton

Mike Allen on Sunday wrote up the FOIA'ed Harken Board minutes for the Washington Post . LINK

The politics of corporate responsibility

Dick Gephardt gets to be Exhibit A in the Rainesian/Wertheimerian worldview-driven piece in the New York Times about how politicians of both parties are raising money with one hand, and with both feet, from business lobbyists while they bash them with the other hand. We ask again, as we are prone to do: where do the goo-goo clean moneyists think politicians should get their money from, if not rich people? LINK

The Washington Post reported on Sunday, "This weekend, with Senate action on corporate accounting abuse legislation complete, seven Republican senators flew down for a weekend of golf, tennis and skeet shooting with major campaign contributors at the Greenbriar resort" in West Virginia. LINK

"The Greenbriar is a few hours' drive from the Capitol, but FedEx Corp., U.S. Tobacco Co. and the global exploration and production oil company Anandarko Petroleum Corp. stepped up to make the trip easier, providing three corporate jets for the weekend events sponsored by the National Republican Senatorial Committee."

"The event mirrors a Democratic senatorial retreat with donors of $20,000 or more at the island resort of Nantucket last weekend. Four firms — BellSouth Corp., Eli Lilly and Co., FedEx and AFLAC Inc. — supplied jets for that trip."

"GOP senators scheduled to attend the Greenbriar weekend, which included a reception Friday evening, political and policy briefings Saturday morning, and a dinner Saturday night, were Orrin G. Hatch (Utah), Mike D. Crapo (Idaho), Fred D. Thompson (Tenn.), Christopher S. Bond (Mo.), George Allen (Va.), Jim Bunning (Ky.) and Don Nickles (Okla.)."

CNN's Jonathan Karl rightly points out in a The Wall Street Journal op-ed that Congress is throwing some serious stones in its war against corporate book-cooking, and that maybe it should look to its own glass house.

Corporate responsibility conference committee

The Washington Post 's VandeHei on Sunday previewed, in the best Schoolhouse Rock summary of how a conference committee works in theory versus in practice, the high-stakes negotiations going on now, noting well how election-year politics are saturating every decision, starting with just the make-up of the committee. LINK

Will the New York Times help us find the locations of this stuff for quality stakeouts? "[A]ccounting lobbyists have scheduled meetings with lawmakers for early this week, a Congressional aide said. They seek changes that include barring disciplinary findings of the new accounting oversight board from being admissible in court." LINK

"Business lobbyists have also been working to try to delete a provision that would give investors more time to sue for securities fraud."

Homeland security

The Wall Street Journal 's Calmes uses a speeding locomotive metaphor in her piece on the homeland security bill, noting up high in the story that even some concern over the deadline for airports to have baggage-screening systems in place won't slow the train down. "What has further greased the bill's path is Congress's preoccupation with cracking down on corporate fraud. Because that issue is so politically sensitive, members of both parties are devoting less attention to details of the homeland-security department than they might otherwise."

Budget politics

Janet Yellen, a member of Bill Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers, starts her New York Times op-ed piece by suggesting (a la the Bush Administration) that the '90s economic success was a bit of a fraud, but then she uses the rest of her ample space to go right after President Bush's myriad Big Casino vulnerabilities, starting front and center with what one calls "personal savings accounts" at a cocktail party at Boyden Gray's house, and "the privatization of Social Security" over a sandwich at Booeymonger's with Bob Borosage. LINK

We'll say it again: we can't imagine how the president would have gotten out of this budget mess without the intervention of the tragedy of September 11.

Republicans in Congress are cranky (still and again) about how the White House deals with budget issues. LINK

The Washington Post editorial page calls for a "reassessing" of the rest of the Bush tax cut. LINK

ABC 2004: The Invisible Primary

Al Gore's first turn campaigning for a primary candidate in Tennessee gets covered by the state press. LINK And the Georgia GOP welcomed Senator John Edwards to the trial lawyers' convention in Atlanta this past weekend with a lengthy, well-research release on Edwards being "bought and paid for by the lawsuit industry."

Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's first turn on "Meet the Press" — possibly ever, as best we can recall, and certainly as a likely presidential candidate — prompted several Democratic operatives to make a point of writing in and telling us how intrigued they are by the guy. That said, Dean's biggest coverage is in the Boston Globe .

"Dean yesterday called for a rollback of President Bush's $1.3 trillion tax cut to pay for universal health coverage, the strongest antitax cut proposal to date by a potential 2004 Democratic presidential contender." LINK

As Susan Milligan reminds us, "House minority leader Richard Gephardt, Democrat of Missouri, has said the tax cut should not be made permanent, but he has not demanded a rollback."

"The governor was highly critical of Bush's economic policy — which he said recalled the 'voodoo economics' of the president's father — and suggested that the president's foreign policy experience was limited. But Dean gave praise and support to the president on the battle in Afghanistan and the war on terrorism."

Dean, is in California today, where he will address the state assembly Democratic caucus, among other events.

On Tuesday, Dean's San Francisco schedule includes a speech to the state AFL-CIO. Thursday, Dean will be in South Carolina, where he'll tour a Charleston children's hospital and attend some other events; he'll be in Atlanta on Friday; and he will address a conference in Fort Lauderdale, FL on Saturday.

Today, Senator Joe Lieberman will be in Philadelphia for a fundraising lunch for former Democratic National Committee co-chair Ed Rendell's gubernatorial campaign.

Also today, House Minority Leader Gephardt will give the luncheon address at the National Council of La Raza annual conference in Miami Beach. Senator Chris Dodd addressed the conference on Sunday.

Former Vice President Gore has no public events scheduled for today, but he does have quite a busy week planned, with his 2002 Democratic Summer Academy — the same training academy that Gore held last year with Lamar Alexander — kicking off Tuesday at Vanderbilt University. Gore's 4:00 p.m. ET remarks will be open press. An aide notes that Gore is the only potential Democratic presidential candidate holding a training academy.

On Wednesday, Gore will headline a fundraising event for Tennessee Rep. Bob Clement's Senate campaign — but in Washington. The event is closed press.

On Friday, Gore will be in Denver, where he'll attend the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee's annual luncheon, as well as a reception for the party's coordinated campaign in the state, and a "thank you" dinner hosted by bigtime party contributor Norm Brownstein.

And on Saturday, Gore will offer open-press concluding remarks at the 2002 Democratic Summer Academy at Vanderbilt.

Senator Joe Biden on Meet yesterday said that proof of a link between Iraq and al Qaeda should be sufficient cause for a US attempt to remove Saddam Hussein, and also recommended re-examining and amending the law "which prevents the military from exercising police powers in this country." LINK

Bob Novak's Sunday column goes all loopy and Hillary-bashing on the question of the 2004 convention, but said loopiness obscures the nugget of truth that Bob seems to be onto: with Boston, Detroit, and Miami deeply flawed in one way or another, Terry McAuliffe must be getting over his Bloomberg issues, and leaning toward Gotham City. (Democrats have been telling us for awhile now that Terry is over his Republican mayoral issues, as far as Bloomberg is concerned at least.) LINK

Politics

The Rev. Jesse Jackson named a successor at Sunday's annual Rainbow/PUSH Coalition conference. "Rev. James Meeks, a South Side minister, will succeed him as president of the civil rights organization." LINK

USA Today 's Squitieri, reporting from the Green Party's national convention in Philadelphia, notes that the corporate accountability fever may fuel Green bids across the country. LINK

Dean Broder celebrates Minnesota Independence Party candidate Tim Penny. LINK

Rep. Jim DeMint (R — textile-dependent district in South Carolina) is insisting the deal he cut with the White House in exchange for his support for fast-track is paying off. "DeMint, whose district has lost thousands of textile jobs in the last decade, is exulting over a House-Senate agreement last week on the dyeing and finishing provision … But many in the textile industry say the celebration is premature because the dyeing and finishing concession DeMint helped win soon could vanish. Others say that even if the provision remains, DeMint is taking too much credit for it." LINK

For those interested in voting reform, Georgia's lever machines will be put out to pasture after this summer's primaries, as the state moves to a $54 million computerized touch screen system. But lever machine-lovers take heart: 7,100 of the machines are still in use in New York, which plans to buy 400 more from Georgia's retired fleet. LINK

The AP's Espo welcomes the GOP's latest contender into the increasingly crowded — with growing stakes for the definitiveness of November 5 — Louisiana Senate race. LINK

This week on Here's the Point, it's another all-Whitman show, as in Bethesda, Maryland's Walt Whitman High School. It's the episode in which Mark Halperin talks with Republican Senator Gordon Smith of Oregon about American exceptionalism, patriotism, natural resources, taxes, commuting, and frozen foods. LINK

California

Saving the best of his "San Francisco chronicles" for last, in our opinion, Dan Balz capped off his visit to the Republican National Committee summer meeting with a look at the California gubernatorial race, in which voters just don't seem happy with their choices, and the problems lately besetting the Bill Simon (R) for governor campaign. As we suggested here on Friday, "Several Republicans close to the campaign said privately late in the week that they expect Simon soon to release either past tax forms or enough financial data to answer critics' questions," Balz says. LINK

Florida

"Janet Reno did a little dance, made a little speech. She got down last night." No one will want to miss the details of Reno's Dance Party, held Friday night at a "packed" Club Level in Miami Beach, where "after a brief speech that touted her emphasis on children, Reno descended into the throng of supporters, surrounded by beefy bouncers and the thump of a heavy bass. Then without warning, she climbed back on stage and did a dance that resembled the mashed potato, shimmying her hips and arms." LINK

New York

The New York Post 's Dicker helps spread the already spreading word that private polling apparently shows neither of the Democratic party's gubernatorial contenders will be able to beat Gov. George Pataki (R). LINK

New Jersey

Senator Bob Torricelli will appear before the Senate Ethics Committee in a closed hearing today. Another Hill stakeout to worry about. "Torricelli's testimony, behind closed doors, marks a pivotal moment for the Senator, who has never before answered questions under oath about the corruption allegations. If Torricelli can sufficiently answer the panel's questions, lawmakers and aides believe the case can be disposed of, possibly before the August recess, with Torricelli having been the only witness ever interviewed by the committee." LINK

Meanwhile, Democrats and senior activists are trying to make an issue of GOP Senate nominee Doug Forrester's self-funding his campaign with a salary being paid to him from a prescription drug benefit management company of which he owns 51 percent. LINK

Roll Call 's Rothenberg, profiling the race, notes, "Whatever you think of Forrester's campaign skills, personal style or business interests, he has two things that make him a strong contender in New Jersey: He's very rich, and he is positioned as a moderate."

Oklahoma

Roll Call 's Cillizza looks at the state's under appreciated and possible sleeper Senate race between GOP incumbent Jim Inhofe and, most likely, former Gov. David Walters (D), who was forced to retire from the statehouse in 1994 after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of accepting illegal campaign contributions, following a huge string of indictments of various operatives on issues related to the financing of Walters' gubernatorial campaign LINK

Colorado

The pressure placed on state budgets by this year's economic downturn is apparently being hard felt by the nation's legislative budget writers. Kenneth Conahan, the director of Colorado's joint budget committee, announced he would step down at the end of August. LINK

New Hampshire

The Granite State maybe not wanting tourists from out of state? Quelle surprise!

The next thing you know, hell will freeze over, the Sox will win the pennant, CBS correspondents will stop shooting their stand-ups at the Wayfarer waterfall, and Richard's Bistro will start charging for a second basket of bread. LINK

Connecticut

The first half of Shays-Meehan accepted the Republican nomination to seek re-election in his 4th Congressional District at Saturday's GOP convention. LINK

Texas

Here's the link to Texas Monthly's August profile of Democratic Senate candidate Ron Kirk. LINK

An article in today's Houston Chronicle describes Democratic candidate Tony Sanchez as being "cautious" of the media. LINK

Tennessee

Country music star Hank Williams, Jr. stumped for Lamar Alexander at a campaign rally this weekend. Williams even "broke into a song about this being President Bush's and Lamar Alexander's country." LINK

Minnesota

Republican Senate candidate Norm Coleman's efforts to write a newspaper column on issues is getting panned by news organizations across the state. LINK

South Carolina

State Republicans are criticizing Democrats for hiring a get-out-the-vote strategist who has been granted immunity in exchange for his testimony in a Wisconsin case; the consultant himself (arguably unlike the state GOP's executive director) has not been charged with any crime. LINK

North Carolina

A small stink is being made over a political staffer who is working for both the state Democratic party and the Erskine Bowles Senate campaign. (This not being Iowa, they must not be used to this kind of thing … ) LINK

Missouri

Lois Romano in the Washington Post does a lovely job summing up the Carnahan/Talent Senate race in a balanced way. LINK

Prescription drug coverage is shaping up to be one of the top issues of the Carnahan/Talent face-off. LINK

Bush Administration strategy/personality

< Political junkies will note the byline on this Los Angeles Times op-ed calling for "contrition or apologies from the likes of Enron, Global Crossing, Arthur Andersen, WorldCom, etc … ." and for "condemnation coming from credible leaders of the business community." It was penned by somewhat reclusive GOP media consultant Don Sipple, who suggests that Bush should take advantage of the "moral undertones" of his election (i.e, versus Bill Clinton in the guise of Al Gore). Sipple says Bush should call for a summit of business leaders to deal with corporate responsibility. On homeland security, "Bush should shake up the bungling FBI, CIA and INS. The president should not carry the sins of the federal bureaucracy on his shoulders, regardless of how loyal he is. Fire a couple of chiefs to restore public confidence." LINK

The Priscilla Owens' confirmation fight has gotten laughably little coverage so far. Nick Lewis of the New York Times takes the story front-and-center with a version of the story that tilts pro-abortion and leaves out any defense of Judge Owens beyond the more-conflicted-than-he-oughta-be Al Gonzales. And the Rove angle seems McCarthyite. LINK

The Bush Administration is expected to shortly announce that it will pull its financial backing for United Nations family planning programs.

The Washington Post reports, "Senator Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.) said he might insert a provision in a major appropriations bill to disqualify the Ogilvy & Mather advertising firm from continuing a lucrative contract with the Office of National Drug Control Policy at the White House. The General Accounting Office concluded last year that Ogilvy overbilled the ONDCP for a government-funded media campaign to persuade teenagers not to use drugs … Ogilvy has said the overbilling resulted from deficient accounting practices, not deliberate cheating." LINK