—9:00 am: Senate convenes for legislative business
—9:45 am: Off-camera White House press gaggle
—10:00 am: House convenes for legislative business
—10:00 am: Representative Dick Gephardt, Senator Joe Lieberman and Representative Dennis Kucinich address the NAACP conference, Miami Beach
—11:00 am: PoliticsNH.com's James Pindell takes questions on WashingtonPost.com
—12:30 pm: White House daily press briefing with Scott McClellan
—1:00 pm: Former President Gerald Ford addresses National Press Club luncheon, D.C.
—1:00 pm: Senator Bob Graham delivers economic policy speech, Concord, N.H.
—2:00 pm: DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe leads press conference about the recall, Los Angeles
—2:45 pm: Senator Joe Lieberman makes remarks at a job training center, Council Bluffs, Iowa
—4:00 pm: Prime Minister Tony Blair addresses a joint session of Congress, Capitol Hill
—6:00 pm: President Bush and Prime Minister Blair hold joint press conference, White House
—8:00 pm: Former Governor Howard Dean attends IBEW 11th District Regional Dinner, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
—8:00 pm: President Bush departs for Waco, Texas
—11:15 pm: President Bush arrives at his ranch, Waco, Texas
—11:35 pm: Ari Fleischer appears on the Late Show with David Letterman

NEWS SUMMARY

America is a nation of list makers and list readers.

However, The Note finds nothing more depressing than a wedding reception or office going-away party at which someone reads a lame "Top 10" list.

But some days, the list is an indispensable tool for thinking about political news.

So, today, we have three: the most important political events of the day; the most important newspaper stories of the day; and the most important political dynamics to watch.

In each case, we are going to list from most-to-least.

MOST IMPORTANT POLITICAL EVENTS OF THE DAY

1. Bush-Blair news conference: There's no doubt the two communications staffs and two leaders will work out a plan to try to diffuse all the yellowcake unpleasantness. What insiders want to know is: what will that plan be, and how will it be executed? What REAL insiders want to know is how the evening newscasts will deal with it, since it happens at 6 pm ET.

2. Blair speech to Congress: Who will be sleeping in the cutaways?

3. Candidates Gephardt, Lieberman, and Kucinich at the NAACP: make nice, make good, make it go away?

4. Bob Graham economic speech at Page Belting in New Hampshire: Will he connect like John Edwards did with those hard-working, taxpaying citizens?

5. Terry McAuliffe rides West: The Macker joins the Save Gray Davis effort, proving yet again how beloved the California chief executive truly is loved by Democrats all over the country.

MOST IMPORTANT NEWSPAPER STORIES OF THE DAY

1. The Wall Street Journal 's Jeanne Cummings on the politics of yellowcake.

2. Dana Milbank in the Washington Post on same.

3. The New York Times ' Adam Nagourney on deficit politics, '92 versus '04.

4. USA Today 's Bill Welch on the AARP and Medicare.

5. Anything by Deborah Orin.

MOST IMPORTANT POLITICAL DYNAMICS TO WATCH

1. Do Blair and Bush turn the page?

2. Do Democrats overplay their hand (as some are worried about)?

3. Is there a backlash against the Pentagon for saying there will be a price to pay for criticizing the brass?

4. Where is Miles? (We were unable to spot Miles Lackey during Senator Edwards' CNN appearance this morning. Our working assumption is that a junior staffer found some anti-epoxy agent and got the two men unstuck since yesterday.)

5. Just try to get your hands on all the polling data the pros are reading — nationally and in California.

In California recall news today:

--Governor Davis takes to morning rush hour radio to declare the recall an effort to "hijack our government."

--California First Lady Sharon Davis addressed reporters in Washington saying the recall effort has put a lot of stress on the Davis family.

--Davis supporters suffered a bit of a legal setback yesterday when a Los Angeles Superior Court judge set a hearing for their case against the signature gathering process for August 8th. The anti-recall litigants were hoping to get a hearing set prior to next week's deadline for signature submissions to the Secretary of State.

--The San Francisco Chronicle reports more details about Darrell Issa's 1972 weapons charge arrest in Michigan. According to police records, the Chronicle reports that Congressman Issa was carrying a loaded .25 caliber pistol and 44 bullets.

-- DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe will hold a press conference in Los Angeles today denouncing the recall effort.

The president holds that joint press conference with British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the White House this evening.

DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe, the California Democratic Party's Bob Mulholland and Dan Terry, chairman of Taxpayers Against the Governor's Recall, headline a press conference today to speak out against the recall. The event takes place in Los Angeles at none other than the Ronald Reagan State Office Building.

Senator Graham unveils his economic plan today at the Page Belting Company in Concord, New Hampshire.

Per PoliticsNH.com's Pindell: "Democratic presidential candidates Joe Lieberman and Bob Graham are promising policy speeches on the economy; Lieberman will unveil his manufacturing policy initiative at the Diversified Optical Products factory in Salem Friday as part of 'Joe's Jobs Tour.'; Graham's plan, which includes increased investment in schools, infrastructure, and $40 billion a year in tax relief to middle class families for advanced education and job training, will be announced at Page Belting in Concord." www.politicsnh.com

See more below.

Governor Dean campaigns in Iowa today.

Senator Lieberman also campaigns in Iowa today, focusing on job training programs. Mrs. Lieberman is in Memphis, Tennessee, where she'll attend a reception with Democratic activists and tour the National Civil Rights Museum.

Ambassador Braun attends the Junior Statesman Foundation meeting on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Senator Lieberman, Congressman Kucinich and Congressman Gephardt will attend the NAACP conference.

Senator Edwards, Senator Kerry and Reverend Sharpton have no public events scheduled for today.

Politics of national security:

Is it too obvious to ask why the Pentagon thinks it is okay to try to discipline troops for criticizing Secretary Rumsfeld to ABC News, but General Abizaid can say Iraq is now a guerilla war (contradicting the Secretary from his colloquy with George Stephanopoulos on Sunday) and no one seems to want to discipline him.

And is it too obvious to wonder if the Pentagon think it can discipline the unhappy military spouses who talked to ABC News yesterday?

The argument over bad intelligence supporting the war in Iraq has electrified political debate, writes the Washington Post 's Dana Milbank. LINK

In the midst of criticism, the "White House has been uncharacteristically flat-footed, responding with defensive and often contradictory explanations."

"'This is a canary in the coal mine for what the administration could face if these other problems aren't resolved,'" a senior Republican aide told Milbank. "'If we go through a bad August, there will be immense pressure to have hearings up here in September.'"

But while the president is taking hits on his and his Administration's credibility — not just from political opponents but from the rank-and-file of the armed services and in polls — it remains to be seen whether Democrats will capitalize on the flap long-term.

"One Democratic operative reluctantly agreed that the issue will not endure. Once Hussein and weapons of mass destruction are found in Iraq, 'that is the spear in the heart of this whole argument.'"

The Wall Street Journal 's Jeanne Cummings' recalls last week's DNC e-mail to a million activists seeking cash for an ad slamming President Bush for his infamous 16-word statement. DNC spokesman Tony Welch wouldn't tell Cummings how much they raised, though the ad is set for an upcoming — though not nationwide — buy.

Meanwhile, Cummings writes, Hill Republicans are rallying around the president, but the White House's communications staff is divided on how to handle the controversy. Some advocate "a frank session with reporters to explain how the dubious charge got in the speech." (Italics ours.) Others, Cummings Notes, want to stick to the tried-and-true clam-up strategy.

The Los Angeles Times' duo of Greg Miller and Mark Z. Barabak write up CIA Director Tenet's closed-door testimony before the Intelligence Committee yesterday and report that both Republican and Democratic senators are considering widening their investigation and may perhaps call White House officials to testify. LINK

USA Today 's John Diamond reports, "The Senate Intelligence Committee indicated Wednesday that it will widen its investigation into President Bush's disputed charges last January about Iraq's attempts to buy uranium in Africa, going beyond the CIA's responsibility to examine the White House's role in the controversy." LINK

What went on in that marathon closed Senate Intelligence hearing yesterday with CIA Director George Tenet? The Washington Post 's Walter Pincus reports that Tenet told the committee he didn't know about the erroneous claim before the president's State of the Union address. LINK

"'Members were stunned,' one Democratic senator in the meeting said, 'because he said he basically wasn't aware of the sentence until recently.'"

Committee Republicans, including Chairman Pat Roberts (Kan.), criticized the process of vetting information between the intelligence community and the White House.

And Democratic presidential hopefuls joined the clamor from the stump. Campaigning in South Carolina, Senator Lieberman said he'd replace Tenet and took aim at President Bush. "'This president seems to be saying, 'The buck never stops here,''" he said.

Former Vermont governor Howard Dean also said Tenet should resign, but that he isn't the most serious problem, Pincus reports.

Senator Graham urged congressional investigations to cover what "'Rice and the White House did with information and what kind of pressure was put on intelligence analysts during this process.'"

As for the White House taking the unusual step of taking on John Kerry from "this podium," Chris Lehane tells us: "Bring it on Bush — the White House staff researching John Kerry speech quotes from 1998 ought to be spending their time reviewing Bush speeches from 2003."

Big Casino budget politics:

USA Today 's William Welch reports, "The nation's largest organization of seniors is threatening to oppose a prescription-drug benefit for Medicare recipients unless its objections are met, a move that could jeopardize action in Congress." LINK

"AARP, which has 35.5 million members, warned Congress this week that separate versions of the legislation passed by the Senate and House of Representatives offer inadequate benefits and could do more harm than good. It said it 'will not hesitate to oppose' a final version unless improvements are made."

Let's hit you with this one straight up:

"With statements like that, Mr. Bolten seemed to be saying that reducing taxes actually led to increased revenues for the government, a view prevalent in some conservative circles 20 years ago but basically discredited by economists since then." LINK

The nerve of supply siders to pretend that they believe that sh@#(*, — says the New York Times ' David Rosenbaum in a news article.

Here's the quote that so upset Rosenbaum:

"'Had Congress not enacted the president's three tax relief packages,' Mr. Bolten added, 'the economy would be substantially weaker than it is, and there would have been substantially greater job losses.'"

We weren't aware the debate had been so perfunctorily decided. Many folks who opposed the tax cuts think they have stimulated demand at the margins or maybe helped businesses be a little less cautious. So we thought.

But we stand corrected.

The New York Times ' editorial board seems to endorse the Ted Kennedy macro view of compromise on Medicare. LINK

The economy:

ABC News' Schindelheim tells us this morning that "[t]he group that dates recessions finally gave an end date. The NBER says it was 8 months long, lasting from March 2001 through October 2001. This was slightly less than average for recessions since WW2."

"According to Bureau of Labor Statistics, the economy lost 1,627,000 jobs during that 8 month recession; since the official end of the recession, the economy has lost another 938,000," Schindelheim says. "That's a total of 2,565,000 since the official state date of the recession."

As far as the revised budget deficit figures are concerned, The Los Angeles Times' editorial board seems to come down more on the John Snow ("worrisome") side rather than the Josh Bolten ("manageable") side. LINK

ABC 2004: Bush-Cheney re-elect:

The New York Times ' Nagourney makes the following points in a news analysis:

(a) Voters care about deficits but don't vote on them.
(b) They do vote based on inflation and employment figures.
(c) In 1992, there was no immediate past terror attack or war to serve as foil for Democratic attacks on the economy. Today, there is.
(d) Bush in 1992 was mistrusted on domestic issues in general; he faced a "leadership problem"; Bush in 2004 may not.

Nagourney mined a precious and somewhat surprisingly 43/41 friction-filled quote from Matt Dowd: "'The deficit becomes a concern for politicians when they have a leadership or an overall trust problem, so then it becomes sort of symbolic or indicative of something else,' said Matthew Dowd, a senior adviser to Mr. Bush's re-election committee. 'The deficit for his father was a problem not because of the deficit per se, but it had to do with leadership on the economy. The deficit became something for voters to hang their hat on, but they were already angry anyway.'" LINK

Still, many Democrats want to take a page from President Clinton:

"Mr. Graham, in unveiling his budget plan to reporters today, borrowed heavily from Mr. Clinton's 1992 campaign in both style and substance. He called for rolling back tax cuts for the wealthy to finance tax cuts for the middle class. And while Mr. Clinton papered the state of New Hampshire with an economic plan called 'Putting People First,' Mr. Graham said he was publishing his own economic treatise, which he called: 'Opportunity for All: A plan for America's Economic Survival.'"

"And Mr. Bush's advisers argued that with so many of the presidential candidates being members of Congress, the White House would be able to slap back by pointing to what is the other side of the ledger: spending programs they supported. That, of course, was an avenue of attack that Republicans could not use against Mr. Clinton, who was an Arkansas governor, in 1992. It would also presumably not work on Dr. Dean, who took pains in an interview today to portray himself as 'among the most fiscally conservative governors in the country.'"

"What is more, the White House has shown no reluctance to turn any criticism of the budget deficit into an opportunity to portray Democrats as big taxers. In an example of that today, Joshua B. Bolten, the White House budget director, responded to challenges from Democrats about the deficit by waving a piece of paper that he said was a sign-up sheet to sponsor a repeal of the Bush tax cuts. He asked if any of the members of the Budget Committee wished to sign it; none did."

The New York Times ' James Dao has an excellent impersonation of a Rick Berke "Parachute into Ohio And Gauge the Nation's Pulse" story today. Dao's nut graph: "In conversations here with nearly three dozen voters, the vast majority said they generally like President Bush and believe he is doing a good job. Many people said they remained convinced that Iraq posed a threat, even though no chemical or biological weapons have been found. And there was a broad consensus that the result of the war — the ousting of a brutal dictator — was good for Iraq as well as the United States."

(Note Note: Which is exactly why Democratic presidential candidates (half of them, anyway), are wary of Senator Bob Graham's impeachment insinuation.)

More Dao:

"What Cincinnati and its suburbs think of Mr. Bush is of vital importance to the White House because this is a swing region in a potential battleground state. The city of Cincinnati voted for Vice President Al Gore in 2000, but Hamilton County, which includes Cincinnati, gave 54 percent of its votes to Mr. Bush. Ohio went somewhat narrowly for Mr. Bush, 50 percent to 46 percent."

"The region's political significance was underscored in October when Mr. Bush came to Cincinnati to deliver a major speech pressing his case for attacking Iraq. In it, the president asserted that Saddam Hussein was building 'an arsenal of terror,' that he already possessed chemical and biological weapons, was 'seeking' nuclear weapons and had 'given shelter' to terrorists."

Fans of the story will recall that the uranium/yellowcake allegation didn't make it into this speech!

Check out this final, all-too-true paragraph: "To the chagrin of staunch Democrats here, the Washington debate about intelligence has received scant coverage in Cincinnati. But they might feel heartened that most people questioned said they consider the economy, not foreign policy, to be the most important issue on their 2004 campaign list. And most said they consider it less than healthy."

Also reporting from Cincinnati, where President Bush "first argued his case for war" nine months ago and where the "White House set the speech [ … ] because of the region's fondness for the president," the Chicago Tribune's Jeff Zeleny writes, "Even here, though, voters are filled with questions about the lingering conflict in Iraq. In conversation after conversation, residents raised concerns about the casualties and financial costs, while wondering if there is an exit strategy for what the Pentagon has conceded has become a 'guerrilla-type war.'" LINK

The Boston Globe 's Wayne Washington reports: "President Bush met with a roomful of black clergy and community leaders yesterday to preach the gospel of his faith-based initiatives and capitalize politically on his recent trip to Africa, introducing his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, to brief audience members on what the president saw during his travels." LINK

President Bush may have taken in more than $4 million worth of campaign contributions from Californians, but the latest statewide poll shows some slippage. The San Francisco Chronicle's John Wildermuth takes a look at the numbers. LINK

"California's economic concerns, combined with growing partisan grumbling, have dropped President Bush's popularity in the state to its lowest mark since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a Field Poll released today shows."

"Forty-nine percent of those polled approve of Bush's job performance, down from 61 percent in April and 74 percent in the days following the al Qaeda attacks on New York City and the Pentagon."

"While national polls still show Bush riding a wave of popularity, the sharp drop in California, which has 12 percent of the nation's population, is likely to start appearing elsewhere, said Mark DiCamillo, the poll's director."

The AP's Deb Riechmann reports on Representative Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) decline to attend a briefing on the president's trip to Africa "because Bush had refused to meet with the entire [Congressional Black Caucus] for more than 2 1/2 years." LINK

ABC 2004: Bush-Cheney re-elect, the money:

Nick Anderson of the Los Angeles Times spent some time looking at the occupation column on the Bush Cheney donor database. LINK

Mr. Anderson reports that the members of the financial services industry have been very kind to the president's re-election effort

"When President Bush began filling his campaign war chest in May and June, executives at Merrill Lynch & Co. answered the call by helping to round up $250,000 in donations." "Top leaders of Lehman Bros. and Bear Stearns also came through for him, with bunches of contributions totaling more than $100,000 … "

" … Among other groups that heavily backed the president were lawyers, lobbying firms, energy companies and the tobacco industry, according to the analysis. In each case, key executives or others associated with a particular group helped solicit checks at or near the individual limit of $2,000 from colleagues, friends, spouses and relatives."

Anderson also Notes Senator Feinstein's $2,000 donation to John Kerry.

NAACP, Take 2:

We first heard yesterday of a scramble of phone calls between the NAACP and the presidential campaigns of Senator Lieberman, and Congressmen Kucinich and Gephardt.

In Miami Beach today, the NAACP closes its annual convention; there's a three-hour plenary session in the morning, and we'd bet some of the cooler heads at the Baltimore-based civil rights organization prevailed on some others to allow the three delinquent presidentials another shot.

Anyway, sometime after 10:00 am ET, Senator Lieberman and the two Congressmen will get to speak.

The AP has a little detail:

"Michigan Representative John Conyers, the senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus, defended Kucinich for making an important vote on prescription drugs for Medicare recipients and said NAACP members should not forget his 'exemplary record.''" LINK

"Lieberman spokesman Jano Cabrera said that shortly after Mfume's remarks, Lieberman called him to try to repair the damage. The campaign continued negotiations, and arrangements were made yesterday for Lieberman to make an appearance."

Meanwhile, we can't wait to see the O'Reilly interview.

ABC 2004: The Invisible Primary:

The Note was excited to watch the "major speech" e-mails roar into the in-boxes on Wednesday in the wake of the fundraising revelations.

At 10:59 am: "U.S. SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D-FL) TO UNVEIL ECONOMIC PLAN"

At 11:24 am: "JOE LIEBERMAN'S UNVEILS MAJOR MANUFACTURING POLICY SPEECH IN SALEM" (sic)

At 3:07 pm: "Gephardt to Deliver Speech on U.S. Policy on Iraq"

The Note won't draw a correlation between unhappy revenues and a motivation to "unveil," especially since Senator Lieberman's money totals were about what they expected (before the staff shuffle), but there is most assuredly motivation in these camps to make some noise.

So, unveil away! Anybody else?

It takes the power of three New York Observer writers (Benson, Sargent, and Hagan) to write a little too seriously about a movement underway to draft Tom Brokaw to run for president. Once the Brokaw camp summarily dismisses the notion, the Observer team goes on to look at why Democratic activists are displeased with the current crop of candidates, and are the on the hunt to draft a new one. LINK

Ed Rollins told Tina Brown that Al Gore and Hillary Clinton could have been victorious against President Bush had they decided to make an '04 run. And it made Page Six. LINK

Ron Fournier, yes THE Ron Fournier of the Associated Press, reports on the various Democratic candidate comments on the Iraq intelligence investigation, including Governor Dean and Senator Lieberman's separate calls on CIA Director George Tenet to resign. LINK

John DiStaso's Granite Status column has items on the Kerry-GOP war in New Hampshire, med mar (not to be confused with med mal), Lieberman/Gephardt campaign sniping, and much, more. LINK

Ethan Wallison and Amy Keller write for Roll Call that members of Congress gave monetary boosts to the presidential campaigns, with Richard Gephardt and President Bush "emerging as the chief beneficiaries."

"Meanwhile Rep. Tom Reynolds (N.Y.), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, became the first lawmaker anointed a 'Pioneer' this cycle by the Bush-Cheney committee. The honorific is awarded to those who personally collect at least $100,000 for the campaign."

"'He's hoping to go higher,' NRCC spokesman Carl Forti said, alluding to the elite category of 'Ranger'-- someone who raises at least $200,000 for the re-election effort."

"Meanwhile, in the crowded Democratic field, Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) and Senator Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) raked in the most campaign cash from their colleagues — much of it coming from House members who have previously endorsed the two candidates."

"At least one Member, Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), appeared to be covering her bases, making contributions to three of the Democratic candidates: Gephardt, Lieberman and Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.). All received $2,000 from the California lawmaker."

Dean:

The AP's Sharon Theimer (yes, THE Sharon Theimer) reports that Governor Dean "plans to divide campaign donations into his and hers, a time-honored technique to maximize the amount of money the federal government will provide his campaign." LINK

"The trick? Take a large donation from one member of a family and ask that it be treated as two smaller donations from husband and wife. That allows the campaign to qualify twice for federal campaign aid."

More: "Dean is the first 2004 hopeful to meet the requirements for public financing in the primaries."

The New Republic has THREE cover stories on the doctor-governor, with a cover teaser asking "Does This Man Need to Be Stopped?"

There's a "yes" story, a "no" story, and a story that, so far as we can tell, is a fun Trippi/Jordan/Trippi/Jordan back and forth.

The Wall Street Journal 's Al Hunt writes about the rarified air breathed by "early upper-tier insurgent" Howard Dean.

An insurgent vaulting into the limelight this early is both an opportunity and a danger for both Dean and the Democratic Party, Hunt writes.

"The Dean base largely is what pollster Stan Greenberg calls the "secular warriors" — largely white, middle- to upper-middle class, non-church going, non gun-owning voters." A.K.A., the same voters Senator John Kerry is seeking to do battle over.

But don't believe the "liberal" label, Hunt warns. "His priorities are fiscal discipline, health care, children and, he says, foreign policy; social issues are secondary. Even on national security, this isn't a left-winger. The war, he argues, was wrong, but it would be a huge mistake to pull out of Iraq and he acknowledges the defense budget can't be cut."

With a fine line to walk between energizing voters and alienating the party, Dean's still a longshot for the nomination, Hunt says. And while Vermont and New Hampshire may be a key Dean-Kerry battleground, according to pollster Stan Greenberg, "the battleground will be in Missouri and Wisconsin."

Ho Me for Ho Ho. LINK

Edwards:

PoliticsNH.com's James Pindell reports on yesterday's visit to Milford, where Senator John Edwards again accused Republicans of trying to shift the tax burden from the wealthy's wealthy to the middle class's income. LINK

Some substance from the Union Leader: "Edwards said his tax-cut plan helps working people, such as a $5,000 refundable tax credit for down payment on a first home; a tax cut for those able to invest in a business for the first time; matching savings for middle income families 'dollar for dollar, up to $1,000 a year.'" LINK

"He also proposed a 10 percent tax cut for companies that keep jobs in the U.S., paid for by repealing corporate tax breaks."

Speaking of the wealthy …

Georgetown residents may be disappointed to learn that Edwards won't be joining them, according to a report from John Wagner of the Raleigh News & Observer . LINK

"The North Carolina Democrat purchased a $3.8 million home in the tony Washington neighborhood last fall, but his family had been waiting to move while renovations on the 1820-vintage residence are completed. Now comes word that they will stay put in a Spring Valley residence they have been renting in northwest Washington since moving out of their mansion on Embassy Row."

"'The senator is working toward having his family occupy a new home in January 2005,'" Edwards spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri astutely points out.

An impeccable source tells The Note that out of the four finalists in the Raleigh Bennigans' Karoake finalists two are Edwards for President staffers!

Katie Barge and Sam Myers, Jr., will compete for the $600 prize next Wednesday night. Sam worked — and we do mean worked — the crowd with Jon BonJovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive," while young Ms. Barge left them swooning with her tingling rendition of "Natural Woman."

Kerry:

The Boston Globe 's Glen Johnson reports on Senator Kerry's speech yesterday in which he "attacked President Bush's credibility over his statements justifying the war with Iraq and professing a commitment to homeland security." LINK

More: "In the coming weeks, the Democratic presidential contender also plans to challenge Bush's credibility on economic, education, and other issues, arguing that the president's deeds have not matched his promises. The new campaign tack builds on a news conference Kerry held last week calling on Bush to 'tell the truth that the war is continuing and so are the casualties.'"

Deborah Orin writes up Kerry's "preparedness gap" speech just as Governor Dean's staff (including the member of that staff spinning reporters at the speech yesterday) had hoped she would. LINK

"Speaking in The Bronx, Kerry sounded as if he was trying to sound just like Dean. In fact, it sounded as if Kerry was kicking himself — hard — for having ever voted for the Iraq war last fall and wishing he'd been a naysayer from the start, like Dean."

"'You get the feeling they're hiring Jayson Blair to write their speeches,' said Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi, referring to the New York Times reporter who had to quit because of plagiarism."

Joel Siegel of the Daily News gets a White House response: "White House spokesman Scott McClellan shot back that Kerry, who called for action against Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 1998, was 'trying to rewrite history.'" LINK

And the New York Post editorial board suggests Senator Kerry should be seeking the office of "tank-town fire chief" instead of president. LINK

The Times ' Alan Feuer writes that Kerry delivered one of the "sterner rebukes of Mr. Bush so far." LINK

Lieberman:

Reveal thyself, unseen power, unseen hands!

"Tony Podesta, a powerful Washington lobbyist for the very entertainment industry that Joe Lieberman has been reviling for years, is expected to soon move into a top role in the Lieberman campaign," the Courant's David Lightman reports.

"Sources say Podesta has quietly been acting as an important campaign adviser for months, a position that is likely to be formalized in the next few weeks." LINK

"Podesta's name is surfacing again as talk intensifies that Lieberman wants to clarify the lines of authority in his campaign. Sources said the campaign is often plagued by disorganization."

"'People will send messages on their BlackBerrys directly to the senator, bypassing the staff,' complained one supporter. Another said that too often, Podesta is making key decisions, acting like a chairman."

"In the new campaign structure, Podesta will have a principal, if not top role. Smith will remain campaign director, and longtime Lieberman adviser Brown will continue to run his Connecticut office."

"Podesta thought Lieberman was in good shape for the campaign. 'You're not going to have nine candidates for very long,' he said, referring to the Democratic field."

"He offered this scenario: If former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean upsets or comes close to favorite Dick Gephardt in Iowa, and Dean or Massachusetts Senator John Kerry wins New Hampshire, Lieberman would be well-positioned as the moderate running against liberals. "

The Des Moines Register Notes that Senator Lieberman has an Iowa staff about "one fifth the size" of his rivals, has "said … he doesn't expect to win the caucuses … " and is "gambling his presidential nomination prospects on a strategy that pays passing attention to Iowa Democrats, and focuses on Arizona and other states that have moved their primaries closer to Iowa's leadoff caucuses." LINK

Note the cutely defensive "gambling" verb!

But, continues writer Tom Beaumont: "Lieberman has shown signs of seriousness about his Iowa campaign."

"He is one of six Democrats running for president to have purchased the Iowa Democratic Party's voter file, a computer database containing information about recent Democratic caucus-goers. He also is the only candidate to receive the endorsement of a statewide-elected officer. Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller endorsed Lieberman in May."

"Lieberman is contemplating adding staff in Iowa and opening more offices, but his Iowa campaign director, Ted Osthelder, was unsure when."

'We intend to open more offices in the future,' Osthelder said. 'They haven't told me, 'We're slashing your budget.'"

Jano's quote about the relative importance of states ("'We intend to run a lean and mean campaign in Iowa. All the campaigns need to recognize that the primary calendar has changed and now other states will also play a role in helping select the eventual nominee.'") is one of the most brilliant of the cycle, and if you don't know why, you haven't been paying attention.

This Roger Simon column is mean and great. Did we mention.. mean? LINK

"Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Lieberman's wife, Hadassah, was the latest Wednesday to visit Tennessee in what promises to be a string of appearances from Democratic primary hopefuls," the Nashville City Paper reports. LINK

Graham:

The Miami Herald 's Wallsten sees a tax increase as the highlight of Graham's economic plan:

"In a speech planned for Concord, N.H., Graham will propose creating a new ''millionaire's bracket'' for income taxes at 40 percent." LINK

"Under President Bush's tax cuts, the highest tax bracket is 35 percent of income."

More: "Graham's economic plan, according to an executive summary released by the campaign Wednesday, will also include spending billions on restoring schools, roads and bridges while using matching dollars from state and local governments to ramp up seaport security, broadband technologies and alternative sources of energy — investments that Graham argues will spur economic growth."

Here's a handy guide: LINK

The Orlando Sentinel focuses, again, on his lackluster second quarter. LINK

The article says that President Bush raised $3 million from Florida already.

Senator Graham has an op-ed in Newsday today calling the administration a "bait and switch" operation. LINK

Wonder what type of books you can find at Cantos. LINK

Anyway, The (not that) mysterious Scrum … LINK has convincing, non-Niger-like evidence that the RNC and/or Bush-Cheney '04 folks — or someone with access to their computers, sent Drudge the link.

Why?

Do a WhoIS search for that URL: It's registered to a corporation that hosts the RNC and Bush-Cheney '04 web sites.

The Scrumster also writes something we guarantee will have Nicolle Devenish make a phone call to Ben Ginsberg. Or at least cause her to yell to Ben Porritt: "Get me Ginsberg on the line."

"Since the idea of the president's re-election campaign keeping track of the cars in which Democratic candidates arrive to fundraisers seems sort of silly to us, we can understand why they tried to hide the source of the leak. It also shows the magnitude of campaign resources they have at their disposal. There's another interesting point: the listed administrative contact for the 'georgewbush.com' is an email address (GOPdomains@RNCHQ.org) that belongs to the RNC. Now, national parties and presidential re-election campaigns have worked hand-in-hand for quite some time. And, this may just be a record-keeping goof (i.e., the RNC originally registered the domain and then transferred it to the Bush campaign for a nominal fee). We're not election law attorneys, but we thought that those efforts were supposed to be technically independent of one another. In other words, the RNC can air ads supporting Bush, but it has to come out of the RNC treasury. We're not up on the details of the Post -McCain-Feingold campaign rules, but wouldn't sharing web services be technically a violation of any sort of independence rules? Is there an election law expert in the house?"

See for yourself: LINK

Sharpton:

Reverend Al Sharpton is heading to Liberia to meet with President Charles Taylor about the humanitarian crisis there. His goal is to get President Taylor and opposition groups to "cooperate in a peaceful democratic election process."

The itinerary is somewhat vague at this point. However, a basic sketch of the itinerary indicates Reverend Sharpton (with a mini delegation including Princeton professor Cornel West) will be departing from New York on Saturday July 19th. He will arrive in Ghana on Sunday July 20th and intends to meet with various rebel groups and organizations.

Reverend Sharpton plans to travel to Liberia and meet with President Taylor at the airport there. The presidential hopeful is also seeking a meeting with Nelson Mandela while on the continent, but that has not yet been confirmed. Sharpton intends on returning to New York on Saturday July 26th.

Biden:

We couldn't help but notice that www.joebiden.com suddenly seems to be quietly posting recent news clippings about Delaware's senior senator, particularly articles speculating about a presidential candidacy.

Politics:

Seems like old times. Ford, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Dole, Bush celebrate a White House style 90th birthday. LINK

Seems like old Times. The Paper of Record' editorial board fulminates against Tom Delay. LINK

Jim Jenkins of the Raleigh News & Observer gazes several hundred miles off into the distance to opine upon Jerry Springer's run for one of Ohio's Senate seats. LINK

"Jerry Springer in the U.S. Senate? Keep your eyes peeled, friends, for asteroids, floods, locusts and a terrible swift sword."

New Hampshire:

PoliticsNH.com's James Pindell will participate in a WashingtonPost.com online chat today at 11 am ET. LINK

Legislative agenda:

William Safire writes that a loose coalition of righties and lefties dealt a blow to big media yesterday — and advises POTUS to wake up and pay attention. LINK

The House Appropriations Committee tinkered with the FCC's budget to make it more difficult for the agency to enforce the looser laws (yes, oxymoronic phrase) governing media ownership.

"The vote represented a defeat for Michael K. Powell, the Federal Communications Commission chairman, who has led the effort to change the rules. It was also a rebuke to the Republican House leadership and the Bush administration, strong supporters of the commission's efforts," The Times ' Jacques Steinberg writes. LINK

Bob Novak urges a veto of whatever drug re-importation bill the House and Senate agree to. LINK

"House Republican leaders do not like re-importation, but such is its support that they must bring up the bill next week for probable passage. Nobody expects a Senate filibuster or a presidential veto. The pharmaceutical industry's pleas that cheap drugs from Canada will undermine research for new wonder drugs go unheeded. The more political, if less credible, argument of a threat to the safety of American patients also fails."

California recall:

Erica Werner reports on the latest court development in her daily recall wrap-up for the Associated Press. LINK

"Davis supporters were dealt a setback Wednesday when a judge refused to hold an early hearing on their lawsuit alleging signatures on recall petitions were gathered illegally."

"Attorneys for Taxpayers Against the Governor's Recall, which filed suit Tuesday, had wanted the hearing to take place July 23, before the earliest possible deadline for scheduling a recall vote."

"But Superior Court Judge Carl J. West set the hearing for Aug. 8, saying, 'I'm not convinced that the sky is falling.'

California First Lady Sharon Davis was dispatched to Washington to smack down the recall effort for reporters. The San Jose Mercury News' Jim Puzzanghera writes up Mrs. Davis' visit to the nation's capital. LINK

"'I equate it to finding out you have cancer,' Sharon Davis told reporters Wednesday. 'It's terrible news, and you think, 'My gosh, now what am I going to do?' Very few people say, 'Well, I'm going to go home and die.' What I'm going to do is fight it.'"

More on Mrs. Davis' press conference:

"Speaking to nine reporters, with C-SPAN cable TV cameras rolling, she insisted there is no chance the governor will resign. She and the governor are confident that California voters will turn down the recall once they learn more about it — including that it could cost $30 million for a special election this fall and that it is being supported largely by Republicans, Sharon Davis said."

Mrs. Davis' husband was also playing offense yesterday. Governor Davis took to the morning drive radio airwaves yesterday to say that the process by which many of the signatures were gathered was equivalent to people "trying to hijack our government." LINK

DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe will hold a press conference at 2:00 pm (EDT) in Los Angeles denouncing the recall effort and expressing support for Governor Davis.

The DNC held a recall strategy conference call yesterday with some of Governor Davis' top political supporters. According to a source familiar with the call, talking points were created for national Democrats to speak out against the recall effort. We expect Chairman McAuliffe will be making many of those points (the cost of the recall, the uncertainty it will cause, etc … ) at today's press conference.

Lance Williams of the San Francisco Chronicle reports on the emerging details of Representative Darrell Issa's 1972 arrest in Michigan. LINK

"Rep. Darrell Issa, the driving force behind the effort to recall Gov. Gray Davis, was carrying a loaded .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol, 44 bullets and a tear gas gun when he was arrested on a weapons charge in 1972, public records show."

"A police report regarding Issa's arrest in Adrian, Mich., claims Issa was more heavily armed than he has said since The Chronicle first reported the incident in a story July 2." "In one recent interview, the San Diego County Republican dismissed the gun case as involving only an 'unloaded . . . little teeny pistol.'"

Congressman Issa declined an interview request, but his campaign spokesman spoke with the Chronicle.

"'The congressman has recalled this minor incident from 30 years ago to the best of his memory,' said spokesman Jonathan Wilcox."

Arnold Schwarzenegger has been easily raising money to pay off debts from his 2002 Proposition 49 campaign. LINK