The Note: Unity and Fraternity, Part III

— -- WASHINGTON, Sep. 28

President Bush and Vice President Cheney met with the Senate Republican Conference on Capitol Hill earlier today. ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf reports that following his 45-minute meeting, President Bush walked out to microphones and congratulated the House for passing detainee legislation and urged the Senate to do the same.

The President said we cannot forget that there is an enemy out there that is trying to kill Americans, and that this detainee legislation is one of the tools he needs to protect the American people. POTUS did not take any questions.

At 11:00 am ET, President Bush attends an energy briefing at the Hoover Public Safety Center in Hoover, AL. (Side Note: Hoover is the home of the Hoover Buccaneers, one of the top high school football teams in the nation, currently featured on the MTV show "Two a Days").

The President then campaigns for Gov. Bob Reilly's (R-AL) re-election campaign at 1:20 pm ET before raising money for Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-OH) at a private residence at 6:00 pm ET in New Albany, OH

Rep. Pryce, the chair of the House Republican Conference who was quoted earlier this week saying, "There's nothing that Rahm Emanuel . . . would rather have than me as a trophy in his trophy case," has aired an ad in Ohio's 15th district, "Saving Lives," touting her record of having "stood up to her own party" on stem-cell research. LINK

According to a government report issued this morning, overall economic growth -- the gross domestic product -- during the April to June timeframe was a paltry 2.6%.

ABC News' Dan Arnall reports "that's significantly lower than the previous read and the widely held consensus estimate of 2.9%. It's a full 3% lower than the first quarter's speedy growth."

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus meet with Secretary of State Rice today at 9:30 am ET to discuss the crisis in Darfur, the continued work in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and the fight against HIV/AIDS. (The meeting is closed press, but there will be a photo spray at the top of it.) Members of the CBC plan to hold a 11:30 am ET press conference following the meeting.

DNC Chairman Howard Dean and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) will address the DNC Women's Leadership Forum at 12:00 pm ET in Washington, DC.

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) will speak about national security at Johns Hopkins University at 8:30 am ET in Washington, DC.

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) speaks at Catholic University in a symposium on "Roundtable on Religion in the Public Square" (Sep.28-29) at 1:30 pm ET in Washington, DC.

Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) and Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) participate in the Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion entitled "The Current and Future State of U.S. Military Readiness" at 9:00 am ET in Washington, DC.

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), Sen. Ed Kennedy (D-MA) attend a film screening of "The Motherhood Manifesto" hosted by MomsRising.org at 5:00 pm ET in Washington, DC.

House Majority Leader Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) holds weekly on-camera press briefing at 10:30 am ET. On the other side of the aisle, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) holds weekly press conference at 10:45 am ET at the US Capitol.

Former President Jimmy Carter will speak to Nevada Democrats at 5:30 pm ET in Reno, NV.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Rep. George Miller (D-CA) join an Americans United conference call at 1:15 pm ET on the minimum wage.

The Georgetown University Law Center hosts "Fair and Independent Courts: A Conference on the State of the Judiciary," September 28-29. At 9:00 am ET, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was scheduled to deliver remarks. At 12:15 pm ET Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer speaks at a luncheon at the Georgetown University Law Center Hotung Building, and at 7:30 pm ET, Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales deliver remarks at a dinner in Washington, DC.

Politics of national security:
Adam Nagourney of the New York Times writes up the political impact of the NIE on Iraq and the Administration's 1-2 record on big ticket security bills on the Hill this week. LINK

"If anything this week, the back-and-forth between the parties -- on the intelligence report, on the bills and on the war itself -- seemed to produce at best a muddled result, rather than the sharp contrast that the White House had sought," writes Nagourney.

The Los Angeles Times also looks at the effort by both parties to shape their message through the NIE prism. LINK

That other NIE on Iraq, the one currently being drafted, is not due out to 2007, reports the New York Times. LINK

The detainee bill heads to the Senate. The Los Angeles Times recaps all the political posturing surrounding yesterday's vote in the House. LINK

The war in Iraq now costs twice as much as it did in its first year--nearly $2 billion dollars a week, according to a Congressional Research Service report. LINK

The Wall Street Journal's nostalgic David Rogers Notes that the cost of the Iraq war is rivaling that of the Vietnam War.

The Way to Win:
On Charlie Rose on PBS tonight, get a preview of The Way to Win and a fantastic discussion of Bill Clinton's latest romp into the news cycle, from John F. Harris of the Washington Post and Al Hunt of Bloomberg. LINK

(The whole hour is on 42, including segments with Chris Wallace, Richard Clarke, Rep. Peter King, and Lawrence Wright.)

This in advance of what sources say is a planned appearance by Harris and co-author Mark Halperin on the show next week, as part of the publication and media launch of Random House's The Way to Win. A source familiar with Rose's thinking believes he will say that he is pleased to have them both back "at this table."'

You can buy a copy of The Way to Win right now here. LINK

Today's The Way to Win trivia question -- and our final quiz contest before The Way to Win goes on sale in bookstores everywhere next Tuesday, October 3 -- concerns the political odd couple of Hillary Clinton and Tom DeLay.

Go to the book's website thewaytowin2008.com for the question, contest rules, and your chance to win an autographed copy of The Way to Win. LINK

The winner of yesterday's quiz contest (for which there were two correct answers, depending on if you believe Stevie Nicks or Ron Fournier) is from Albany, New York.

2008: Republican National Convention:
Anne Kornblut of the New York Times writes up the RNC announcement to hold its 2008 national convention in Minneapolis-St.Paul, MN in "the house that Norm built," as RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman called it yesterday. LINK

Kornblut Notes the anticipated local press coverage in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin -- 3 battleground states.

". . . Democrats are now weighing whether Denver -- an appealing Western spot in an increasingly volatile state -- has enough union-run hotels to play host to their convention, which is sometimes larger than that of the Republicans. New York City has cleared the logistical bar for having the convention, officials said, but as a widely Democratic state, New York holds less political appeal than Colorado. And a potential Democratic presidential candidate, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, represents New York," writes Kornblut.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune has all the coverage you could hope for:

How a bipartisan effort helped the Twin Cities win the convention: LINK

(Be sure to Note this graph: "By Wednesday, the race had come down to the wire. National Democrats were to meet on Friday in New York to make their pick. National Republicans had already closed in on the Twin Cities.")

The hunt for 20,000 hotel rooms begins: LINK

The battleground state of Minnesota searches for its political soul: LINK

". . . the Republicans have figured out what Sinclair Lewis knew. 'To understand America,' said Minnesota's Nobel Prize-winning author of "Main Street" and "Babbit,'it is merely necessary to understand Minnesota.'"

The history: LINK

The cost-benefit analysis: LINK