The Note

W A S H I N G T O N, Jan. 16—
, 2004 -- TODAY SCHEDULE AS OF 9:00 am (all times ET):

— 6:15 am: Sen. Lieberman greets morning shipyard workers at the Naval Yard, Portsmouth, N.H.— 7:15 am: Sen. Lieberman meets with shipyard workers to discuss his middle class tax cut plans at the Friendly Toast Restaurant, Portsmouth, N.H. — 7:50 am: Sen. Frist attends a Chamber of Commerce Washington update breakfast, Salem, N.H. — 8:30 am: Sen. Lieberman shares a "Cup of Joe" at Betty's Kitchen, North Hampton, N.H. — 8:30 am: Sen. Kerry attends a town hall meeting at City Hall, Waverly, Iowa— 8:50 am: Gen. Clark holds a press conference at the Manchester Public Library, Manchester, N.H. — 9:00 am: Rep. Gephardt attends a "Countdown to Victory" event at his campaign headquarters, Fort Dodge, Iowa— 9:30 am: Gov. Howard Dean attends a pancake breakfast at Hotel Ottumwa, Ottumwa, Iowa — 9:45 am: Off-camera press gaggle with White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan— 10:00 am: Gen. Clark speaks to the Granite State Independent Living Disabilities Convention at the Wayfarer Inn, Bedford, N.H. — 10:15 am: Sen. Frist tours the Ruger Manufacturing Plant, Newport, N.H. — 10:45 am: Sen. Kerry attends a "Fighting for America's Future" event at the Chickasaw Center, New Hampton, Iowa— 11:00 am: Sen. Lieberman speaks at the Granite State Independent Living Forum, Bedford, N.H. — 11:30 am: Sen. Edwards visits the Bettendorf Public Library, Davenport, Iowa— 11:45 am: Sen. Frist meets with Grafton County leaders and local officials, Lebanon, N.H. — 12:00 pm: On-camera press briefing with Press Secretary McClellan— 12:00 pm: Gov. Dean attends a "Caucus for Change" event at William Penn University, Oskaloosa, Iowa— 12:15 pm: Sen. Frist participates in Dartmouth Medical Center's Grand Rounds, Hanover, N.H. — 12:45 pm: Sen. Kerry attends a "Fighting for America's Future" event at Luther College, Decorah, Iowa— 1:00 pm: Politics Live on abcnews.com and AOL— 1:00 pm: Rep. Gephardt attends a "Countdown to Victory" event at the public library, Rockwell City, Iowa— 1:00 pm: RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie attends a luncheon at the Cheshire Inn, St. Louis, Mo. — 1:30 pm: Rep. Katherine Harris announces at a press conference whether she will run for the Senate this year, Sarasota, Fla.— 2:00 pm: Senate and House Minority Leaders Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Tom Daschle discuss President Bush's State of the Union at the National Press Club, Washington, D.C. — 2:00 pm: Sen. Edwards campaigns at the National Czech and Slovak Museum, Cedar Rapids, Iowa— 2:15 pm: Gov. Dean attends a "Caucus for Change" event at the Aces Teen Club, Newton, Iowa— 2:30 pm: Rep. Gephardt attends a "Countdown to Victory" event at the public library, Pocahontas, Iowa— 2:30 pm: Gen. Clark gives a policy speech about New Hampshire Children at the Seacoast Family YMCA, Portsmouth, N.H. — 3:15 pm: President and Mrs. Bush depart the White House— 4:00 pm: Gen. Clark attends a "Conversation with Clark" event at Fisher Scientific, Hampton, N.H. — 4:00 pm: Rep. Kucinich hosts a meeting at the Muse Community Art Center, Tucson, Ariz. — 4:15 pm: Gov. Dean attends a "Caucus for Change" event at Iowa Valley Community College, Marshalltown, Iowa— 4:30 pm: Sen. Kerry attends a "Fighting for America's Future" event at Café Mississippi, Guttenberg, Iowa— 5:00 pm: Sen. Edwards visits Community Hall, Council Bluffs, Iowa— 5:30 pm: Rep. Gephardt attends a "Countdown to Victory" event at Hampton High School, Hampton, Iowa— 6:00 pm: Sen. Frist speaks at the NHGOP "Kick off to Victory 2004" Gala, Bedford, N.H. — 6:30 pm: Sen. Kerry attends a "Fighting for America's Future" event at Clarke College, Dubuque, Iowa— 7:00 pm: Gen. Clark hosts a conversation at Epping Elementary School, Epping, N.H. — 7:30 pm: Sen. Edwards visits the Noda Way Diner, Greenfield, Iowa— 8:00 pm: Rev. Al Sharpton appears on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher"— 8:30 pm: Rep. Gephardt attends a "Countdown to Victory" event at Central Intermediate School, Waterloo, Iowa— 8:30 pm: Sen. Edwards visits Creston Senior High School, Creston, Iowa— 9:00 pm: Sen. Kerry attends a "Fighting for America's Future" event at Maquoketa Middle School, Maquoketa, Iowa— 9:30 pm: Gov. Dean attends a "Caucus for Change" event, Iowa Falls, Iowa— 9:30 pm: Rep. Kucinich speaks at the California Democratic Convention, San Jose, Calif. — 10:00 pm: Sen. Edwards visits the VFW Hall, Winterset, Iowa

NEWS SUMMARY

Five most important dynamics to watch:

1. Per the New York Times (and our reporting matches this): "….party leaders and campaign officials say they have seen growing numbers of undecided voters turning up at campaign events of almost all the leading candidates, an indication that these voters are not alienated but instead are still shopping."

2. Where is the bar being set for the six leading candidates by the 19 reporters who dominate the (insane) expectations setting process for Iowa, New Hampshire, and Feb. 3?

3. Is Iowa still a must-win for Dick Gephardt? Is New Hampshire still a must-win for John Kerry? (See (2) above.)

4. How wide-open this nomination contest will be if Howard Dean doesn't come out of New Hampshire strong -- with a multi-candidate battle among (mostly) broke campaigns.

5. What remains in the pre-State of the Union bag of tricks of the White House. (AP's Scott Lindlaw has a preview, reporting that President Bush will highlight economic growth and successes in the fight on terrorism. The President will call on Congress to make his already-enacted tax cuts permanent, bring back a proposal to let younger workers to invest a portion of their Social Security taxes in the stock market, and "forcefully defend" his recent immigration initiative.) LINK

Five most important events this weekend:

1. Saturday night's release of the Des Moines Register poll.

2. Dr. Dean visits President Carter.

3. Last-minute TV ad changes, "secret" radio spots, church fliers on Sunday, closing direct mail and phone calls.

4. Katherine Harris: In or Out? LINK

5. Anyone seen Gerth, Isikoff, or Schmidt lately?

The six most important newspaper stories to read:

1. The Washington Post on Dean's electability question. LINK and LINK

2. The New York Times front page (!) on Chris Lehane's black arts--which will be the talk of the Democratic subcommittee of the Gang of 500 this morning.. LINK

3. Los Angeles Times' Ron Brownstein reports that Howard Dean is caught between an outsider message and insider backing. LINK

4. The Des Moines Register on turnout predictions and voter numbers.LINK

5. John Harwood in the pricey Wall Street Journal on those eight million new Dean voters.

6. It is not impossible -- and perhaps, almost as likely as not -- that 527s will find themselves significantly hampered in their political activities at some point soon -- to the benefit of the Grand Old Party. See, among others, LINK

Five most satisfying experiences any political reporter can have in Des Moines:

1. Getting a tour of one of the ABC News campaign buses.

2. Walking on the skywalk from the Savery to the Fort Des Moines without getting lost.

3. Getting a table at Centro at which you can actually hear what the person sitting across from you is saying.

4. Spotting WMUR's Scott Spradling, engaged in first-in-the-nation coverage.

5. A breakfast pork chop.

President and Mrs. Bush leave for Camp David today, where they will spend the weekend.

Where is Karen Hughes?

Gov. Dean, Rep. Gephardt and Sens. Kerry and Edwards are in Iowa today and until the Monday night caucuses. (Dean travels to Georgia to appear with former President Jimmy Carter on Sunday morning).

Gen. Clark and Sen. Lieberman are in New Hampshire.

Rep. Kucinich is in Arizona and California today for the State Democratic Party conference. He is in New Mexico tomorrow morning and in Iowa through the caucuses.

Rev. Sharpton appears on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" and speaks to the California State Democratic Party conference.

Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun travels to South Carolina this weekend.

Rep. Pelosi and Sen. Daschle discuss President Bush's upcoming State of the Union in Washington, D.C. today.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist campaigns in New Hampshire.

RNC Chairman Gillespie is in St. Louis.

Iowa:

The Los Angeles Times' John Glionna reports that "Democratic officials are confident they can thwart any caucus-night wrongdoing by overzealous volunteers, rumors or no rumors." LINK

The New York Times' Rick Lyman Notes that "While no one knows the exact size of the undecided vote in Iowa in the final week before the caucuses, campaign officials and party leaders say they believe that it is exceptionally large, and unusually fluid." LINK

The New York Times' Carl Hulse wraps up the "unusually wide open" race, reporting that pollsters, aides -- and Howard Dean himself (on CNN's "Larry King") -- say the Iowa caucuses are now a four-way race. LINK

The USA Today all-star combo of Page, Lawrence and Stone write that it's tight in Iowa and lay down the bottom line: "At stake are convention delegates, bragging rights and publicity." LINK

But how did the gals' let the Zogby graphic on the front page??!!

And does anyone have a rough count of the number of times CNN talent yesterday on the air intro'ed their talk off the Zogby numbers with caveat after caveat, only to go on and talk about them in full crack-for-the-weak mode?

We lost count ourselves.

So much uncertainty: LINK

Sen. Edwards looked confident. LINK

"It looked like a Don Imus All-Star reunion when Edwards spoke Thursday in Des Moines," the Register reports. "Let's see, there was Tim Russert of NBC's "Meet the Press," Bob Schieffer of CBS's "Face the Nation," Chris Matthews of MSNBC's "Hardball," Howard Fineman and Jonathan Alter of Newsweek, and Joe Klein of Time." LINK

With good news from a Zogby tracking poll that showed him in the lead, Kerry crisscrossed the state by helicopter, taking the controls at one point, the Des Moines Register reports. LINK

Gephardt stepped up his criticism of Dean, the AP's Glover reports. Gephardt argued that Dean "favored deep cuts in health programs and bad trade policies." LINK

Dave Berry of the Miami Herald Notes the major upcoming events surrounding the Iowa caucuses, from Jell-O shots to something called "The Happy Pants Dance" LINK

Monday isn't a Democrats-only show. Iowa Republicans are caucusing too, though obviously not to pick a presidential candidate, and a dozen high-level Bush-Cheney surrogates are being airlifted into the Hawkeye State to talk about President Bush and to gin up the grassroots at caucuses on Monday night.

Bush-Cheney '04 campaign manager Ken Mehlman tells us:

"Bush allies will also participate in "Dateline Iowa," a virtual radio day from Iowa where our surrogates will call in to talk radio programs across the nation to speak directly to our supporters about the party's unity and energy in the Hawkeye State. Bush campaign leaders traveling to Iowa include myself, Chairman Marc Racicot, Senators Bill Frist and Rick Santorum, House Majority Leader Tom Delay, Representative Rob Portman, Colorado Governor Bill Owens, RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Campaign Advisor Mary Matalin, BC'04 Plains States Regional Chairman Vin Weber and BC'04 Southeast Regional Chairman Ralph Reed."

ABC News Vote 2004: the Democratic nomination fight:

Top four are in virtual tie, reports Tom Beaumont of the Des Moines Register. "Polls on Thursday showed John Kerry and John Edwards have closed to within striking distance of Howard Dean and Dick Gephardt, making the final three days of the campaign critical and prompting a late round of attacks." LINK

"Rising in a New Hampshire poll to nearly a dead heat with Howard Dean, retired Gen. Wesley Clark yesterday came under fire from a top Republican and from Democratic rivals charging him with a lack of consistency on the Iraq war," the Manchester Union Leader's DiStaso and Fahey report. LINK

The New York Times compares Elizabeth Edwards to Judith Steinberg Dean in writing "Mrs. Edwards, a former bankruptcy lawyer who holds a master's degree in English and displays a depth of knowledge rivaling that of any candidate, is deeply involved in Senator Edwards's drive for the Democratic nomination." LINK

And: The Note welcomes Jack and Emma Claire to the Savery!!!

Paul Krugman believes that Dean and Clark are "on the same side of the great Democratic divide" and that "real division in the race for the Democratic nomination is between those who are willing to question not just the policies but also the honesty and the motives of the people running our country, and those who aren't." LINK

Walter Shapiro loves candidate evolution stories, and so it's no surprise that he writes an awesome one. LINK

Don't miss the Wall Street Journal's Jeanne Cummings' tale of widespread Busta Caps.

New Hampshire:

Meanwhile, back East, 11 days before the primary, "many New Hampshire voters can't make up their minds." LINK

The Boston Globe's Yvonne Abraham writes that, in New Hampshire, Clark "is benefiting from questions about whether [Dean] is the best candidate to handle the war on terrorism, according to a new Boston Globe/WBZ-TV poll." LINK

Politics Live:

As the Washington Post used to say, if you don't get it, you don't get it. Or in this case, if you don't watch Politics Live, our daily streaming video Webcast political briefing at 1:00 pm ET on abcnews.com, you're missing out.

Today we're watching the race tighten to become a four-person contest between Dean, Gephardt, Kerry and Edwards, and keeping an eye (and ear) on the awesome turnout operations at work. We'll take a look at where the candidates are today and their latest campaign ads, and ABC News' Deputy Political Diretor Lisa Todorovich gets to board the bus to take a look at what's happening on the ground before Monday's caucuses.

When our producers approach you to appear on the show, you can picture yourself several stories high, looking down from the ABC Jumbotron smack dab in the middle of the Crossroads of the World in Times Square for all the tourists of the world to see -- ask John Harwood how the reality truly is impressive.

Missed yesterday's show? Here's a clip from our sit-down with the caffeine-consuming Sen. John Edwards. LINK

And check out today's show, or you will have to go to your afternoon meeting relying on this Note, which is -- let's face it -- out of date almost before you read it!

The program is also available to AOL subscribers.

Nothing in this world comes for free which means ya gotta subscribe to have ABC News Live delivered right to your desktop. And lucky for you, the link to do just that is LINK

Gephardt:

From ABC News' Gephardt campaign reporter Sally Hawkins:

Fort Dodge, I.A., Jan. 15 -- If all of Rep. Gephardt's campaign events were as fiery as today's Alliance for Economic Justice rally in Marshalltown, the number of number "1s" his campaign has locked in would likely be sky high.

After a ho-hum day on the trail in northern Iowa where Gephardt attracted moderate crowds, the union rally was what a hot fudge sundae dessert is to a cold meatloaf dinner. These guys know how to hold a rally. All the stops were pulled out as a fleet of tractor trailers, horns blaring, pulled up to the Best Western for a show of union force. President, James Hoffa spiced up the evening climbing aboard his personalized 18-wheeler, complete with a painted picture of himself on the cab, and introducing an extra-fired up Gephardt to the rowdy crowd of about 300.

Gephardt was himself times ten. Speaking about his son's battle with cancer, watchful eyes detected the congressman slightly choking up but he recovered quickly to introduce a new rally cry. "Take back America! Take back America!," he yelled as the crowd chanted along with him.

Shortly after reporters boarded the bus en route to a small house party, one reporter begged the question, "Who was that guy inhabiting his body in there?" Another reporter agreed, "Who are you and what have you done with Dick Gephardt?"

The event, not open to the public, had the potential to win over loads of undecided caucus-goers. But, FEC regulations prohibit unions from spending money on non-members for political reasons, so only the long-converted were in attendance. An unfortunate reality for the Gephardt campaign since his hard count has not moved like his opponents have, and undecideds at an energetic union rally could help reel some in.

Gephardt pollster, Ed Reilly admitted that Edwards and Kerry have been raiding Dean's numbers while Gephardt's gain from Dean's loss has been small. But, Reilly seems confident that Gephardt has the highest number of committed caucus-goers. Even so, Reilly called the race a "four man race" on the campaign daily conference call with reporters.

A surprise visit by the congressman's son Matt at a morning event in Mason City became a study in genetics. Matt, who is a clone of his parents, told reporters it was difficult to watch his father talk about his childhood cancer, but it was his idea for his father to tell his story. He also ran through a long list of Gephardt family members who are dispersed throughout the state, including his wife and several members of her family. As the event wrapped up, the two stood side by side, wearing matching v-neck sweaters, and greeted supporters. Gephardt's usual, "Are you going to come out for me?" turned into "come out for us." At one point, Matt playfully mimicked his dad's typical, "We're goooonnaaa win!" in a way only a Missouri son could do. The two exchanged loud "I love you's" and embraced before separating and heading out to divide and conquer.

Read more from the trail with Gephardt on abcnews.com: LINK

Who Is...:

Last night, World News Tonight profiled Howard Dean, the last in the "Who is…" series. Here is some of what he revealed to Peter Jennings:

JENNINGS: When Dean returned to the US and Yale University he asked to room with two African Americans.

DEAN: When you go to college you might all kinds of different people. And I wanted to make sure I didn't meet-I didn't stay with people I had been with all my life. I just wanted to meet different kinds of people who had a very different perspective. It turned out it was probably the most valuable year I spent in college.

JENNINGS: He remembers those times when everyone in the room but him was black.

DEAN: And just for an instance I realized, what would it be like if it was always this way. If everybody else were different than you in some fundamental way, it just gave me a small glimpse of what it was like, just an ordinary day in the life of an African-American man at Yale College.

JENNINGS: After Yale, says Dean, he went in search of himself. He was not drafted because he had a bad back. He waited tables and skied in Colorado. Tried Wall Street. And went into medicine. Which was where he met his wife, who is also a doctor.

DEAN: I kind of was admiring her from afar and screwing up my courage and talking to my friends and, in the meantime unbeknownst, to me, she was-her relationship with her boyfriend was ending. And I thought to myself, if she's in the library…when I go in there I'm gonna ask her out. She was sitting in the library, I asked her out, and the rest is history.

Dean:

In an interview with ABCNEWS's Jake Tapper Thursday in the halls of Carroll High School, Howard Dean said of Gephardt's Medicare/Social Security ad, "Well obviously that's hooey," and called it "the last gasp of the Washington establishment." LINK

Wearing a green Jimmy Carter-esque sweater, Dean seemed understandably tense, clearly concerned about a race that once seemed his to lose. "I think we're going to win here," he said, "though we need every single Iowan to get to the polls in order to do it."

One flash of the feisty Dean came when asked if his new campaign TV ad -- in which he says unfavorable things about Kerry, Gephardt, and Edwards -- risks feeding into a perception that he's angry and negative. "What unfavorable things am I saying?" Dean asked. ABCNEWS pointed out that he was obviously trying to draw a comparison between himself and his opponents by saying that they supported the war in Iraq. "And did they?" Dean archly asked.

Yes, they did, of course. Nonetheless, ABCNEWS asked if there was a danger the ads added to claims by critics that Dean was angry. "I don't think so," Dean said. "All we're doing is laying out the facts. There are some negative ads on, ours is not one of them."

The Chicago Sun Times' Lynn Sweet details the Haber-Ireland "negotiations" on Carol Moseley Braun's exit of her own campaign and entrance onto the Dean scene. We do Note the interesting timing of it all.

Details Sweet: "'We are going to help her with the debt, ' Haber told me. The debt tab could be in the neighborhood of some $300,000 and Dean's camp will help Braun raise the money to pay it off. Braun will campaign for Dean three days of the week, with the Dean campaign picking up her travel expenses. Braun will become a Dean campaign consultant and will be paid about $20,000. Up to three of Braun's staffers, including Ireland, will be hired by the Dean campaign .'" LINK

Dean has a lead in Florida among Democrats, per one poll. LINK

Want to keep up with all the Dean bloggers in Iowa? LINK

And want to check out a very well put together anti-Dean site? LINK

The New York Daily News' Thomas DeFrank pronounces Dean collapsing in Iowa and New Hampshire. LINK

Clark:

From ABC News' Clark campaign reporter Deborah Apton:

DILLON, S.C., Jan. 15 -- Twelve days left until New Hampshire and Clark is determined to show that he's running strong in the Granite State while continuing to run a national campaign. On Thursday Clark spent over four hours round-trip traveling to one Feb. 3 state just to conduct a "Conversation with Clark."

Clark's South Carolina state political director, Scott Anderson, told reporters that the state now has 40 paid full-time staffers and 10 volunteers with more coming this week. The Clark04 campaign has opened five offices in the last 45 days: Florence, Charleston, Orangeburg, Greenville, and Columbia.

Read more from the trail with Clark on abcnews.com: LINK

The Washington Post's Paul Schwartzman reports on yesterday's bipartisan attacks on Clark for having allegedly flip-flopped on the war. LINK

The Boston Globe's Raja Mishra and Joanna Weiss report that Clark tried out the "anger" thing Thursday. LINK

Kerry:

ABC News Kerry campaign reporter Ed O'Keefe on the chopper flight:

Sen. Kerry, who has his pilot's license and started flying helicopters during his time in the Navy, took the stick en route to Sioux City. Though Kerry did not take off or land the helo, he did attempt to influence itsdestination.

"Aruba! I'm going to Aruba!" Kerry said as the GPS presented several possible destinations.

"Yeah, why can't there be an Aruba caucus?" the pilot, Michael Franks, returned.

"Boy, give a guy a little freedom," Kerry replied. "My staff is gonna be furious."

Meanwhile on the ground, staffers who have spent day and night with the Senator for the past year realized that for the next two blissful hours, there would be no cell calls, no briefings, no boss.

National Trip Director Setti Warren jokingly screamed, "Free at last! Thank God Almighty, I'm free at last!"

Communications Director David Morehouse seconded Setti echoing, "We are free at last indeed."

And traveling Press Secretary David Wade mused, "This is my Al Haig moment. I'm in charge."

Read more from the trail with Kerry on abcnews.com: LINK

Edwards:

From ABC News' Edwards campaign reporter Gloria Riviera:

80 MPH, ON THE HIGHWAY TO CEDAR RAPIDS, Jan. 15 -- The Body Man believes in country music. The Spokeswoman believes in good karma (recently reunited with the cell phone she left on a plane several days ago). The Iowa State Director believes in the power of rural caucus goers in places like Oskaloosa County, where he grew up and where the librarian at the afternoon event in Mahaska County squealed, "Where's my Aaron!?!" The Advance Man believes in signs, signs, signs, and magic hat remedies for faulty microphones. And the Candidate? The Candidate told audiences from Ottumwa to Burlington, "I believe in YOU!"

Read more from the trail with Edwards on abcnews.com: LINK

Lieberman:

From ABC News' Lieberman campaign reporter Talesha Reynolds:

Playing the doubt card has replaced Lieberman's "clear choice" mantra in recent days. Instead of railing against Howard Dean's "extremism" at every turn, he is now insisting that the race is "totally undecided" and that people are taking a "second look" at Dean and Clark. The scenario leaves Lieberman poised to inherit the voters who change their minds, he thinks.

Read more from the trail with Lieberman on abcnews.com: LINK

The Washington Post's Jonathan Finer reports on Lieberman's attempts to mimic Bill Clinton, writing that he is trying to "tie his struggling candidacy to the coattails of the Comeback Kid." LINK

The economy:

The Washington Post's Jonathan Weisman reports,"After three years of fits and starts, the economy is revving back to life, but at least so far, its fruits have gone mainly to those who least need them." LINK

The land of 5-plus-2-equals-7:

Let's see, the FEC now has advisory opinion requests, as far as we know, from:--The Terwilliger/Donatelli/Shirley trio at Americans for a Better Country--The goo-goo dolls Campaign Legal Center, Democracy 21, and the Center for Responsive Politics--The Rosenthal/Ickes/Jordan team at America Coming Together/the Media Fund

And don't forget the Ney House Administration Committee, which is threatening subpoenas if the left-leaning 527s don't come talk to his folks on the Hill.

(Question for all: Will the next round of dollars George Soros hinted at Monday arrive before the FEC speaks?!)

The New York Times' ed board, for its part, wonders whether the FEC is "up to the task" of regulating the 527s.LINK

And Tom Edsall writes that if legal challenges to Dem 527 plans succeed, it would up the GOP's "already substantial financial advantage." LINK

ABC 2004: The Campaign Bus Logs:

From Onawa to Sabula, from New Ipswich to Scott Bog, ABC News' Campaign Buses -- Red, White and Blue are the biggest things to hit Iowa and New Hampshire since Jack Germond. They feature full-service production suites, hungry reporters, and fun-loving producers -- and they're the centerpiece of ABC News' Vote 2004 coverage.

Those bus producers -- some of them legends in the broadcast business -- file memos to the news division every night, providing a unique look at life on the road. Here are some of their observations.

From ABC News Gitika Ahuja on the White Bus:

Thoughts of the day:

"There he's gone. Now my wife will let me go home." Denny Bray, of Adel, Iowa as soon as he heard the thunder of Sen. John Kerry's chopper take-off.

"I like that farm machine in that shot," city boy David Reiter 's reaction after seeing a TRACTOR in Kate Snow's liveshot.

"Where are we?" Jake Tapper, at day's end when he realized he was in the middle of nowhere off of 151st street, and it wasn't in Harlem.

BATHROOM OF THE DAY: Let's just say, it was in a farmhouse, without a sink...and you weren't alone when you "let loose."

ABC Vote 2004: Bush-Cheney re-elect:

The Washington Post's Amy Goldstein reports that in traveling to New Orleans and Atlanta yesterday, President Bush "portrayed himself as an heir to the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., saying that he shared with the slain civil rights leader a belief in the transforming power of faith in American life," a self-depiction denounced by antiwar protestors. LINK and LINK

Former Vice President Al Gore called President Bush a "moral coward" in a speech yesterday that criticized the President's environmental policies. LINK

Wall Street Journal's Greg Hitt reports on a manufacturing aid proposal to be unveiled today that the Bush White House now supports, but once wanted eliminated. The proposal looks at the problems facing the manufacturing sector, which has lost more than two million jobs during President Bush's term, and the Administration's solutions -- "making tax cuts permanent, curbing product-liability suits and expanding energy production."