The Note: War President, Part IV

— -- WASHINGTON, July 31

President Bush has already made some remarks about the Middle East today, and you can expect more throughout this Monday, including at the top his 10:00 am ET Miami speech on the economy and in his numerous media interviews.

The POTUS also participates in a tour of the Port of Miami at 10:55 am ET. He then attends an RNC reception in Coral Gables, FL at 1:15 pm ET which will raise $1,000,000 before returning to Washington, DC. He will speak with Secretary Rice about the situation in the Middle East tonight.

President Bush is scheduled to be interviewed by Neil Cavuto of Fox News to discuss the economy and the conflict in the Middle East at 4:00 pm ET. He is also doing sit-downs while in Miami with the local ABC and Fox affiliates.

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals hears oral arguments to decide whether former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's (R-TX) name must remain on the Texas ballot as the Republican candidate in the state's 22nd congressional district.

More from the Houston Chronicle. LINK

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) delivers a major policy address on rural issues at 12:00 pm ET in Lockport, NY. She also joins in hosting a Pfizer-sponsored conference in Buffalo, NY intended to enable New York state's emerging biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to familiarize themselves with Pfizer's Research & Development pathways and external relationships.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) participates in a 6:00 pm ET roundtable with British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the Port of Long Beach on ways that California, Great Britain, and individual companies can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. (The Wall Street Journal Notes the lack of participation from the White House). LINK

Former President Bill Clinton makes remarks on the role of schools in promoting healthy eating and physical activity in Little Rock, AR. He then heads to the left coast. On the heels of Katherine Lister's dramatic shift from Sen. Maria Cantwell's Senate staff to her campaign staff, Mr. Clinton touts Sen. Cantwell's work "putting Washington first" at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center at 8:30 pm ET.

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) discusses a "common-ground" approach to preventing unintended pregnancy at the Center for American Progres at 12:30 pm ET.

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) pushes his health care plan at a 12:00 pm ET Faneuil Hall speech in Boston. Per Kerry spokesgal Amy Brundage, "Kerry will stick to his guns on health care, refusing to walk the timid path of Washington incrementalism, and instead fighting to guarantee universal health care by 2012, starting immediately with all of America's children, and putting soaring health care costs first and foremost on the agenda."

Sen. Kerry will characterize the Republican "failure" on health care as a "slow-motion Katrina." For more, check out his op-ed in today's Boston Globe: LINK

Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), the point man for Senate Democrats on national security, addresses the Nitze School of Advanced International Studies on "Iraq: The Road Ahead" at 6:00 pm ET.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich addresses the Young Americas Foundation convention at 1:00 pm ET. LINK

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) stumps for the no-longer anonymous Lt. Gov. Michael Steele in Owings Mills, MD. LINK

With the House in recess, at 3:00 pm ET, the Senate resumes consideration of an offshore drilling measure (S 3711) that would hasten oil and gas exploration in a section of the eastern Gulf of Mexico known as "Lease Area 181." A roll call vote is expected at 5:30 p.m. on the motion to invoke cloture on the measure.

Weekend must-reads:
In Saturday's New York Times, in her piece about the relationship between 2008 frontrunners McCain and Clinton, Anne Kornblut reported that Sen. Clinton "astonished her traveling companions" on a congressional trip to Estonia "by suggesting that the group do what one does in the Baltics: hold a vodka-drinking contest." LINK

"Delighted, the leader of the delegation, Senator John McCain, quickly agreed. The after-dinner drinks went so well -- memories are a bit hazy on who drank how much -- that Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican, later told people how unexpectedly engaging he found Mrs. Clinton to be. 'One of the guys' was the way he described Mrs. Clinton, a New York Democrat, to some Republican colleagues."

Philippe "The Kicker" Reines declined to elaborate on the rounds of vodka, saying: "What happens in Estonia stays in Estonia."

"Atlas Group Strives to Map Out Success for Democrats" - Sunday's Washington Post on the comprehensive effort by Steve Rosenthal, Michael Whouley and Mary Beth Cahill to devise a roadmap to victory in 2008, in a story that raised more questions than it answered. LINK

In a reminder of how he plans to use his state's health reform package in 2008, Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) said in Iowa over the weekend that he could envision being on a panel with Sen. Clinton and being asked how his health plan differed and saying: "That's easy. Mine got done." LINK

Weekend GMA:
On the Saturday edition of Weekend GMA, ABC News' Kate Snow asked DNC Chairman Howard Dean how Democrats can take back control of Congress if he and DCCC Chairman Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) haven't spoken in months.

"That stuff is mostly press gossip. We work very well with the DCCC. . . I do think that's mostly inside the beltway gossip," said Dean.

Snow persisted: "So you have spoken to him?"

Dean, dodging the question, said: "What really matters is, can we really change. We work the the DNC, the DCCC every single day."

Snow also reminded Dean that when he was arguing against going into Iraq - back in 2002 before the war began - Dean used to suggest that if you go into Iraq you've got to stay for 10 years to build a democracy.

Asked if he still thinks that, Dean avoided addressing his own 10-year assessment, saying, "I think if the president had his way, we would. . ."

While anchoring Weekend GMA on Sunday, ABC News' Jake Tapper interviewed RNC spokesman Brian Jones. As Tapper chronicles on his Political Punch blog, when Jones was asked how GOPers will try to keep control of the House and Senate this November, Jones said Republicans would run local races and argue that a Democratic Congress will raise taxes, "cut and run" from Iraq, and proceed with impeachment proceedings against President Bush.

Tapper writes that the Republican campaign "might accurately be called negative campaigning. Or, in a conservative's view, an accurate reminder." LINK

Click here for the free video of Tapper and the RNC's Jones: LINK

Bush Administration agenda:

"Bush's Focus in Florida Is on Domestic Agenda," Washington Post. LINK