The Head Shots of Which Four Men Appear on the Editorial Page of USA Today Today?

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2004 — -- 50 Days Until Inauguration Day

ABC News' aces Karen Travers reports, "In Halifax this morning, President Bush will deliver his only speech of this trip, leaving the Canadian capital of Ottawa without making a public address."

"Halifax took in about 10,000 Americans who were stranded after 9/11 and the President will thank the Canadian people for their help at that time. President Bush will speak at Pier 21, the entry point for immigrants coming into Canada and the exit point for Canadian troop carriers in World War I and II, a senior administration official said."

"Bush will speak about the bilateral relationship with Canada – common values and how the two countries can work together. . . . Bush will speak broadly about his vision for the world over the next four years and how Canada can play a role in that."

The Halifax speech is scheduled to take place at 11:15 am ET before the President makes his way back to the White House to meet with the 2004 Nobel Prize winners in the Oval Office at 3:00 pm ET.

The Wall Street Journal's Christopher Chipello writes, "President Bush paid his first official visit to Canada, in what many observers see as a first step in an effort to mend fences with traditional U.S. allies."

(Be on the lookout for the Montreal suburb dial groups that Frank Luntz is doing -- should be interesting. And/but you won't see them on MSNBC.)

Richard Benedetto's USA Today headline uses the word "mend" and the word makes another appearance in the Milbank/Struck write-up in the Washington Post. LINK

On a related Note, using last week's event in Colombia, Mike Allen of the Washington Post has one of the day's only must-reads -- a look at how the White House press corps tries to come up with questions for the POTUS that serve the public interest. LINK

The heroes of the narrative: snappy John Dickerson and legendary kicker-provider Ann Compton.

Allen's Style piece is interesting, tart, fair, and accurate -- and that is quite an achievement on such a tough topic.

Now, going back north of the border . . .

"To emphasize his comfort with Canadian beef, the president dined on tenderloin from Alberta during a gala reception and dinner," writes Maura Reynolds of the Los Angeles Times. LINK

And Elisabeth Bumiller gets the "all five fingers" joke in her story twice!! LINK

The Note's relentless tutorial on Social Security reform continues today with a trio of recommended reading selections:

1. A bit of a cautionary tale for the Bush Administration appears on the front page of the Wall Street Journal as the President and his advisors prepare to push forward on his plan to allow Americans to divert part of their Social Security to personal accounts.

"In the 23 years since 401(k) plans were first created, many people have made obvious mistakes in investing their money, such as putting too much money into low-yield savings accounts or betting the house on their own company's stock. Many also don't put as much money into the plans as they could, forgoing big tax savings and employers' matching contributions," writes the Journal's Tom Lauricella.

2. Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA) tells John Harwood just how tough it might be for the President to push this through the Congress. Harwood says, correctly (and as the White House knows . . . ) that a lot more educating and coalition building is going to have to be done to make this a reality.

3. After former Congressman John Kasich (R-OH) calls the President's Social Security plan "too vague to be called a solution" in his New York Times op-ed piece, he goes on to present his own solution which also includes private accounts. "Growth in initial benefits should be linked to the consumer price index -- not to wage growth," writes Kasich. LINK

Kasich also calls with an open, full throat for a reduction in the guaranteed minimum benefit for future retirees, something that is central to this debate (even -- especially -- among supporters of overall change).

As for the Cabinet Shuffle:

One popular Republican battleground (Blue) state former governor, Vietnam veteran, with more than 20 years of public service under his belt and who knows a thing or two about national security seeking work.

"Overseeing a $32-billion budget and 180,000 employees, he achieved mixed results," writes the Los Angeles Times' Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Edwin Chen in their assessment of Tom Ridge's tenure as Secretary of Homeland Security. In addition to the usual suspects of Hutchinson and Townsend as possible successors, be sure to Note New York City Police Commissioner's Ray Kelly's name there too. LINK

Some other Tom Ridge write-ups for you:

The Washington Post: LINK

USA Today: LINK and LINK

Some see the Tommy Thompson shoe as dropping shortly, or, at least, next.

In other potential cabinet news, although there's no word that John Snow plans to resign, George Will seems to think Alan Greenspan should be the next Treasury secretary. LINK

The Washington Post's Darryl Fears reports on Kweisi Mfume's resignation from the NAACP. LINK

And the Boston Globe has your last bit of resignation news (so far) today saying goodbye to Cheryl Jacques of the Human Rights Campaign. LINK

Mary Curtius of the Los Angeles Times Notes when Rep. Sensenbrenner stands firm he isn't likely to budge. LINK

The Washington Post's Babington and Pincus also check the Intel bill's vital signs. LINK

"The Pentagon on Tuesday strongly denied allegations that terrorism suspects were being tortured at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying that charges reportedly made by the International Committee of the Red Cross run counter to a Defense Department review that found 'no credible instances of detainee abuse,'" reports the Los Angeles Times. LINK

The President of the International Red Cross plans on making a lobbying trip to Washington, reports the New York Times. LINK

Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) opens a Wall Street Journal op-ed by writing, "It's time for U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to resign."

More from Coleman: "While many questions concerning Oil-for-Food remain unanswered, one conclusion has become abundantly clear: Kofi Annan should resign. The decision to call for his resignation does not come easily, but I have arrived at this conclusion because the most extensive fraud in the history of the U.N. occurred on his watch. In addition, and perhaps more importantly, as long as Mr. Annan remains in charge, the world will never be able to learn the full extent of the bribes, kickbacks and under-the-table payments that took place under the U.N.'s collective nose."

The Hill's talented Hans Nichols has another must-read of the day on all the DNC chair maneuverings. Note only four candidates (Dean, Rosenberg, Fowler, and Hindery) are scheduled to address the ASDC in Orlando at the time of this writing. Also, can someone tell us exactly how much sway Lanny Davis has with DNC members? LINK

"Congressional leaders and state party officials are insisting that the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) radically redirect the committee's resources toward congressional races and other local contests and away from the presidential enchilada," writes Nichols.

To all you potential candidates going to Orlando: It isn't just about you presenting to the group. The group, as Art Torres will tell you, is eager to present their plans to you as well.

One thing you may see come out of Thursday's DGA meeting is a commitment by the governors to construct a state-by-state field organization to recruit candidates for office and help then turn out voters when they do. It'll require a lot of money, but most governors are said to be willing to help raise it.

With Bill Richardson at the helm of the DGA, expect to see a renewed effort by him and others to make Democratic governors the key spokespeople of the party until it arrives at a 2008 nominee.

The Seattle Times' Gilmore and Postman report, "On the day Republican Dino Rossi was officially certified Washington's governor-elect, Democrats said they had raised nearly $800,000 to pay for a third count — this one by hand — in what already looks like the closest governor's race the nation has ever seen." LINK

And that was before Ms. Gregoire's appeal went out to the DNC email list, but it probably counts the $200,000 committed to Gregoire by John Kerry.

"In the month since the election, serious instances of voting machine problems or human errors in ballot counts have been documented in at least a dozen states, each involving from scores of ballots to as many as 12,000 votes," reports the Boston Globe's Brian C. Mooney. LINK

The Washington Post's Brian Faler reports that the Kerry campaign "asked an Ohio judge yesterday to allow it to join a legal fight there over whether election officials in one county may sit out the state's impending recount." LINK

Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Enquirer's Cindi Andrews writes, "President Bush won traditionally Republican Southwest Ohio by more votes than was apparent Nov. 2." LINK

The Columbus Dispatch's Vitale and Niquette write, "Votes from provisional ballots so far aren't significantly changing the outcome of the Nov. 2 presidential race in the state." LINK

Likley New York mayoral candidate Fernando Ferrer gets the Ben Smith Observer treatment and Jen Bluestein gets described as "hip." LINK

New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Jon Corzine gets profiled by Helen Dewar in the Washington Post. LINK

Ms. Dewar presages a gubernatorial announcement as early as tomorrow.

The Wall Street Journal's Gregory Zuckerman reports that Rudy Giuliani "is launching an investment-banking firm, Giuliani Capital Advisors LLC, to advise companies on acquisitions, restructurings and other deals."

Zuckerman writes that part of the deal "represents a big test for Mr. Giuliani outside the world of politics. His firm will have to contend with a slew of high-powered investment banks and smaller rivals that fiercely compete to advise companies on their deals."

Here's a sneak peak at the "Questions For…" column in this coming Sunday's New York Times Magazine conducted by Matt Bai and featuring outgoing Congressman Richard Gephardt (D-MO).

QUESTION: "I was at the flea market the other day, and they were selling the edition of The New York Post with the famous headline that said you were the vice-presidential nominee."

GEPHARDT: "I thought I could get enough of them that I could support myself in retirement. I could autograph them and sell them for a little more on eBay, and get $5 rather than $3."

QUESTION: "If you could snap your fingers and amend the Constitution, what would you change?"

GEPHARDT: "The Electoral College. Get rid of it. You basically had an election in seven or eight states, not the whole country. And I don't think that's healthy. You did not have the level of activity in, say, California, Georgia, New York or Alabama that you had in Ohio and Michigan and Pennsylvania. I mean, what's that about? It's their president too."

But that's not all folks! Make sure to read your copy of this Sunday's New York Times Magazine to find out what music is on Dick Gephardt's iPod, what he told John Kerry when he was being looked at for the VP slot, and who he says is the most talented politician he saw in his decades in Washington.

Will more than one anchor fill Dan Rather's chair at CBS? The Los Angeles Times has the details on yesterday's Moonves conference call. LINK

Good night, Tom. See you in Des Moines.