The Note: The Water's Edge

— -- WASHINGTON, July 13

Today's way of knowing if Republicans will keep control of the House in 2007?

Read just two newspaper stories:

1. Leader Pelosi tells the Wall Street Journal in a must read that if she becomes Speaker of the House, she would pay down the deficit, eliminate earmarks, and be the Speaker for everyone. LINK

(Ask yourself: what happens next?)

2. In a must read, the Washington Post's David Broder writes: "Pretend for a moment that you are in the president's cabin on Air Force One as he tours Europe this week and heads for the Group of Eight summit in St. Petersburg. What does the world look like to you? The answer, in one word, is trouble."LINK

(Ask yourself: is The Dean reflecting CW, creating CW, both, or neither?)

Thursday, President Bush said Israel has the right to defend itself, as it launched fresh attacks on Lebanon after the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers. LINK

Herr Bush and the First Lady arrived in Germany Thursday morning for a ceremony and guest book signing at the Stralsund Market Square in Stralsund, Germany. POTUS then met with German chancellor Angela Merkel and visited St. Nikolia Church before departing, traveling to Trinwillershagen for dinner and staying the night in Heiligendamm, Germany.

He heads to the G-8 Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia on Friday.

The First Lady joined her husband for the morning's arrival ceremony, followed by remarks at the opening of the America at Your Library event at the Children's Library in Stadtwaage, Germany. FLOTUS then travels to the Tourist City of Stralsund archives and meets with local leaders for lunch in Stralsund Kuche, Germany.

Back home, the hot issues are Voting Rights Act reauthorization and a DCCC web ad which features flag-draped coffins.

The House considers H.R.9, the "Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization Bill, at 10:00 am ET. Four amendments are expected to be offered.

Members of the party that used 9/11 imagery in its 2004 ads will hold a press conference at 1:30 pm in the lobby of RNC headquarters to discuss what they call the "despicable fundraising video." Fair-minded reporters will be able to judge the extent to which the outrage is heartfelt.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Assistant Democratic Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL), and DSCC Chairman Chuck Schumer (D-NY) hold a 12:15 pm ET pen and pad briefing in S-324 to discuss the difference between Democrats' efforts to "move America in a new direction" and "Washington Republicans' efforts to compete with the legendary 'Do Nothing Congress.'"

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi holds her weekly briefing at the Capitol at 10:45 am ET.

The bipartisan Gang of 14 meets at 1:15 pm ET in the office of Sen. Mark Pryror (D-AR) to discuss the nomination of William Haynes to the U.S. Circuit of Appeals.

The list of 2008 hopefuls continues to grow as global businessman Daniel Imperato and political pundit Webster Brooks announce the creation of the Independent America Party and their candidacy in New York City at 1:30 pm ET.

Gov. Mike Huckabee continues his visit to Minnesota, attending day two of the Education Commission of the States' National Forum in Minneapolis, MN.

As controversies continue surrounding the Supreme Court's recent Hamdan v. Rumsfeld ruling and the Bush Administration's decisions about war on terror detainees, the Senate Armed Services Committee meets to discuss the future of detainee trials and military commissions at 9:30 am ET.

Sens. Bill Frist (R-TN) and Russ Feingold (D-WI) speak at a conference for the Center for Strategic and International Studies HIV/AIDS Task Force at 11:35 am ET.

Sens. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) attend a discussion on "Creating Opportunities for High-Quality Summer Learning" at 12:00 pm ET.

Leader Frist, Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-NM), and fellow Republican Senators hold a news conference to announcing the opening of new, Eastern areas of the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas production at the Capitol at 2:00 pm ET.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales holds an 11:30 am ET off-camera roundtable for reporters who cover the Department of Justice.

RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman delivers remarks at a 6:30 pm ET fundraiser for Sen. Santorum's (R-PA) America's Foundation PAC in Washington, DC. The event is closed to the press and expected to raise approximately $75,000, two facts that are wholly unrelated.

Gov. Granholm (D-MI) was scheduled to have held a 8:30 am ET fundraising breakfast in Washington, DC featuring special guests: Sen. Levin, Sen. Stabenow, DNC Chairman Howard Dean, and Michigan Democratic Reps. Conyers, Dingell, Kildee, Kilpatrick, Levin, and Stupak.

Among the "hosts" who coughed up $1,000 each for the event were Vernon Jordan and Ron Klain, whose hourly billable rates are not identical (but are closer than you might think).

With the G-8 Summit on the horizon, the American Enterprise Institute holds a forum to assess the current state of U.S. foreign policy and discuss challenges in the coming year from 9:00 am -- 1:30 pm ET.

Bush in Europe:
The Washington Post's Robin Wright analyzes the crises erupting across the Middle East, cites Iran as their common thread, and looks at a depressingly short list of viable options for resolving them. LINK

Peter Baker previews the world issues and wild boar awaiting President Bush. LINK

More from David Jackson of USA Today. LINK

Voting Rights Act:
"Bowing to the demands of rank-and-file Republicans, House leaders granted consideration Wednesday to a bevy of amendments to the Voting Rights Act -- including a measure to eliminate mandates for multilingual ballots -- drawing the ire of Democrats who claim the move violates a bipartisan agreement over reauthorizing the landmark 1965 law," reports Roll Call's Jennifer Yachnin.

More Roll Call: "In addition to the language proposal authored by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), the panel approved consideration of a measure by Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) that would shrink the reauthorization period to only 10 years, less than half of the 25 years provided in the existing bill. Both of the remaining amendments, sponsored by Georgia GOP Reps. Charlie Norwood and Lynn Westmoreland, target the VRA's Section 5, which mandates that states with a documented history of discrimination must "pre-clear" any changes to their electoral practices with the Justice Department."

While pushing Rep. Lynn Westmoreland's (R-GA) amendment to modify the formula used to determine which jurisdictions would be governed by the VRA's pre-clearance provisions, Westmoreland's deputy chief of staff signaled on Wednesday that he does not expect the Westmoreland amendment to be successful, scornfully saying that the Leadership (at least on this issue) does whatever CBC Chairman Mel Watt (D-NC) wants.

The DCCC takes a page out of the BC'04 playbook:
How will the DCCC's use of flag-draped coffins in their latest Internet ad play out? Have they learned from the Bush camp that as long as you are on the message you want to take to the country, there is nothing wrong with making your ads controversial given the free media pick up and water-cooler talk it fuels?

National Review's Jim Geraghty parts company with the guys at Red State, writing "while I may not like or agree with the ad, the soldiers are 'their' guys, too. And if Democrats want to campaign on the issue of Iraq, it's not unreasonable to use the images of the flag-draped coffins. One of the saner anti-war arguments (aside from vast conspiracies, we're fighting for Israel, it's all about oil, blah blah blah) is that what we can achieve in Iraq is not worth the price we're paying in blood and treasure. I don't agree with that argument, but it's not an unreasonable one." LINK