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When a president travels, as we've Noted here before, his message tends to achieve full saturation in the local markets he visits, but there also is a broader White House-driven effort to control and shape a national message.

Halfway through this week, it appears that President Bush, according to that basic "either/or" rule of politics, is playing more defense than offense — on the environment and on spending, and on the Middle East and pre-September 11 intelligence.

Of course, we are judging by immediate, short-term data point outputs in the media maelstrom. In fact, the president's approval numbers remain high, and this White House is NEVER content to be on defense on any issue for too long.

That leaves two options generally: change the subject or go on offense.

Bush's threat to veto the pork-infested supplemental appropriations bill, launched from Mitch Daniels' office, can be viewed as just such an effort to get back on offense, but the concept of Bush negging what's become pretty widely known as the "anti-terrorism bill" probably isn't what the White House wants to be talking about now.

The president, after all, tried to spend Monday and Tuesday focusing on welfare reform.

Pay closer attention than you otherwise might to this potential veto showdown. Lots of politics and principle bumping up against each other in this one.

Republicans really want Bush to veto something — anything — as quickly as possible. And on some level, despite the war, the breaking of the lockbox, and the whole national emergency thing, the president genuinely would like to hold down spending. And Daniels' Hoosier Values tell him that every dollar counts.

Obviously there's a basic conflict here, since just about every piece of spending in the supplemental bill is in there because a member of Congress — including a bunch of Republicans — thinks it will help him or her back home, while the White House has a McCainsian view that you gotta cut it somewhere.

"The administration's veto threat is the opening gambit of what is likely to be an ongoing struggle between Bush and Congress over spending in the next several months," the Los Angeles Times ' Hook nicely writes "Although Bush and most lawmakers avow concern about the return of budget deficits, there are huge pressures to spend more freely — both in this emergency bill and in the 13 regular appropriation bills that Congress must pass to finance the government in the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1."

Bush's non-shift of a response yesterday to the global warming brouhaha gives the story enough legs that even the Washington Post covers it. The collective take of the Post and other papers: "President Bush appeared to distance himself yesterday from [the] report."

From now on, when the president does something that we don't quite know how to fit into our view of HIS worldview, our working premise will be that "the bureaucracy did it."

For instance, we are pretty sure the "bureaucracy" came up with those steel tariffs, and that mammoth farm bill.

We'd love to see the tick-tock of what happened inside the White House that led up to the president's remark yesterday on global warming.

Most of the conservative, anti-Kyoto quotes in the Wednesday papers are from people who were clearly (though quietly) alarmed yesterday, but were mollified by the POTUS remarks.

Predictably, Rush Limbaugh called the White House yesterday, and equally predictably, he loved the president's walk-back.

"One thing that we know for sure, my friends, is that in most cases the attempt to do the right thing is always there with this administration. I know that actions are more important than intentions, but couple that with the fact that we're talking about somebody here, George W. Bush, who has a profound level of integrity and decency. People want to believe and trust the president. That's why his approval numbers are so high. What he has done today is one of the reasons why his approval rating is understandable, and greatly deserved."

Awww.

We wouldn't mind seeing the Rush-Republican National Committee-White House tick-tock from yesterday, either.

The Wall Street Journal ed board sees a President engaging in damage control: "Whether it was sloppy language, a runaway EPA, or truly a change in position, you'd think the administration would know better than to hand the green lobby such an easy target … "

And the Journal wise people blame Administrator Whitman for all this, and basically give 43 a total pass: "Whatever hot air rises from the EPA report, what really matters is the administration's actions. So far, those actions have been the right ones."

"There was no explanation of why the EPA, whose director, Christie Whitman, was appointed by the president, submitted a report that diverges from the president's views," the Washington Times reports.

The New York Times sums it up this way: "Critics across the political spectrum said that Mr. Bush was trying to appear more moderate to environmentalists while signaling to conservatives and industry that he would not promote the views contained in the report."

On another matter on which the White House continues to play deft defense, but defense nonetheless, remember our Rank-the-Intel-Leaders survey from Tuesday's Note?

Here's what some of you offered up about the leaders of the Joint Intelligence Committee:

If was fun watching cable news cover the (not moving) door to the (closed) intelligence hearings yesterday. It wasn't long before the line producers realized there just wasn't much to say or show.

From the ABCNEWS London Bureau: At least 17 people are reported to have died and many more were injured in an explosion which ripped through a bus in northern Israel. The explosion took place in the morning rush hour at Megiddo junction near the border with the West Bank.

It is believed that the blast was caused by a suicide attacker who drove up in a car beside the bus and detonated a bomb. The bus, which was traveling from Tel Aviv to the town of Tiberias and is thought to have been very crowded, was completely gutted.

The militant Palestinian group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the bombing. In a sign that Israel could respond harshly, Prime Minister Sharon convened his security Cabinet for an emergency session.

Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee called today on Pakistan to jointly monitor their disputed Kashmir border. Vajpayee said India and Pakistan should work together to patrol the border and ensure Islamic militants were no longer crossing into Indian-controlled Kashmir to launch attacks against Indian security forces and Kashmiris.

"Joint patrolling can be held by India and Pakistan," Vajpayee told a news conference in Kazakhstan. Great Britain and the United States have both offered to help monitor the border, but Vajpayee dismissed the idea of outside intervention: "It is not practical to allow a third country to see whether infiltration is taking place and it is also not needed."

ABC 2002: The Primaries

A few overall notes. On Rep. Greg Ganske's GOP Senate nomination in Iowa, with 59 percent of the vote, well, the White House is glad he's their nominee, but party strategists know he has to run a better campaign now than he has shown so far. And in New Jersey, they're glad they wound up with the nominee they did, Doug Forrester, because he can at least self-fund a good part of his race. Putting Harkin and the Torch in play are high GOP priorities in this Senate-centric cycle.

Meanwhile, Democrats are thrilled with Ganske's arguably weak showing in Iowa, Forrester's political inexperience and alleged conservatism in New Jersey, and with the success of their "two Anns," House candidates Ann Hutchinson in Iowa and Ann Sumers in New Jersey, both former Republicans. National Democrats supported Hutchinson in her primary because she represents their best shot to beat GOP Rep. Jim Nussle, and they are optimistic about Sumers' still arguably uphill chance to win an open House seat in Jersey, in a district which, Republicans counter, conservative GOP gubernatorial nominee Bret Schundler won.

Alabama

"Gov. Don Siegelman and U.S. Rep. Bob Riley brushed aside primary rivals Tuesday night and wasted no time in taking aim at each other in what promises to be a lively sprint to the Nov. 5 gubernatorial election," the Birmingham News reports.

Riley got 71 percent of the Republican primary votes, well more than enough to avoid a run-off.

Democratic Rep. Earl Hilliard, though, is locked in a run-off against Artur Davis.

Iowa

"For the first time in 38 years, an Iowa congressional nomination will be decided by convention delegates, instead of voters. None of the four candidates received the required 35 percent of the votes Tuesday to claim the Republican nomination outright in Iowa's new 5th Congressional District in western Iowa. A total of 589 Republican convention delegates chosen earlier this spring will meet June 29 in Denison to pick a nominee."

We can't wait to see how that works.

The Des Moines Register 's Jane Norman spoils Rep. Greg Ganske's Senate primary victory over farmer/former Marine Bill Salier:

"Some analysts now see Ganske as damaged goods for what was supposed to be one of the tightest Senate races in the country, as Republicans struggle to take back the Senate from Democratic control."

New Jersey

With turnout light, Forrester beat his nearest GOP Senate primary rival, former TV anchorwoman Diane Allen, by 20,000 votes yesterday.

"Forrester came out swinging in his victory speech, which he delivered about 10:40 p.m. before cheering supporters in a balloon-bedecked ballroom at the Hilton in East Brunswick."

'The race is not over. In a very real sense it has just begun,' said Forrester. 'It is a race that must be won for the integrity of New Jersey. It is a race to defeat Bob Torricelli."

Things we liked about the Forrester victory party: the music soundtrack (we are suckers for "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" at political events); the attendance of Bret Schundler and Robert Ray; and the campaign's foam "#1" fingers and new Star Wars parody video, portraying Forrester as the victorious underdog to the Torricelli Death Star.

New Mexico

Hot political commodity (and White House favorite) John Sanchez won the GOP gubernatorial nomination yesterday. He'll face former Clinton Energy Secretary Bill Richardson in the general.

"Their primary victories set the stage for a Hispanic to win the governorship for the first time since 1982 when Democrat Toney Anaya was elected."

State Senator John Arthur Smith (D) and former state Rep. Steve Pearce will vie for the open House seat being vacated by Rep. Joe Skeen (R). The large district leans marginally Democratic.

South Dakota

Either career state legislator Mike Rounds (R) or businessman and educator Jim Abbott (D) will become governor of South Dakota.

Current Gov. Bill Janklow (R) easily defeated former Senator Larry Pressler for the Republican House nod. He'll face lawyer Stephanie Herseth (D) in the fall.

Check out Herseth's spots on her website; her on-camera performance is of pro quality.

Legislative Agenda

Robert Pear in the New York Times has some of the details of the House Republicans' prescription drug plan, which has been scaled back a wee bit from levels Democrats already claimed where inadequate, because "[u]nder intense pressure from health care lobbyists, House Republicans say they have decided to increase Medicare payments to doctors, hospitals and health maintenance organizations, reducing the amount of money available to provide prescription drug benefits to the elderly." The Wall Street Journal has a gloom-and-doom procedural update on where the Congress stands on getting trade promotion authority (i.e., fast track) into (and maybe out of) conference.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal writes up Mike Farrell's anti-Yucca day at the Capitol.

ABC 2004: The Invisible Primary

For a speech that didn't have a whole lot of news in it, House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt's national security policy address yesterday gets good coverage on the wires and in the papers today, with nary a "what did he know and when … " reminder in sight.

Most of the coverage focuses on Gephardt's statement of support for Bush on the need to remove Saddam Hussein by force if necessary.

The Los Angeles Times ' Brownstein writes it up from an '04 point of view, "Gephardt's comments could help Bush build congressional support for an attack on Iraq if the president chooses that option. Other Democrats considering a 2004 race--including Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, John F. Kerry of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina--have also said they would support the use of force against Iraq. Kerry, though, has said he would prefer to first provide more aid to Hussein's foes within Iraq. Gephardt generally avoided criticizing Bush's initiatives and performance, but he suggested that the president had allowed an 'undercurrent of unilateralism' to strain our relations with allies abroad."

"But mostly, Gephardt confined his differences with Bush to arguing that the administration should push further in directions in which it is already heading on such matters as modernizing the military and reforming foreign aid."

"The speech's overall tone was more conciliatory toward Bush than Gephardt's typical comments on economic or social policy."

"Since the early 1980s, Gephardt has been considered a leader of the Democrats' traditional liberal wing, with particularly close ties to organized labor. But he appears to be moving toward the center as he considers a run for the White House in 2004."

Gephardt's speech earned him a lengthy press release from the Republican House campaign committee listing his previous votes "against" national security and the military.

Deborah Orin gets to write seven tab-length graphs on the Gephardt speech, focusing on Gephardt's support for a Saddam Hussein ouster, and she, shockingly, sees intra-party strife as the story line: "Gephardt's strong support puts him at odds with Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle — another possible 2004 Democratic presidential candidate — who has been more skeptical about force as the way to oust Saddam."

We won't liken her to Karl Rove, given the several sharp political brains focused on electing Gephardt in 2004, but Joyce Aboussie definitely is the guy's most secret political weapon. http://www.rftstl.com/issues/current/feature.html/1/index.html

The Washington Post 's Broder went to Worcester, MA last weekend to observe Senator John Kerry at the state party convention, and as smartly as ever, points out that Kerry suffers from being in the shadow of two Massachusetts pols: Senator Ted Kennedy and Mike Dukakis.

"In introducing Kerry, Kennedy praised him so lavishly that audience members might have been reminded of that classic line from colonial Massachusetts: 'Prithee, John, why do you not speak for yourself?' And when Kerry did, the spontaneous roars of agreement that Kennedy had evoked turned sporadic and labored. Reading a version of the standard stump speech he has delivered in recent months to other Democratic gatherings from Florida to California, Kerry was hampered by a balky TelePrompTer and, as he said later, 'never found my rhythm.'"

"What comes easily to Kennedy does not to Kerry."

"Were it not for Kennedy's political bulk, Kerry would be regarded as a Democratic star," Broder writes, because of his knowledge of foreign policy, lead role in killing ANWR drilling, defeat of Bill Weld, fortuitous TV market positioning, etc.

"There is reason to think that if the war on terrorism is sputtering next year, as it seems to be right now, Kerry will not hesitate to question the strategy that President Bush has followed. Kerry was prescient in some of his early warnings about the terrorist threat, and his war record gives him a degree of immunity from counterattack."

"But Kerry is also a man who opposes the death penalty, wants to restrict access to guns and voted against the resolution approving the start of ground operations against Saddam Hussein in 1991 — just what you would expect from Ted Kennedy's partner and Michael Dukakis's running mate, the Republicans will surely say."

Overall, though, Kerry gets a "not bad" in the Broder Primary, which is, as these things go, a very, very important substrata of the Invisible Primary Ratings (see the Halperin Rule) .

In the old days, those not present in Boston would have had to rely on Sage Broder's learned opinion. But the world is a different techno place now. JohnKerry.Com has a link to the text of Kerry's speech, as well as three smart video pop-offs, so you can toss on your Broderian specs and mod '50s style dress shirt, and judge for yourself how Kerry did.

Who dat man? In her global warming story, Kit Seelye shows that, despite her many new New York Times beats, she hasn't dropped her 2000 assignment — tormenting Al Gore — completely. "Rush Limbaugh, the conservative radio talk-show host, today called Mr. Bush 'George W. Al Gore,' a reference to former Vice President Al Gore, who has long been concerned about global warming."

How come the White House seems more reticent about accusing Senator Joe Lieberman of being motivated by presidential ambitions when they clash with him than they are when it comes to other Democratic MOCs (that's one you should know already, Note readers) with such alleged aspirations?

Today, Senator Chris Dodd will hold a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee hearing on possible Cuban development of biological weapons.

Rev. Al Sharpton and Johnnie Cochran are siding with artists over the music industry. )

Campaign Finance

At the Federal Election Commission hearing yesterday on how to implement McCain-Feingold, "much of the discussion focused on how the FEC should define one word: agent."

"At issue is how and to whom the FEC should apply the law's ban on the raising and spending of 'soft money' … by federal politicians for federal election activity and by national party committees."

Representatives of the two major national party committees are scheduled to testify today.

Politics

Addressing a big trade association in Washington yesterday, House Majority Whip DeLay outlined a new GOP "political operation designed specifically to register and turn out Republican voters to protect their majority in the House in November's elections."

"In the past such efforts have been led by the Republican National Committee, but this year House Republican leaders are implementing their own push, which they call STOMP — the Strategic Taskforce for the Organization and Mobilization of People — to work with the RNC and state parties to turn out voters."

Some charges against Providence Mayor Buddy Cianci have been dropped, but the trial continues. The "Today" program featured the trial today in a taped piece.

Former Clinton independent counsel and onetime New Jersey Senate candidate Robert Ray has joined the Jersey-based firm of Pitney, Hardin, Kipp & Szuch LLP as a partner in the firm's litigation practice.

Tucker Carlson slips into the New York Times food section with a loving profile of the favorite restaurateur of every power-tied Republican or Democrat: Tommy Jacomo of the Palm. A must-read for anthropologists of the place (despite recent entries) where reporters still can see the most good sources per square inch between 12 noon and 2:00 p.m. than anywhere else in

California

The Sacramento Bee's Smith stays on the Oracle beat: "Pressure for top state officials to consummate a $95 million no-bid software deal with the Oracle Corp. a year ago came from a host of unusual external influences, a top Department of Finance analyst who recommended against the deal testified Tuesday."

Gov. Gray Davis's GOP rival, Bill Simon, made a particularly strong accusation yesterday in Bakersfield: "A legitimate question can be raised as to whether the governor is using this taxpayer-paid salary as hush money."

And in Los Angeles, he defended his claims that he prosecuted the mob.

Meanwhile, Davis is on the air with his first commercials of the general election campaign. According to a campaign press release, one commercial, called "Vigilant," will air in the Los Angeles and Sacramento markets. Another, called "Search Out," will air in smaller markets "for the time being." "Vigilant" features Davis touting his record on "gun safety, healthcare, the environment, and a woman's right to choose." "Search Out" has Davis talking about public safety. No word (yet) on the size of the buy, nor on how long it will last.

These were expected; biographical spots tend to be used to build up name recognition. Or, in the case of an incumbent governor whom everyone knows, raise his Q ratings a little, and prep voters for some issue contrasts.

New York

Party switcher?

Florida

Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris will host a closed-press campaign fundraiser in the shadow of the White House today. She'll lunch at Valis and Associates at 1700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, and will net $500 from each PAC attending and $250 from each individual donor. Tonight, Harris dines with supporters at Oceannaire.

Welcome to Washington:

"Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris must explain why her campaign for a seat in Congress does not conflict with her legal defense, as a state official, of new congressional districts drawn by the Florida Legislature, a Broward County judge ordered Tuesday."

The Orlando Sentinel holds interests accountable with an exclusive:

"Leaders of Florida's public universities met secretly in January to discuss an agenda that included how to 'enhance' Gov. Jeb Bush's re-election and fight a proposed constitutional amendment that would undo the governor's reorganization of higher education."

"The agenda turned up in documents released after the Orlando Sentinel and three other newspapers requested records of closed meetings between Phil Handy, chairman of the Florida Board of Education, and the chairmen of boards of trustees at the 11 state universities. Handy, who called the Jan. 9 meeting and insisted it be closed to the public, said Tuesday that the reference to Bush on the agenda was a clerical mistake and that the trustee chairmen never discussed how to help the governor win a second term."

The amendment is being pushed by Senator Bob Graham, and would create a new board of education governors who would have broad powers to reshape college policy in the state.

Democrats continue to accuse Republicans of "white-washing" congressional districts in Florida, lumping together people of color and minorities to dilute their relative power in the delegation.

Hearings before a three-judge panel continue in Miami. New Hampshire

Former Tyco chairman Dennis Kozlowski has resigned as one of three co-chairs of Craig Benson's gubernatorial campaign. New Hampshire has the lowest poverty rate in the country, a new study has found.

New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen will make really official her Senate bid this Sunday in Dover.

Texas

Interesting finding in Texas: vouchers aren't that hot an issue for Republicans this cycle.

"President Bush trades school vouchers for national accountability tests. Gov. Rick Perry takes the topic off the legislative agenda last year after fighting hard for it in 1999. Land Commissioner David Dewhurst, a past supporter of testing the concept, now calls vouchers a last resort as he runs for lieutenant governor while touting public schools."

"Even as Dewhurst's Democratic opponent, John Sharp, tries to tag Dewhurst as a voucher boogeyman, the pet issue of influential GOP insiders may have become better campaign fodder for Democrats than food for thought for the next legislative session."

"Austin consultant Chuck McDonald, who has worked for pro-voucher forces, said he thinks the issue is dead — at least in Texas — but because of Republicans, not Democrats."

Democratic Senate nominee Ron Kirk said yesterday that he might support keeping tax cuts permanent — if the economy gets better, another apparent Kirk flip-flop, suggesting that running (and raising cash) as a Democrat ain't easy in this conservative state.

State Attorney General John Cornyn's campaign blasted the statement as a reversal.

Massachusetts

The Boston Globe reports that although "he has described himself as a resident of Massachusetts for the past 28 years, gubernatorial candidate Mitt Romney paid property taxes on his Park City, Utah, home as his 'primary residence' for the years 1999, 2000, and 2001, and received a deep discount on his property taxes as a result." The news may prompt further questions about Romney's taxes and further calls for him to release all of his returns. A Romney spokesperson blamed that on a "clerical mistake."

Bush Administration Strategy/Personality

With all the textual and style analysis to which Ari Fleischer is subjected, there hasn't been a lot of journalistic and semantic work done on the verbiage of his White House colleague, spokesperson Anne Womack, who more often than not is called upon to serve up the Austinian boilerplate on various controversies du moment.

A casual reading of her ouvre might suggest a certain, oh, humorless quality. But look more closely, and you will often see sublime cleverness, with more than a dash of the wag.

If you have the time and the account, do the Nexis search. If not, just take today's example, in which she says the White House is "disappointed that Senator Lieberman has chosen not to handle" the Enron documents the way the White House thinks they should be handled. Vis a vis the Senator from Connecticut, brilliant use of the word "disappointed."

Hmmmm. We wonder why the Daily News' Tom DeFrank seems to have an exclusive on Dick Cheney's roasting of Donald Rumsfeld at a rollicking Monday night Ford Administration reunion.

The Washington Post editorial page revisits steel, saying the administration's approach looks even worse now.

"The Air Force has suspended a colonel who wrote a letter in which he ridiculed President Bush for his response to terrorism, accusing him of allowing the Sept. 11 attacks to happen because 'his presidency was going nowhere,'" the AP reports. "The letter from Lt. Col. Steve Butler was published May 26 in The (Monterey County) Herald."

Media

We had fun guessing which Washington Post reporter wrote which story today. Nearly all the paper's reporters are on a byline strike to protest the current contract offer. "On the front page, six of seven stories are without bylines; the one story with a byline was written by a member of management. Prominent writers such as political reporter and columnist David Broder and Reliable Source columnist Lloyd Grove withheld their bylines, as did In the Loop columnist Al Kamen. No stories by The Post 's foreign correspondents or writers with the National, Style, Sports and Metro staffs appear with bylines. Nor do five of the eight stories in a special section commemorating The Post 's 125th anniversary."

Will Campbell smoke with impunity when she visits Frank Bruni in Rome?