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W A S H I N G T O N, Aug. 24, 2004—
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6 days until the Republican convention70 days until election day

NEWS SUMMARY

This day, John F. Kerry is coming to the publishing capital of the world — and the site of next week's GOP confab — to try the oldest political trick in the book.

In the day's center stage political set piece, he'll attempt to "turn the page" on the domination of the campaign's meta-narrative by his Swift Boat opponents, and shift the debate to a fight over which candidate can better help the middle class.

That would be the hard-working-work-hard-and-play-by-the-rules-and-sometimes-forgotten middle class.

He will say things like his: "The Bush campaign and its allies have turned to the tactics of fear and smear because they can't talk about jobs, health care, energy independence, and rebuilding our alliances — the real issues that matter to the American people. They have no plans, no positive vision and no understanding of an urgent and undeniable truth — a stronger America begins at home."

With President Bush down for another day — while his convention week schedule comes into focus — Kerry has a reasonable prospect of making all the evening newscasts.

The question is, to what effect?

Now, Bill Clinton had a way of convincing audiences that his campaign was not about the past, but was about the future — it was about policy debates that were engaging and interesting and provocative — and meaningful.

John Kerry hasn't been able to sell audiences on his version of the future (Note Note: saying "it's about the future" is like saying "Message: I care.") because the central organizing metaphor of his campaign is about the past.

There's time for him to turn it around, but much of the press won't let go completely for a while. While we wait for the next national poll to tell us how this has or hasn't moved the numbers (Darn that lag time between conventions and the limited polling budgets of the Bush-Cheney-Evans economy!), here's what we're looking at:

Even absent polling data, there are hand-wringers on the left and wide-eyed dreamers on the right who wonder: is Kerry losing the race right now over this stuff? And is he executing the right tactics and strategy to save himself?

When we first read "Unfit for Command"'s charge that Kerry was never in Cambodia, it struck as perhaps the single item in the book deserving of further exposition from Sen. Kerry, in that there are no eyewitnesses and no documents to back up the Senator's contention that he spent Christmas in Cambodia where no American troops were said to be operating. And because Sen. Kerry has made that event a turning point in his political development.

Now that the charges of medal inflation and fabrication have been largely discredited by the likes of Tapper, Dobbs, the Los Angeles Times and others, supporters of the book fall back on the Cambodia charge to tar Kerry with the book's central thesis that he's prone to verbal prestidigitation.

If it sounds like an upside-down world version of a calculated PR effort — put your weak stuff out there first to get attention and your strong stuff out there when folks are paying attention — it is.

And we still find it a bit hard to believe that voters will much care about the underlying matter of whether Kerry crossed the border or not, or spoke imprecisely about it on the Senate floor.

It's why the group is now running an ad that speaks more precisely to a central question many Americans will have to answer about Sen. Kerry: is a man who led protests against the U.S. government and its war in Vietnam while troops were fighting and dying an acceptable commander-in-chief?

The means may be illegitimate to some, but the question is not, and it's not an easy question for Kerry to answer especially since Kerry himself has made, in David Broder's words this morning, "his Navy combat in Vietnam the principal metaphor for his dedication to public service and the proof of his toughness in a time of terrorism."

"He might have guessed," Broder continues, 'that the skeptics would not remain silent. In a 2002 conversation, Kerry told me he thought it would be doubly advantageous that 'I fought in Vietnam and I also fought against the Vietnam War,' apparently not recognizing that some would see far too much political calculation in such a bifurcated record." LINK

More on all this below.

On a day Notable for THREE Dana Milbank Washington Post bylines, Kerry does New York, then travels to Pennsylvania for a 7:35 pm ET fundraiser — and appears on tape on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" at 11:00 pm ET.

Meanwhile, President Bush is down at his Crawford ranch as his Secretary of Defense is "implicitly" indicted in a Pentagon report that is expected to fault civilian leadership for the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal. The commission producing that report holds a press conference at 2:00 pm ET.

Back in New York City, that shadowy 527 group Moveon.org rents out the Hammerstein Ballroom for a celebrity-heavy evening bash that will launch a 10-week series of TV ads featuring the likes of Matt Damon, Scarlett Johanssen, Rob Reiner, Kevin Bacon, Al Franken, and others. The campaign's title: "Don't Get Mad, Get Even!" Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean gives the keynote speech, expected at 8:00 pm ET. Incidentally, Doctor, when is your book coming out?

And while we're in New York: RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie will unveil new video material criticizing Kerry's positions on Iraq during a Penn Plaza press conference at 1:00 pm ET.

Vice President Cheney is in the Midwest today, speaking at a 9:35 am ET fundraiser for a congressional candidate in Overland Park KS, holding a 12:10 pm ET town hall meeting with his wife Lynne Cheney in Davenport, IA, and speaking at a 5:10 pm ET RNC fundraiser in Waterford, MI.

Sen. John Edwards is in Ohio, speaking to the AFL-CIO convention in Columbus at 3:00 pm ET and a 7:00 pm ET DNC fundraiser in Cleveland.

Teresa Heinz Kerry is in West Virginia.

Voters in Alaska today will choose their Democratic and Republican nominees for Senate. There is a very, very outside change that former state senate president Mike Miller will upset incumbent Lisa Murkowski. Challenger Tony Knowles, the former governor, will easily get the primary nod. LINK

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth: what the heck did the president mean?:

The AP's Espo relays the President's comments yesterday to be criticism. LINK

The Wall Street Journal 's Greg Hitt watched President Bush condemn the 527 ads Monday in Crawford and took them at face value, writing that Bush showed "discomfort with the rough political tactics that have benefited the Republican cause in recent days."

Bumiller and Zernike's lead is vaguely Milbankian. "President Bush said on Monday that political advertisements run by a broad swath of independent groups should be stopped, including a television advertisement attacking Senator John Kerry's war record. But the White House quickly moved to insist that Mr. Bush had not meant in any way to single out the advertisement run by veterans opposed to Mr. Kerry." LINK

Whereas Dana Milbank and (Lois Romano's) paragraph about President Bush is Fournierian: "President Bush yesterday repeated his condemnation of unregulated money that he said was "pouring" into the political process. But he stopped short of denouncing the ad by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which is being aired in three battleground states and is funded largely by Republicans." LINK

James Gordon Meek and Kenneth Bazinet of the New York Daily News report, "Bush mumbled to reporters, 'that ad' should be removed." LINK

Bill Sammon of the Washington Times on President Bush denouncement of TV ads from "billionaires writing checks." LINK

Here it comes … . USA Today 's Moniz and Drinkard flesh out three "questions about President Bush's 1968-73 stint in the Texas Air National Guard [that] remain unresolved." LINK

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth: the historical reconstructions:

He's lying about Cambodia, says Joshua Muravchik in a compelling Washington Post op-ed. LINK

No he's not, says Fred Kaplan in Slate. LINK

In any event, he needs to make his journals and writings on that issue public. LINK

(The Wall Street Journal makes the same point, bizarrely claiming that they don't yet know whether Kerry really deserved all those medals," which the "records" they want wouldn't shed any light on. Note to Gigot and Co.: what records do you think are still unreleased? Or are you engaging in the kind of urban myth attack that keeps the stew of "questions" boiling, by saying, " … (W)hatever doubts still exist could probably be put to rest if Mr. Kerry simply released all of his service records"?) )

Amen, brother. Why don't y'all scrutinize Bush's National Guard service, asks E.J. Dionne? LINK

Well, he's concocted a politicized version of the war that doesn't comport with reality. LINK

Did Kerry alone write the after-action reports for his medal citations?

How close was he to Cambodia on Christmas, 1968?

What will Doug Brinkley's article in the New York conclude?

Is Kerry reluctant to acknowledge performing a top-secret mission for the CIA because he doesn't want to be accused of revealing classified information?

Why doesn't Sen. Kerry recall attending the Vietnam Veterans Against the War conference in Kansas City in November of 1971?

How much will his post Vietnam political activities be scrutinized by the media?

Is that fair game for the Bush campaign? (We get the sense that yes, it is, and yes, it will be.).

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth: political implications:

The Gray Lady's Bumiller and Zernike report another Republican tie to the group: the treasurer of Dick Armey's PAC "Majority Leader's Fund," Susan Arceneaux, is the "contact person on the Post office box that Swift Boat Veterans for Truth lists as its address." LINK

But, as the Washington Post ed board suggests, the ties to the Bush campaign are not by any means conclusive or solid, and to suggest otherwise is to ignore the fact that Republicans are going to help an anti-Kerry effort, without the need for any coordination with Karl Rove.

Our favorite blind quote today comes courtesy of the Los Angeles Times' Ed Chen and Mark Z. Barabak. LINK

"'I think [Kerry aides] are sort of getting worried for the first time in a long time,' said a Democratic operative who works with the campaign and did not want to be identified sharing his concerns. 'They sort of feel like we're getting walked all over. The other side is just setting the agenda consistently. It has not been a great August.'"

Our second favorite, if a bit Dolish: "'He's bleeding,' said a top Democratic strategist." LINK

The AP's Richard Pyle, Vietnam War reporter for the AP in that time, puts all this in context and reminds us what all the fighting on the Mekong Delta was for. LINK

"As commander of a 50-foot, heavily armed 'swift boat,' Kerry operated in a murky corner of the war. The enemy was not the North Vietnamese army but South Vietnam's homegrown insurgency: the Viet Cong. The missions were nighttime ambushes — intercepting sampans loaded with smuggled arms and carrying teams of SEALs and Green Berets on clandestine reconnaissance sorties into Cambodia."

The Chicago Sun-Times' Lynn Sweet calls 527 ads "the scam of the 2004 presidential campaign." LINK

The New York Times ' Allessandra Stanley slams cable news' coverage of the Swift Boat ads, writing that "facts, half-truths and passionately tendentious opinions get tumbled together on screen like laundry in an industrial dryer — without the softeners of fact-checking or reflection." LINK

The San Francisco Chronicle's Zachary Coile and Marc Sandalow turn in a must-read about the "let-your-allies-get-into-the-criticism-while-you-take-the-high-road" approach, leading with a trip down memory lane of the attacks on Senator John McCain in 2000 (to which then-Gov. Bush responded that McCain's service was "admirable" and he served his country "nobly") and a look at the whisper campaign against Texas Gov. Ann Richards in 1994. The duo get Wayne Slater of the Dallas Morning News and author of "Bush's Brain" to make the connection between this tactic and "campaigns in which Karl Rove was a participant," and make a point of Noting that Sen. Kerry has been anything but outspoken when groups like MoveOn.org have gone after President Bush. California's legendary Republican strategist and a (former?) McCain adviser weighs in: "Schnur said there was an 'absolute moral equivalency'' between the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads and ads produced by the Democratic groups." LINK

Anne Kornblut of the Boston Globe interviewed John O'Neill and highlights what he says are the new plans for SBVfT. "The group intends to trail the Democratic nominee in battleground states and coordinate advertising and appearances by veterans sympathetic to their cause."LINK

"John E. O'Neill said that his associates are developing a database of former swift boat veterans, 'focusing on people from each state,' who can keep questions about his service three decades ago in the spotlight."

David Brooks thinks the Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth's most recent ad will help John Kerry because in it they will see "a man of conviction" and "might not realize that man no longer exists." LINK

The New York Times ' Paul Krugman rails against the Swift Boat ads, arguing that the attacks against John Kerry's Vietnam record are even nastier than he predicted they would be, because Kerry's "life story challenges Mr. Bush's attempts to confuse tough-guy poses with heroism, and bombast with patriotism," and in the last graf connects SBVfT funding to Karl Rove. LINK

AP reports that "Unfit for Command" is flying off Barnes and Noble's shelves. LINK

The New York Post has the McCain camp's reaction to Kerry's use of him in his latest ad. LINK

"McCain spokeswoman Crystal Benton told The Post that 'he is disappointed that he is being used in the [Kerry] ad.'"

"McCain 'doesn't think the campaign should focus on things that happened 30 years ago,' she said. 'He will not ask [Team Kerry] not to run the ad, but he hasn't seen it. That could change when he gets back' from a trip to Europe."

The Washington Post 's Dionne calls on McCain to refuse to campaign with Bush when he gets back from Europe until Bush condemns the ads — sort of hard when McCain is speaking at the convention!!! LINK

"INCREASINGLY EMBATTLED presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry will be the keynote speaker at the Redbook "Mothers & Shakers" awards, being given out at Avery Fisher Hall on Sept. 20," reports Liz Smith in her New York Post gossip column. Mrs. Heinz Kerry is to be one of the honorees. LINK

An assistant DA in Oregon is being called upon to resign after signing an affadavit saying Kerry's Purple Hearts were false, when he later admitted he hadn't witnessed any of the three. LINK

ABC News Vote 2004: Bush-Cheney re-elect:

The Washington Post 's Jonathan Weisman gets Dick Armey to criticize the administration for not presenting a detailed second-term economic agenda and to say "John Kerry will do just fine with what he thinks your secret plan is if you don't tell us what it is." LINK

This story reminds us that the president's economic team has still not found its full rhythm.

The Washington Post 's Dana Milbank critiques the president Bush and Vice President Cheney by comparing Kerry's quotations with how the two incumbents recall them. And read to the end of the story to learn why Karen Travers' mother called her this morning.LINK

Did Laura Bush dis P. Diddy? And was she right to? LINK

Republican National Convention: politics and platforms:

The New York Post has some details on Rudy Giuliani's pre-convention travel plans which seem to include Air Force One. "On Thursday, he'll be campaigning with

President Bush across the swing state of New Mexico." LINK

Jennifer Harper of the Washington Times on the GOP's curtain raising "flag-waving, boot-scootin' boogie" at their national convention, "with Madison Square Garden being declared a Springsteen-free zone." Ed Gillespie announced the convention entertainment formula: honky tonk, country, a little gospel, Christian rock, and some Southern-fried favorites. LINK

And be sure to Note that if you are an elected official planning on attending the Pfizer sponsored Rudy Giuliani bash next Wednesday, it's going to cost you.

Giuliani's PAC has started collecting funds again. LINK

Republican National Convention: protests and security:

The New York Times ' Diane Cardwell reports that a federal judge on Monday ruled against protesters who sought permission to hold their rally in Central Park on Saturday and urged the protest groups and the Bloomberg Administration to find a compromise that would allow a rally on the Great Lawn. LINK

Now what about Sunday? LINK

This thing is still, thus, unresolved.

Peter Canellos' Boston Globe column today explores how many protestors heading to New York next week are all angered up with no clear argument — just like many Americans. LINK

The Boston Herald: "Armed to the teeth for a DNC disaster that never happened, Boston police are sitting on a weapons stockpile of stun grenades, projectile launchers, rubber bullets, pepper spray and tear gas they may never use in a real-life crisis." LINK

"Footing the bill: federal taxpayers."

Terry McAuliffe: "We can't control thousands of people who want to protest the Bush administration … They're there solely because of the failed presidency of George Bush." LINK

Stepped up security at Penn Station is already visible and in place. LINK

Republican National Convention: potpourri:

The AP profiles the man for whom the Sheekey Bridge is named — Kevin Bridge. (Note Note: that is an homage to knowing about the Jungle Cruise ride at Disney … )

Kevin "Sheekey, 37, who combines a boyish charm with the manner of a sophisticated salesman" is the Democrat organizing New York's efforts to welcome the Republicans to town. Surprisingly, the AP profile has no mention of a bridge. LINK

Thousands of hotel rooms remain unbooked for next week, reports the New York Times ' James Barron. LINK

Republican National Convention: the media:

Yesterday, we reminded all you journalist types to pick up your credentials for the Official Media Welcome on Saturday evening. But do not be fooled! That is not the real kickoff to convention week partying for politicos and media alike.

One of the hottest tickets in town we've got our eyes on is the exclusive invite to WCBS-TV's Andrew Kirtzman's Friday night bash. Sorry, invite only.

You, no doubt, recall Andrew's tough questioning from the final debate of the nomination season a couple of days prior to Super Tuesday. We hear political reporters, consultants, analysts, and a bevy of elected officials — insiders all — will be turning out in record numbers for this can't miss event.

ABC News Vote 2004: Bush-Cheney v. Kerry-Edwards:

Nick Anderson of the Los Angeles Times looks at the Bush-Cheney campaign's latest television ads and has some new CMAG numbers for us all too. LINK

"New data from TNSMI/Campaign Media Analysis Group show Bush spent more than $12 million on TV ads from Aug. 8 through Saturday, while other Kerry critics spent nearly $1 million more. "A fairly good one-two punch," said Evan Tracey, chief operating officer of the ad monitoring group."

"During the same two weeks, Kerry spent almost nothing, saving money for September and October. But his cause was helped by various pro-Democratic groups that, although independent of his campaign, spent nearly $19 million promoting him and attacking Bush."

Funny how the Chamber of Commerce vowed never to donate money to an outside group because its own brand was more than sufficient to sell its "product."

Well, the Wall Street Journal 's Alan Murray reports that a new Republican 527, "The November Fund," backed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, plans to go on the air in September with ads that attack Edwards as a part of the "runaway legal system" that damages the economy with abusive lawsuits. Not that the Chamber's opposition is a surprise, but Murray outlined the group's promise to go after Edwards — minus the "how" details — back during Veepstakes in his July 6 column.

The New York Times ' Glen Justice reports that the November Fund plans to spend $10 million Justice Notes the group's "co-chairmen are Craig L. Fuller, who was an aide to President Ronald Reagan and chief of staff to his vice president, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Brock, former senator, labor secretary and Republican national chairman." LINK

The Wall Street Journal updates its Battleground Poll, conducted by Zogby Interactive, which shows President Bush leading in just Ohio and West Virginia, but Kerry's lead in three quarters of the other 14 states within the margin of error. LINK

They also offer a little analysis, cautioning against overplaying Kerry's leads in the Blue States. LINK

USA Today 's Hagenbaugh and Kirchhoff report, "Forty-seven economists answered a question both this month and at the end of 2003 on whether the economy would help Bush in the election. In December, all 47 said yes. When surveyed Aug. 13-18, nearly half of those same 47 had changed their minds, with 22 saying the economy would not help Bush." LINK

Howie Kurtz on MoveOn's A List. LINK

ABC News Vote 2004: Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin:

The New York Times ' Abby Goodnough writes, "There is nothing like a disaster to provide a defining moment for a chief executive, testing his leadership and altering his legacy for the better — consider Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York after the 2001 terrorist attacks — or worse. And for Gov. Bush, a younger brother of President Bush, the test comes at a critical moment. With a national election less than three months away, he is under intense pressure to deliver a wider margin of victory for his brother in Florida than in 2000, when George Bush won by a mere 537 votes after a recount and court ruling." LINK

USA Today 's Benedetto and Sharp report, "Most Floridians are satisfied with the way President Bush responded to Hurricane Charley, according to a USA TODAY /CNN/Gallup Poll. But that has not changed the dynamic of the presidential race, which remains a virtual tie between Bush and Democrat John Kerry in the critical Southern state." LINK

Sharp also reports in a separate piece that "Gov. Jeb Bush's approval rating among Floridians for his handling of Charley was even higher than that of the president: 76% said the governor did a good job; 71% said the same of the president." LINK

The New York Times ' Kit Seelye profiles the all-important Philadelphia suburbs, where anger over the war in Iraq remains intense, but Senator Kerry hasn't closed the deal with voters. LINK

Seelye adds a profile of the "experienced and energetic ally" John Kerry has in the statehouse in Pennsylvania: Gov. Ed Rendell. LINK

Note Kit tries to stir up trouble between The Macker and Fast Eddie.

The Cincinnati Enquirer's Gregory Korte reports, "Youngstown Mayor George M. McKelvey — the Democratic mayor of a very Democratic rust-belt city — endorsed President Bush for re-election Monday, calling him a 'friend' and a 'kind, caring, God-fearing man.'" LINK

The lead story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel starts, "Milwaukee-area hospital and physician prices were shown again Monday to be dramatically higher than national averages, hamstringing local businesses trying to compete." LINK

ABC News Vote 2004: casting and counting:

The heated race for supervisor of elections in Palm Beach County features a Dean endorsement, charges of incompetency, and, of course, national attention. LINK

ABC News Vote 2004: battlegrounds:

USA Today 's Mark Memmott has Bill Clinton talking about the importance of local media coverage! LINK

An amendment banning same sex marriage and Ralph Nader's candidacy are two issues likely headed to court in an attempt to get on Michigan's November ballot. LINK

The Des Moines Register 's David Yepsen thinks that Sen. Harkin really messed up by calling Vice President Cheney a "coward." LINK

A health care fight is the lead story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. LINK

The Las Vegas Review Journal's Erin Neff breaks down the new Yucca specific ad by BC04, Noting that the "ad makes no mention of Kerry's 1999 vote against interim storage and his 2002 vote against the repository. No mention is made of Bush's approval of the site as the nation's repository." LINK

President Bush is losing ground in polls in Republican-dominated Maricopa County, Arizona, reports the Arizona Republic. LINK

Missouri Democrats insist they are ready for November following the "bruising" primary they suffered this month, the Kansas City Star reports. LINK

Kansas City beat St. Louis for the third straight time. LINK

Missouri Secretary of State and Republican gubernatorial candidate Matt Blunt was out on the trail yesterday denouncing "lucrative state pensions for some quasi-judicial positions," reports the Kansas City Star. LINK

Nader-Camejo:

The Washington Post 's Finer and Faler collect the latest trials and tribulations on Ralph Nader's efforts to get onto Nov. 2 ballots. "We wanted to neutralize his campaign by forcing him to spend money and resources defending these things," says former Nader supporter turned Nader blocker Toby Moffet, who has organized much of the legal opposition to Nader's campaign. "But much to our astonishment we've actually been more successful than we thought we'd be in stopping him from getting on at all." LINK

Case in point: the Chicago Sun-Times' Annie Sweeney reports that on Monday a federal judge ruled against Ralph Nader in his complaint about the Illinois ballot, saying that the state has not violated his rights with its ballot access rules. Nader had alleged that the rules were stacked against third-party candidates. LINK

Undeterred by the setback, Nader takes a similar argument about unfair ballot access laws for third parties and overly stringent interpretations to Pennsylvania, where a coalition of Democrats are challenging about 85 percent of his signatures because they say they are fraudulent or have imperfections. LINK

The Washington Post Chris L. Jenkins reports Nader has a another chance at the Virginia ballot after the attorney general's office told the state Board of Elections to consider the petitions Ralph Nader submitted to get on the state's presidential ballot in November, overturning Friday's decision. LINK

Meanwhile, the attorney general to the west wasn't so helpful to Nader's presidential bid. The AP reports the state attorney general's office said in a lawsuit filed Monday that the tactics Nader's supporters used violate state election laws. At least 20 complaints were filed with the secretary of state's office for tactics used by Nader's hired signature gatherers. LINK

Joshua Weinstein of the Portland Press Herald reports two Democrats filed papers with the Maine Secretary of State's Office on Monday, charging that independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader's name should not appear on the ballot in November. LINK

Several groups charged the Commission on Presidential Debates is partisan and undermines democracy in a report released Monday. The group objects to collaboration between the two major parties on debate procedures and the exclusion of third-party candidates like Nader, reports the AP. "The debates have been reduced to a series of glorified bipartisan news conferences, in which the Republican and Democratic candidates exchange memorized sound bites," the report said. LINK

Bush-Nader '04? The New York Times ' Mark Glassman writes up NaderFactor.com's new ad, a 60-second spot which seeks to portray the Bush-Cheney campaign in cahoots with Nader's troops. LINK

Nader's signatures are due today in Oregon and Idaho.

The campaign submitted names Monday in Wyoming.

The politics of national security:

The Washington Post 's Peter Slevin has a must-read about money, power, and Cuba in Florida politics. LINK

"President Bush's nominee to be the director of central intelligence, Rep. Porter J. Goss (R-Fla.), sponsored legislation that would have cut intelligence personnel by 20 percent in the late 1990s," the Washington Post 's triple-billed Dana Milbank reports. LINK

The New York Times' editorial board likes Senator Pat Roberts' restructuring plan. LINK

ABC News Vote 2004: the Senate:

"President Bush will return to Florida this week for a rally aimed not only at bolstering his presidential chances but also at rescuing the campaign of U.S. Senate contender Mel Martinez," the Orlando Sentinel's John Kennedy reports. LINK

"The handpicked favorite of the White House, Martinez has been struggling against front-runner Bill McCollum heading into next Tuesday's crowded Republican primary."

Howard Dean brought his post-campaign persona to Florida yesterday and campaigned for Betty Castor.LINK

In case you missed it in the Atlantic, Alexandra Starr looks at Inez Tenenbaum's surprisingly strong run for the Senate in South Carolina and Notes that "by manipulating traditional perceptions of southern womanhood," Southern women, "have been able to win powerful state offices. And in doing so, they have accomplished something that continues to elude most Democratic candidates at the national level: they have convinced southerners that they share and even embody their values enough to deserve election." LINK

Politics:

Liz Sidoti of the AP on the rules of broadcasting political ads: LINK

McGreevey: what's next:

The New York Post reports US Attorney Christie suggested that the New Jersey Attorney General (appointed by McGreevey) look into the propriety of the governor's hiring Golan Cipel. LINK

TODAY'S SCHEDULE (all times ET):

—9:00 am: Former Gov. Howard Dean speaks at the International Union of Painters & Allied Trades general convention, Washington, DC—9:35 am: Vice President Cheney speaks at a fundraiser for congressional candidate Kris Kobach, Overland Park, KS—10:00 am: 9/11 Commission Chairman Tom Kean and Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton testify before the House International Relations committee at the Capitol, Washington, DC

—10:00 am: The House Government Reform Committee holds a hearing at the Capitol about the 9/11 Commission report, Washington, DC—10:00 am: Polls open in most parts of Alaska—10:00 am: The National Association of Realtors releases the July report on existing home sales—11:00 am: Sen. John Kerry gives a speech titled "A real choice for America" at Cooper Union, New York, NY—12:00 pm: Teresa Heinz Kerry speaks about women, the economy, and health care costs at the Dorothy McCormack Center, Martinsburg, WV —12:10 pm: Vice President and Lynne Cheney participate in a town hall meeting at the Radisson, Davenport, IA—1:00 pm: RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie holds a press conference to unveil additional video material criticizing Kerry for his positions on Iraq, New York, NY—1:00 pm: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals unveils a pro-vegetarian billboard in Lafayette Square featuring former President Ronald Reagan, Washington, DC—2:00 pm: Members of the Independent Panel reviewing Defense Department detention policies holds a news conference after they deliver their final report to Defense Secretary Rumsfeld—3:00 pm: Sen. Edwards speaks to the Ohio AFL-CIO convention at the Convention Center, Columbus, OH—5:10 pm: Vice President Cheney speaks at an RNC fundraiser at Kettering High School, Waterford, MI—6:00 pm: MoveOn.org PAC holds a fundraiser at the Hammerstein Ballroom launching 10 weeks worth of celebrity-produced ads with a keynote address by former Gov. Howard Dean, New York, NY—7:00 pm: Sen. Edwards speaks at a DNC fundraiser at the Intercontinental Hotel, Cleveland, OH—7:15 pm: George P. Bush, nephew of the President, holds an online chat at http://www.georgewbush.com/Chat/—7:35 pm: Sen. Kerry speaks at a DNC fundraiser at the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA—11:00 pm: Sen. Kerry appears on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" (taped)—11:00 pm: Polls close in most parts of Alaska