The Note: Game Changers

— -- WASHINGTON, Mar. 22

At noon ET, Sen. Edwards and his wife Elizabeth plan to hold a press conference in Chapel Hill, NC to discuss Mrs. Edwards current health status. So far, what the couple plans to say has remained under wraps.

"Mrs. Edwards, in a brief interview from her home in Chapel Hill, N.C., said she and Mr. Edwards would discuss her health at the news conference, but she declined to elaborate," write The New York Times' Adam Nagourney and John Broder. LINK

"'I'm still here,' she said."

"It's a national event and a family story," said ABC News' Diane Sawyer in the opening headlines on "Good Morning America."

The debate over the Iraq war funding bill begins today in the House of Representatives. There are six hours of debate scheduled for today. Two more hours of debate tomorrow, followed by a vote.

On the other side of Capitol Hill, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee gather at 10:00 am ET to consider issuing subpoenas for Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, and other White House advisers to testify on the firing of those eight US Attorneys.

President Bush participates in a 10:30 am ET roundtable discussion with the Iraq Provincial Reconstruction Team Leaders in the Eisenhower Office Building.

Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R-NY) has a busy day inside the Beltway. He begins with 10:00 am ET remarks at the Wyndham Hotel in Washington, DC to the National Newspaper Association, immediately followed by a press availability. Giuliani will then be making a 1:30 pm ET endorsement announcement at the Embassy Suites Hotel in DC. (The announcement is former Gov. Bob Ehrlich's (R-MD) endorsement, per Politico's Jonathan Martin. LINK)

Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) is joined by Sen. Jim Talent (R-MO) for a 12:30 am ET luncheon at the Mid-American Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa, followed by a 1:15 pm ET media availability. Romney and Talent will then travel to Onawa, Iowa for a 3:15 pm ET meet and greet with caucus goers at B&B Round-Up.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) attends a 6:00 pm ET fundraising reception in Newark, NJ.

Bill Clinton takes to an Upper West Side spinning exercise class this evening where participants have each made a $2,300 contribution to his wife's campaign to hear him talk while they spin.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) participates in a 2:15 pm ET press conference in the Senate gallery on veterans medical care.

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) holds a 3:00 pm ET press conference in the Russell Senate Office Building to discuss the United States Public Service Academy.

Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM) holds private campaign events in the City of Angels in the morning and in Phoenix, AZ in the afternoon.

Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) gives a 1:00 pm ET address on Iraq and the economy at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) hold a 10:00 am ET news conference in the House Radio/TV Gallery of the U.S. Capitol to introduce the STRIVE Act, a bipartisan immigration reform bill.

2008: Democrats: Edwards:
Per Jim Nesbitt of the Raleigh News & Observer, Jennifer Palmieri, an Edwards campaign adviser, gave "few details" late Wednesday night but did say the conference would focus "on the health of Elizabeth Edwards . . . " LINK

"'That's all I can say,' Palmieri said."

The Washington Post's Anne Kornblut has Edwards adviser Jonathan Prince saying: "He's talking tomorrow. Listen to what he says tomorrow."LINK

"On Wednesday night, Edwards's advisers declined to discuss his wife's health, saying she would speak for herself on Thursday. But they did not play down the seriousness of the announcement."

"For her health, everyone is family this morning, wishing her the best," said ABC News' Diane Sawyer on "Good Morning America."

Also on GMA, ABC News' Kate Snow included some John Edwards sound from a May 2006 interview with George Stephanopoulos in which he said that "Elizabeth, having her health problems come back," would likely be the only thing to keep him from jumping into the 2008 presidential contest.

Prior to the press conference drumbeat, Andie Dominick gives a take on the Senator's visit with the Des Moines Register. "He has a trial lawyer's skill for distilling complicated issues into compelling language that speaks to ordinary people," writes Dominick, and Noted that he "pulled no punches when he didn't have a ready answer." LINK

Politics of Iraq:
Politico's Josephine Hearn looks at Speaker Pelosi's first "knock-down, drag-out legislative battle" as she twists arms trying to get the votes for a bill that would place military readiness conditions and Iraqi benchmarks in place as a means to end the war. LINK

"With the House of Representatives headed toward a historic vote Friday to require the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, Democratic leaders are taking their party to a place it hasn't been since American troops were dying in the jungles of Southeast Asia," writes Norm Levey of the Los Angeles Times. LINK

Mike Soraghan and Jonathan E. Kaplan of The Hill report on the struggle for consensus for House Democrats over the Iraq spending bill, and tallies the current positions of the Blue Dogs and Progressives. LINK

Ken Dilanian of the USA Today writes about the $3.7 billion in farm aid added by the Democrats to the war supplemental in an effort to gain votes. Included: a peanut storage project could cost taxpayers $74 million should the measure pass. LINK

Rep. George Miller (D-CA), a close adviser to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), tells the Wall Street Journal's David Rogers: "The surge was always designed to break the momentum of the election...to break the momentum of the people speaking, saying get out of Iraq." LINK