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The Note is rigorously non-partisan, and does not have a strongly-held view about the relationships among balanced budgets, economic sanity, and morality.

Nonetheless, the Bush-Hastert-Frist team is grappling with the very set of fiscal issues that bedeviled the party, and the country, right before the 9/11 attacks.

And that presents a series of tough spending and tax-cutting decisions.

The circumstances might be somewhat different than those of September, 2001 (most Notably: the costs of war; the on-going economic woes; the state budget problems; and full Republican control of the co-equal branch on the Hill), but the core, Big Casino problem remains the same: how can legislation be enacted that simultaneously:

-- boosts the economy
-- doesn't explode the deficit
-- fulfills the president's campaign promises (including the alternative minimum tax fix; prescription drugs; those Social Security account transition costs; education spending; massive defense spending increases)
-- cuts "the taxes" big time

The latest reporting, absent from the morning papers and even from their newfangled websites, seems to come uniquely from the Associated Press' top green-eye-shade guy, Alan Fram.

At 3:28 am ET, while Note readers were (mostly) sleeping, Fram was filing this remarkable dispatch:

"Republican leaders want to … .approve a federal budget that delays resolving a House-Senate dispute over his proposed tax cuts."

"Bargainers from the two GOP-run chambers were hoping to shake hands on final versions of both measures on Wednesday. If they do, they would be on track to meet their goal of pushing the legislation through Congress by Friday, when lawmakers plan to begin a two-week spring recess."

"Under a proposed compromise negotiators were moving toward, the $2.2 trillion budget for 2004 would sidestep a House-Senate battle over tax cuts by letting each chamber write differing tax bills later this year. The extraordinary plan, which was still being discussed, was described by congressional aides on condition of anonymity."

"If approved, the idea would give Bush hope that the $726 billion tax cut he has proposed through 2013 would not be cut in half, as the Senate voted to do last month. Bush says tax package — which would eliminate individuals' taxes on corporate dividends and accelerate some income-tax cuts — will energize the economy; it's a bedrock of his domestic agenda this year."

"The proposed deal underscored GOP leaders' inability to find middle ground between conservatives arguing Bush's full tax cut is needed to spur economic growth, and moderates contending the cuts must be limited to mitigate soaring federal deficits."

"The budget the House approved last month endorsed Bush's full tax-cut of $726 billion while the Senate's budget included only a $350 billion tax reduction. Those figures might change under the proposed compromise, aides cautioned."

"Before sending a tax package to Bush for his signature, the House and Senate would still have to agree to a common number."

Since the congressional leaders all chose to skip the stakeout after their breakfast with the president, we didn't get the budget update we were counting on.

The Washington Times ' Lakely foreshadowed the apparent hedge/cave: "Conservative Republicans are losing the game of chicken with liberals in their party about the budget, and Senate leaders appear resigned to accept a fraction of President Bush's desired $725 billion in tax cuts to stimulate the economy … ." LINK

"'Someone's got to blink,' a Senate Republican aide said. 'The tax cut is just one part of the budget. Why would you throw away the entire budget over just one thing?'"

Well, anonymous aide, because that "one thing" seems to be the bulk of the president's plan to restore robust growth.

Sometimes, Note readers ask: why this seeming obsession with so-called Big Casino budget politics?

Not all 19 million of those perfectly sane Americans who voted for Ross Perot in 1992 had the deficit as their main issue, but for the last decade, would-be and actual presidents have responded to public sentiment on that issue and paid at least rhetorical homage to the importance of living within our means as a nation and not passing on debt to our children and our grandchildren.

The looming retirement needs of the Boomers have only made this focus more imperative for many.

But now the president's budget chief, Mitch "Who IS Joe Andrew?" Daniels, has become Washington's leading rationalizer for running deficits under the current circumstances.

But he can be somewhat forgiven, since he is dealing with a schizo House conference that simultaneously demands to see a blueprint for deficit reduction while screaming that they can't be expected to cut veterans' benefits or anything else.

And they are, like Daniels himself, dedicated supply siders.

We wonder (but only rhetorically, because we think we know), what Senator Daschle and Leader Pelosi will say about the Republicans' new-found tolerance for the absence of a budget resolution at their roundtable with economists today to discuss the state of the Bush economy and the allegedly negative effects another large tax cut will have on it.

They will have at least one piece of paper to wave around.

Entering into this war-time debate, mostly from stage left and, arguably, well past a moment of relevance, comes a power byline of awe (but little shock).

A New York Times op-ed bearing these names — Bob Kerrey, Sam Nunn, Pete Peterson, Bob Rubin, Warren Rudman, and Paul Volcker — deserves attention no matter what the topic. LINK

In this instance, the Concord Coalitionists decry the Bush tax cut at this time of deficit.

There's more on how this budget narrative is playing out in "Big Casino budget politics" below.

For the Democrats who want to replace Mister Bush (but only when the time comes: no one is advocating regime change today), this won't be a day, we suspect, to talk much about fidelity to balanced budgets — unless, we are guessing, your name is "Howard Dean."

Yesterday, we told you all about tonight's big Children's Defense Fund event, featuring all nine announced candidates on one stage.

But that Main Event takes place right at major east coast newspaper deadlines, so there is more than passing interest in the under card (Alert: majorly mixed sports metaphors are about to fly.).

Before taking the field in tonight's big game under the lights at Wardman Park, the Democratic presidential candidates were set to take batting practice in the morning at the (deep breath) AFL-CIO's Building and Construction Trades Department Annual Legislative Conference at the Washington Hilton and Towers.

As of this writing, eight candidates plan to attend the morning event, minus Senator Graham, who has a scheduling conflict.

Each candidate will be briefly introduced (30-45 seconds) by Building and Construction Trades President Edward C. Sullivan and then have 15 minutes to speak to the expected 2500 building trade leaders in attendance.

The speaking sequence was determined by the order in which the candidates responded to the invitation, that is, Howard Dean will go first because he replied first and asked to go first.

There will be no questions, and candidates most likely won't arrive early or stay late to hear all of their colleagues speak during the scheduled three hour session, according to event spokeswoman Helen Corbett.

Note the scheduled line-up for the Dems: Dean, Sharpton, Kucinich, Kerry, Gephardt, Moseley-Braun, Edwards, Lieberman and then maybe Graham if he makes it.

Baseball enthusiasts Note: Dean leading-off, Kerry hitting clean-up.

Unions, Note readers in Cyprus, are key to the Democratic nominating process, which makes this news summary-worthy: The Iron Workers hope that their early endorsement of Gephardt will be replicated by other unions. LINK

As he picks up one endorsement, there's scuttlebutt that he might not have a lock on all of his House Democratic caucus colleagues.

Roll Call reports. Senator Lieberman is expected tomorrow to name 10 House Democrats supporting his candidacy. LINK

Big Casino budget politics:

Even in peacetime, following all the budget back-and-forth on Capitol Hill, if your name isn't "Fram" or "Rogers" is sort of tough, but with the distraction of the war, we can't tell the players and the state of play even WITH a scorecard, so it is safe to put oneself in the extra-solid hands of David Rosenbaum of the New York Times .

Rosenbaum leads with Tom DeLay's Delphic/cryptic statement ("'One or two senators can do what's happening here on the budget, and you just have to deal with it,' he said. 'The point here is, you may not get all that you want.'") and then goes on to all this good stuff: LINK

"Two Republicans, John McCain of Arizona and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, oppose any tax cut. Two other Republicans, Olympia J. Snowe of Maine and George V. Voinovich of Ohio, have signed a statement that they will not go above $350 billion."

"Republican leaders have been appealing to moderate Democrats like Ben Nelson of Nebraska, but there is no evidence that he is willing to switch. As a practical matter, nothing larger than a $350 billion cut can be approved without the votes of Ms. Snowe and Mr. Voinovich."

"They met for about two hours today with Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, the Republican leader, and Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., the president's budget director, but no minds seem to have been changed … ."

"Dr. Frist and Mr. Nickles said they intended to pass a budget plan before the end of this week, when Congress begins a two-week recess. Congress often acts in the face of deadlines, but the spring-break deadline is artificial. There is no compelling reason why the matter cannot be put off until after the recess."

"Tonight, 15 moderate Republicans in the House signed a letter to Speaker J. Dennis Hastert saying that a $350 billion ceiling on tax cuts would be a 'credible compromise.'"

"It is difficult to gauge the actual effect of slicing the president's tax request in half. Republicans no doubt would package the most controversial elements of the president's tax proposals in the legislation that under budget rules could not be filibustered and try to get more popular measures passed by more than the 60-vote margin needed in the Senate to break a filibuster."

"But the prevailing view in the Capitol today was that the proposal to eliminate income taxes on most stock dividends probably could not survive under a $350 billion limit."

The Washington Post 's VandeHei looks at the stand-off, with Snowe/McCain/Chaffee/Voinovich and Miller/Nelson/Breaux getting a lot of attention. LINK

As currently grim and stalemated as things are for the GOP, VandeHei, per usual, finds the second-wave news, and Dr. Dean's ears will go on fire over this: "Lost in the dust-up over the tax number is the growing support among Democrats for a $350 billion tax cut, which is much bigger than the plan they advocated a month ago. Judging from recent comments and votes, it appears that Congress could easily pass a $350 billion tax cut. Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) voiced support yesterday for a $350 billion plan."

With Senator Snowe the object of particular attention, those who see the Washington media's track record of making heroes out of "moderate" Republicans will positively love (read: "hate") Juliet Eilperin's Capitol-crossing profile of the Maine Senator. LINK

Imagine a woman Republican senator who doggedly crosses her party on abortion, impeachment, and taxes, and, well, let's just say this is not a hatchet job.

On A6 of the The Wall Street Journal , David Rogers ignores the main, big Big Casino fight, and focuses on
A. Congressional Republican defiance of the White House on aid to jobless airline workers
B. the raging anti-European sentiment sweeping the nation and affecting how Members see things

To illustrate the first point, Rogers quotes a key member, with a deft set-up:

" … the significant defections among House Republicans Tuesday underscored Mr. Bush's weakness on the sluggish U.S. economy even amid military successes overseas."

"'The war is going to end and the reality of these problems is going to be there,' said Rep. Barney Frank (D., Mass.). 'The fairness issue is beginning to bite.'"

To illustrate the second point, Rogers quotes a key member, with deft set-up:

"The White House has discouraged Republican efforts to exclude French and German companies, for example, from sharing in U.S.-financed reconstruction contracts for postwar Iraq. But Mr. Hastert said in an interview, 'I think there are some people who ought to be excluded,'" from Iraq reconstruction efforts.

And the hard copy (but not the web version) has this: "'The reality is you can't give our constituents too much of this,' said Rep. Jack Kingston (R., Ga.) after a trip back home to Savannah. 'This issue doesn't have a downside with our heartland.'"

The politics of war

Vice President Cheney will have spoken to the American Society of Newspaper Editors in New Orleans by the time you read this, and he's likely to have created sound bites (if not necessarily news) on the war.

"Waxman," "Dingell," "General Accounting Office," "investigation," "Halliburton": these words will mean nothing to our younger readers, but to those prone to nostalgia, it's a harkening back to a simpler time. LINK and LINK

The New York Times ' David Firestone updates and fleshes out the special interest provisions in the military supplemental and fairly screams: "Where's the outrage?!" LINK

There's a difference between how The Note writes about the shifting nature of Johnny Apple's pieces and how Slate writes about it.

Slate is, frankly, nearly misanthropic, showing no respect whatsoever for Johnny's history and judgment. LINK

The Note is more gentle and respectful.

Today, Johnny has the planets aligning for George W. Bush, and the English language as his friend. LINK

This couplet will bring good cheer to some quarters: "Military victory begets political strength. Mr. Bush has carried the country with him, and most of the second-guessers among Washington's policy experts are keeping their voices down these days."

ABC 2004: The Invisible Primary:

The Wall Street Journal 's John "Up Late With" Harwood uses his column to look at the Tom Harkin worldview, and there are two paragraphs that are keener than a Bazooka comic: LINK

" … the hottest candidate on the stump is Howard Dean. That's not because the former Vermont governor is so strongly antiwar. It's because he's so strongly anti-Bush … ."

"When Bill Clinton entered the scene, Democratic strategists had concluded that liberal touchstones were a barrier to reaching the swing voters necessary for a presidential majority. Today, the party is warming to a different conclusion — that Mr. Clinton has already cured the party's greatest vulnerabilities, and Democrats now must fire up their base to match the Republicans'. If that happens, Mr. Bush's team will count on his advantage on security issues to lure swing voters. Democrats will appeal to the same group by slamming the loss of jobs and stock-market wealth on Mr. Bush's watch. Even the White House expects a close race."

We are less enamored with Harwood's Joe Lieberman analysis.

Not one Democratic presidential candidate talked his or her way into Eric Lichtblau's New York Times story about GOP efforts to extend the Patriot Act. LINK

Graham

The North Carolina papers got to do it, and now the Florida political reporters are all going to get their chances.

The St. Petersburg Times' Bill Adair becomes only the first (we predict) to profile Graham campaign advisers David "Mudcat" Saunders and Steve Jarding as they travel the state trying to court the NASCAR-loving, country-music-whistling, camouflage-wearing "Bubbas." LINK

Tonight's Children's Defense Fund event will in most ways be Senator Graham's debut on the full Invisible Primary stage.

But he won't be the only one making a new start of sorts.

Graham pressguy Jamal Simmons, with a decade of battle scars in the political trenches of Clinton, Gore, and, most recently, Cleland, plans to be on site this evening, and the fella knows more than a thing or two about how to work a room full of reporters on deadline. LINK

Although he is getting a bit long in the tooth to keep moving around like a gypsy, Simmons plans to pack up and move to Miami next week, indulging his political sweet tooth for Southern governors — or, at least, FORMER Southern governors.

Kerry

The Boston Globe 's Glen Johnson reports that Senator Kerry would NOT establish a litmus test to ensure a pro-choice Supreme Court nominee if elected president. No litmus test. No siree. LINK

Johnson writes:

"The potential retirement of Supreme Court justices makes the 2004 presidential election especially important for women, Senator John F. Kerry told a group of female Democrats yesterday, and he pledged that if elected president he would nominate to the high court only supporters of abortion rights under its Roe v. Wade decision."

"The Massachusetts Democrat also said he would lift a ban imposed by President Bush on aid to overseas groups that provide abortion counseling or assistance in receiving an abortion."

"'Let me just say to you: That is not a litmus test,' Kerry told about 85 women who turned out to listen to him over a continental breakfast in Des Moines. 'Any president ought to appoint people to the Supreme Court who understand the Constitution and its interpretation by the Supreme Court. In my judgment, it is and has been settled law that women, Americans, have a defined right of privacy and that the government does not make the decision with respect to choice. Individuals do.'"

Johnson Notes that Kerry was raised a Roman Catholic, but supports abortion rights, and, with the conspicuous exception of Antonin Scalia, has "generally supported judicial nominees who favor abortion rights" as senator. Kerry also reiterated Al Gore's 2000 warning about the looming threat of vacancies if Rehnquist, O'Connor, Ginsburg, and/or Kennedy retire in the near future as suspected.

The topic of abortion rights was raised during the question-and-answer session.

The Des Moines Register hits the litmus test bugaboo as well. LINK

"Kerry acknowledged his comments could be interpreted as a litmus test, but said it is critical that the Supreme Court keep abortion legal. Kerry has criticized the Supreme Court's more conservative members for trying to weaken abortion rights.

"If some people want to call it a test, they can call it a test," he said. "The bottom line is I want someone who will understand that right and uphold it."

The RNC's Jim Dyke offers this pro forma response: "sounds like he is willing to say anything to get elected."

The Boston Herald's Noelle Straub witnessed a heated Senator Kerry, who "charged President Bush yesterday with breaking 'almost every promise' he made during the 2000 presidential campaign." LINK

Speaking in Des Moines, at the breakfast for female Democratic leaders, Kerry reeled off Bush's alleged failures:

"'He broke the promise about not raiding Social Security, he broke the promise about being able to afford the tax cut without going into deficit, he broke the promise about giving us prescription drugs, he broke the promise about balancing the budget,' Kerry said."

"'The one promise he's kept is cutting the taxes, to the exclusion of everything else,' he added."

Kerry, who apparently spoke little about Iraq, also kept Tom DeLay squarely in his sights:

"Asked about the protesters yesterday, Kerry replied, 'The Republicans are trying to create a political difference. It's organized by the party and I'm going to stand my ground. I am not going to be pushed around by the likes of Tom DeLay and others who just like to do the politics of personal destruction and of false patriotism.'"

As for the whole Leave No Child Behind Act, Straub writes that Kerry complained Bush "'walked away' from funding" the measure, fuming: "'But guess what? Another broken promise."'

Three "regime change" letters in the Los Angeles Times today: one somewhat anti-Kerry, and two ghost-written by Chris Lehane. LINK

The Washington Post has one such letter, a "pox on both your houses" missive from the fictional "Apple Valley, Calif." LINK

Edwards

Senator John Edwards took his campaign to New Hampshire yesterday with the requisite photo op at The Shirt Factory. Having missed two previously scheduled trips to the Granite State, the Senator and his campaign team did their best to dispel any notion that he isn't taking New Hampshire seriously. LINK

"Edwards is just getting started here, according to his top New Hampshire consultant, former state Senator Caroline McCarley, who discounted what she called the press' notion" that Edwards will not focus on New Hampshire.

"Soon it will be clear that he will be taking New Hampshire seriously," McCarley said. "He will be up here a lot, as often as he can get here to connect with people, and he will be all over the state."

While at The Shirt Factory, Senator Edwards wanted to make sure the workers there understood that he knew all about a hard day's work.

"Raising money under new campaign finance law restrictions "is mostly hard work and discipline," Edwards said. "It's getting out there and doing the work to raise the money. The same kind of work ethic I brought to that process I intend to bring to my campaign in New Hampshire."

Once again, the war in Iraq was on the minds of Mr. Edwards' audience and his position on the war helped him woo at least one voter. LINK

The Raleigh News and Observer's John Wagner writes that Senator John Edwards supports heavy U.N. involvement in the rebuilding of Iraq. LINK

. Reiterating his general support of the war, the Senator expressed concern about the United States' worldwide reputation following the conflict, as well as pointing out:

"'As much U.N. involvement as we could have would be helpful … Just as a practical matter, we'd like to have help from other countries so that we don't have to carry this financial burden alone.'"

Edwards also offered his now standard sorta supportive stance on Kerry's "regime change" remarks.

"Edwards said he would not use the same words but said recent criticism by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and other Republicans is unfair."

"'I use my language. He uses his,' Edwards said. 'But I think it is inappropriate and wrong for Republican partisans to be attacking John Kerry and questioning his patriotism.'"

Lieberman

Senator Lieberman picked up the endorsement of Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar. LINK

Gephardt

State Representative Jim Craig goes for Gephardt. LINK

Hart

While speaking to a group of "Democratic activists" in Cedar Rapids, former Senator Gary Hart indicated he was very close to making a decision about whether or not to enter the 2004 presidential race. LINK

"Former U.S. Senator Gary Hart said Tuesday a decision on joining the race for the Democratic presidential nomination is only days away, maintaining the feedback he's received so far is very encouraging."

The former senator certainly sounded like a candidate when he went out of his way to temper expectations.

"Hart urged the 20 or so Democrats he met in Cedar Rapids to take advantage of Iowa's place at the start of the 2004 race for the White House.

"After Iowa and New Hampshire, it's all money, it's all media, it's all show business," Hart said. "I would hope . . . that this state does not focus on who has the most money or the most endorsements, but the better ideas."

Kucinich

The Washington Post 's meticulous Mark Leibovich has added Rep. Dennis Kucinich to his roster of candidate profiles, introducing him right off the bat as "the long-shot presidential candidate." LINK

Leibovich jumps right in with the cheeky tale of a reverberating trash container drowning out Kucinich's reintroduction of legislation for a Cabinet-level Department of Peace:

"Except it's hard to hear Kucinich in the back of the room when the trash bin passes. 'Proud to join with my colleagues,' Kucinich says, rumblerumblebumprumble '. . . provide an alternative . . .' rumblerumblebumprumble '. . . to suggest that war is not inevitable . . .' rumblerumblebumprumble."

"Here we say hello to our friend Mr. Metaphor."

Leibovich presents the 56-year-old Ohio congressman (who "looks determined with a messy mop of brown hair") as stoic about his lack of media coverage considering the war and his household-name competitors, yet anxious to get out his message of peace.

Unfortunately, his message is being snickered at by Dennis Hastert's press secretary John Feehery ("' I'm sure we'll take a serious look at his ideas'") and appropriated by media darling Howard Dean.

"'Don't take this personally,' Kucinich says to a reporter after the announcement. 'But because the media hasn't been covering this campaign, they have no idea of how these themes are resonating all over the country.' He is walking down a long hallway. As Kucinich waits for an elevator, the reporter asks if, perhaps, these themes are resonating — not for him, but for former Vermont governor Howard Dean, the antiwar Democrat who has drawn widespread attention recently. Kucinich winces."

"'Look, I'm the only Democrat in the race who has led the way,' he says."

Nevertheless, Kucinich's status as an announced candidate, regardless of his chances, certainly attracts a lot of serious media attention, as Fox News, CNN, BET and the New York Times (as well as the Post ) are on hand to cover the event and add to the feeling that, according to Leibovich, "In this one small room, there is the whiff of momentum."

Keeping hope alive, Kucinich maintains his strained optimism:

"'I expect to be the nominee of this party,' Kucinich says. He says this repeatedly, as if he might not really believe it. Or maybe he suspects that you don't."

And, later in the piece:

"'I fully expect to be the nominee of this party,' he says, rushing down a basement hallway. But then he stops abruptly for emphasis. 'And I fully expect to be the president of the United States.'"

In this one short piece there is, we have to say it, a whiff of pity.

Iowa

Jeff Link, the young-yet-veteran Iowa Democratic strategist who did a pretty good job setting up the first of Senator Harkin's town meetings last weekend and is working on the other ones, is now … … ..a proud member of the bar.

See for yourself here: LINK

According to a source familiar with Link's thinking (and we mean REALLY familiar, like, the source knows what Jeff is thinking simultaneous to Jeff thinking it), the Supreme Court posts the names of the people who passed and the ID numbers of those who do not.

Of course, since only about 100 people took the test, it's not too hard to figure out who came up short.

Link got a call from a friend of his in the attorney general's office who told him that the results were posted on the web.

Link had to refresh a couple of times to make sure he was reading the page correctly.

The swearing in is next Monday, April 14, at Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines. LINK

Our source believes the swearing-in is done by the Iowa Supreme Court's Chief Justice, Louis A. Lavorato. LINK

Congratulations, Jeff.

And in other important Iowa news, which Senator Kerry for whatever reason didn't mention at a public event before leaving Iowa, meta-super-delegate-for-life Jackie Norris find out on April Fool's Day that she is having twins.

Norris tells The Note she believes she is still in shock over this, and that she is "just doing my part to provide caucus goers (albeit young) for John Kerry!"

The Note congratulates Ms. Norris and her husband, who also has a little something to do with Iowa politics.

Politics

So The Note is nothing if not self-effacing.

For instance, have you seen us write word one about the April issue of Details magazine?

Anyway, yesterday, much to our surprise and delight, we learned that The Note has been nominated for a Webby, the on-line world's premiere award, in the "politics" category. LINK

As digitizens know, the Webby has two types of honors: the Webbys themselves, and the People's Voice awards.

We aren't saying we think we won't win the "regular" Webby, but it sure would be nice if you, our loyal readers, would vote for us in the People's Voice competition.

Just to make sure that voting is easy (and NOT because we like to vote for ourselves) we voted once through The Note's Yahoo account.

It was a snap, but we learned that we are currently waaaaaaaaaaaay behind in the voting.

So please take a moment and express yourself, and your support for The Note, here. LINK

The voting goes through May 23rd, but act now!!

Think how proud you will be to say you read The Webby-winning ® Note, rather than just … The Note.

Do something nice for your friends at The Note.

It seems like precisely one million years ago, but in the not-too-distant past, South Dakota was the center of America's political universe.

That was way back in the fall of 2002.

For those who miss all the chatter about record fundraising numbers, Hilde quotes, Daschle Democrats, John Thune's ambitions, and 527s — have we got a Rapid City Journal story for YOU. LINK

A Daschle adviser, after reading the story, tells The Note that the $10 million figure cited as what Daschle hopes to raise needs to be seen in the context of "the 3rd party groups who are likely to hit the airwaves in South Dakota early and often much as they did in 2001 in an attempt to hurt Daschle."

The Norm Coleman flap gets moderate attention today, but now that the Senator has apologized, we aren't quite sure where the story can go. LINK

Since no one is talking resignation, and Coleman isn't up for re-election for 6 years, all this high-level Democratic attention could easily be heart-felt. And we don't mean that cynically at all.

The Pioneer Press' Tom Webb reports on Norm Coleman's comprehensive apology for his Roll Call comments about the late Senator Paul Wellstone. LINK

"A contrite U.S. Senator Norm Coleman, R-Minn., Tuesday gave a full apology for critical comments he made about the late Senator Paul Wellstone in a Capitol Hill newspaper."

Webb writes that the Senator's apology seemed to be accepted (grudgingly) by most, including Rep. Betty McCollum ("'Senator Coleman is doing the right thing now'").

The Star Tribune's Rob Hotakainen also has Coleman apologizing "'without equivocation'" for his Roll Call remarks. LINK

Are the PAC for a Democratic House (a production of Howard Wolfson and Jonathan Mantz) and the Democratic Senate Majority PAC (helmed by Marc Farinella and Monica Dixon) like the Republican-ish Leadership Forum, an entity that drew the ire of "campaign finance watchdogs"? LINK

Will Common Cause have the cojones to stand against them now that Chellie Pingree runs the show?

The Hill reports that Rep. Jennifer Dunn (R) probably won't challenge Washington Senator Patty Murray (D). LINK

PhRMA's "hardball tactics" with state legislatures get the Full Calmes treatment on A4 of the Wall Street Journal , where Jackie finds that among those "enraged" are Ohio Republican Party chair Bob "The Other One" Bennett.

The Miami Herald 's Peter Wallsten finds that many individuals and groups who donated large sums of money to Governor Jeb Bush's inaugural committee are, perhaps not surprisingly, very interested in some of his pending work. LINK

"In the months following Gov. Jeb Bush's reelection last year, aides planning a blowout inaugural bash raised more than $2 million from scores of corporations seeking government contracts and favorable state laws, according to a Herald analysis of documents filed this week by the inaugural committee."

Florida's Secretary of State Glenda Hood vows that she will not campaign while she oversees the state's elections, and she certainly won't accept the title of "honorary chairwoman" of the president's reelection campaign in the state. LINK

Florida state legislators are pushing a controversial plan to mail voters information about issues such as the retaining of state judges and proposed constitutional amendments prior to elections. LINK

We missed it yesterday, but those with feelings of job lock might want to brush off their "Letter from Washington" resume. LINK

There's an awesome Bill Clinton dot drawing on The Wall Street Journal 's editorial page.

The New York Post 's Page Six is anticipating the alleged Clinton summer plans on Martha's Vineyard with Ted and Mary. LINK

One of the great political reporters of his generation — Kevin Sack — is even classier than we had thought. LINK

And that is saying quite a bit.

Bush Administration strategy/personality:

"All things equal, I would prefer to have a child in a school that has a strong appreciation for the values of the Christian community, where a child is taught to have a strong faith." LINK So said Education Secretary Roderick Paige "in an interview published Monday by the Baptist Press, the news service of the Southern Baptist Convention" and reported on in today's Washington Post by the man who is coming to own the religion and politics beat, Alan Cooperman.

Paige is rejecting calls to apologize, clarify, or resign.

Here's the original story, which our 1,000 Googling monkeys quite embarrassingly missed. LINK