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BREAKING
NEWS – The (London)
Times cover – 'President Bush regrets his legacy as man who wanted war': 'In
an exclusive interview [in the Air Force One conference room], he expressed
regret at the bitter divisions over the war and said that he was troubled
about how his country had been misunderstood. 'I think that in retrospect I
could have used a different tone, a different rhetoric.' '
A sidebar calls AFOne a 'flying virility symbol.'
Good Wednesday morning. What does Senator Obama have in common with President
Bush? They both ride Trek bicycles. Below, the surprising answer to what
Senator Obama has in common with the president's FATHER. (It involves Anna
Kournikova.)
TOP TALKER: Mark Halperin and Dan Balz are doing '08 books, out in '09.
Details below.
Obama strategist David Axelrod tells MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' that the senator
will announce his V.P. choice 'well before the convention -- but when, I'm
not sure. It's better to do it right than do it fast.'
***An instant classic -- The N.Y. Times' Mark Leibovich dishes up 'Political
Memo: Those Loyal to the Clintons Take Note of Who Was Not,' reporting that
'Doug Band, chief gatekeeper to former President Bill Clinton ... keeps close
track of the past allies and beneficiaries of the Clintons who supported Mr.
Obama's campaign ... 'The Clintons get hundreds of requests for favors every
week,' said Terry McAuliffe, the chairman of Mrs. Clinton's presidential
campaign. 'Clearly, the people you're going to do stuff for in the future are
the people who have been there for you.' ...
'As the Obama bandwagon has swelled, so have the lists of people Clinton
loyalists regard as some variation of 'ingrate,' 'traitor' or 'enemy' ...
While Mrs. Clinton has a short list of people who disappointed her, Mr.
Clinton, who reportedly has an encyclopedic memory of all the people he has
helped, employed or appointed over the years, apparently has a far longer
one, the campaign officials said. Mrs. Clinton's friends have a list of their
own (it has frequently included the former president) ...'
In the early version of Leibo's article in the International Herald Tribune,
Mr. Band's enemies list was a physical 'BlackBerry document.' Now, it seems
to a psychic tally. Either way, it's probably not a great place to be. One of
the categories in the story's early version was 'dead to us.' Playbook can
assure you that category is alive and well.
David Letterman comments on the Northeast heat, saying it's '97 and sultry –
like Barbara Walters.'
Interviewing Senator McCain on 'Today' today, Matt Lauer asks: 'You've shown
enormous political courage when you backed President Bush's surge policy in Iraq at a
time when – '
McCAIN: 'May I correct that statement?'
LAUER: 'Go ahead.'
McCAIN: 'I advocated the surge policy. ... The past strategy, I said, was
going to fail.'
The Boston Globe fronts 'McCain ad asserts his hatred of war: Senator shifts
tone to draw moderates,' by Sasha Issenberg: 'John McCain, who credits his
defiant defense of the Iraq war for his comeback victory in the Republican
primaries, is using his first majortelevision ad of the general election to
show his dovish side. 'Only a fool or a fraud talks tough or romantically
about war,' McCain says over mournful strings against a bleak backdrop,
including the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. 'I hate war, and I know how terrible
its costs are.' It is a far different tone than McCain took during the
primaries, when he launched a 'No Surrender' tour to highlight his
involvement in the Bush administration's 'surge' strategy in Iraq.'
GRAF OF THE
DAY -- The N.Y. Times' Jim Rutenberg, in 'Deconstructing the Bump,' on the
Obamas' exotic fist pound: 'Um, people: This is a common gesture, and its use
is not limited to Democrats with unusual names. In 2001 it was used by
Carleton S. Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive -- now
advising Senator John McCain -- and Michael D. Capellas, then the Compaq
chief executive, to salute the completion of their merger. And in 2006,
former President George Bush shared a fist bump with Anna Kournikova at a
celebrity tennis event -- and he was 82 at the time.'
***Jay Leno last night showed Senator McCAIN supposedly riding one of those
high-wheel bikes that had their heyday in the 1880s – and crashing.
BEING BARACK, per his campaign: 'Today in Chicago, Obama will meet with
Illinois families at a roundtable discussion on predatory lending ... Obama
will be joined by consumer advocate and debt expert Elizabeth Warren to
discuss the impact of the credit crunch and Obama's plan to help working
families climb out of debt. Tomorrow, Obama will visit Kaukauna,
Wisconsin for a 'Change that Works for You'
town hall meeting, and Friday he'll hold a meeting with seniors in the Columbus, Ohio
area.'
Senator McCAIN is at the National Constitution Center
in Philadelphia,
where he'll talk about national security, economic and environmental damages
caused by a reliance on imported oil. Tomorrow, New Hampshire and New York,
where the campaign is contemplating TWO CHAIRS on the stage at Federal Hall
during the town hall he has challenged Obama to join. Friday: New Jersey.
McCain's new policy on press access to fundraisers: 'The policy is to include
a print pool with no still or video coverage inside fundraisers where McCain
appears and makes remarks.'
CHARLIE COOK in NationalJournal, on the 50-state strategy: 'Personally, I am
skeptical that North Carolina or Tennessee will get particularly close and find the idea
that Georgia, Louisiana and particularly Mississippi will get close extremely
dubious ideas. ... Current polling suggests that while there are new places
where [Obama] runs tantalizingly close compared to previous Democratic
nominees, there are also other places that seem just as resistant to his
charms. This is not just in Florida and Ohio, either. He might
have to fight even harder than Gore or Kerry did to hang onto Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Those are not cheap states, by any means. And Obama will need them to
compete.'
Bloomberg's Hans Nichols, 'Lieberman's Stances on Social Issues May Preclude
Spot on McCain's Ticket': 'While picking Lieberman as his running mate would
allow McCain to reaffirm his identity as a trans-partisan politician, it also
would burn the social conservatives who have propelled every Republican
victory since 1980 and who may bolt the party.'
ABC's Jake Tapper on 'Good Morning America': 'The economy has emerged as the
major issue pitting Barack Obama against John McCain. they disagree on the issues
and use the issues to caricature each other.'
Reuters wrapup, 'McCain, Obama present different views on taxes,' by Jeff
Mason in Washington: 'Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama staked
out starkly opposing stances on taxes Tuesday, with McCain promising
corporate tax breaks and Obama pledging tax increases for many. ... Obama
told CNBC that he would raise taxes on Americans making $250,000 a year or
more and raise the capital gains tax for those in higher income brackets
while exempting small investors. ...
'McCain, 71, vowed to maintain Bush's tax cuts, lower corporate tax rates
from 35 percent to 25 percent and allow companies to expense new equipment
and technology in their first year. He supported keeping capital gains taxes
as they are now, doubling a tax exemption for children, and phasing out the
Alternative Minimum Tax, which he said would save some 25 million
middle-class families up to $2,000 in a year.' .
Politico's all-terrain Jonathan Martin turns in impressive reporting from
deep inside CheneyWorld, writing that the vice president and Senator McCain,
who 'have clashed publicly and privately during the Bush years ... have
settled into something of a non-aggression pact. It helps that they don't
talk-and that McCain currently plays little role in Senate policy-making.'
Martin points out that the V.P. is 'a highly effective fundraiser in an
election cycle where Republicans are starved for cash, a hero to the wing of
the party that views John McCain with the most suspicion. He has four decades
of campaign experience, ranging from a short stint running Gerald Ford's
election bid in 1976 to two successful races on the presidential ticket.' But
'McCain sources note that there are no plans for Cheney and McCain to
campaign together.'
Cheney communications director Lea Ann McBride 'emphasized that Cheney
supports McCain and mentions him in all his political speeches while also
warning of what an Obama administration would look like. ... What is most
likely, say friends and observers of Cheney, is for the vice president to
reprise his 2006 role as down-ballot fundraiser and server of partisan red
meat. ... 'His view is very much that he will do whatever he can to get
McCain elected,' said a close Cheney adviser. 'If that means doing nothing or
not being out there very much, he'll do that. If it means being out there,
he'll do that.' '
MARK YOUR CALENDAR: 'The Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) is holding its
12th annual DLC National Conversation in Chicago, Illinois,
June 28-30. The media is invited to attend the Conversation and much of the
program is open to the press.'
THE BOOKS OF '08 (all out in '09):
1) John Heilemann of New York
magazine and Mark Halperin of Time magazine are writing a book on 'the inside
story of the presidential election of 2008' for publication in the fall of
2009, HarperCollins announced Tuesday. Heilemann and Halperin met in 1996 –
in New Hampshire,
they think. The publisher's announcement said the two will 'unsparingly
reconstruct the stunning end of the Clintons' hold on the Democratic Party'
as part of 'a sweeping, novelistic, and ultimately definitive portrait of
this historic political saga.'
Halperin: 'This campaign has it all: great plot, bigger-than-life characters,
epic dynamics, history-right-before-our-eyes, and intense public interest.
Rarely is a story this important this fun to cover.'
2) Dan Balz, national political correspondent at The Washington Post and the
dean of daily campaign reporters, has teamed up with the legendary Haynes
Johnson. Viking will publish their book in the second half of 2009, probably
ahead of the Heilemann-Halperin project. Balz, who signed the contract last
summer, said the book 'will be a narrative history of the 2008 campaign, set
against the broader canvas of the country's changing politics.'
3) Newsweek magazine is publishing a book version of what's known internally
as 'The Project' - 18 months of behind-the-scenes reporting from inside the
campaigns, gathered with the understanding that the information won't be
published until after the election. The book will be written by Newsweek
assistant managing editor Evan Thomas and published by Peter Osnos, founder
and editor at large of Public Affairs Books.
THE MAP:
--FLORIDA – Former Florida governor and U.S Senator Bob Graham tells the N.Y.
Observer that Obama can still win the Sunshine State, where he's an underdog
and polls showed Senator Clinton comfortably ahead of McCain: ' 'Obama's
going to have a chance to redeem himself ... by directing the DNC to seat the
Florida and Michigan delegations with a 100 percent vote.' That symbolic
gesture, which Mr. Graham expects Mr. Obama to make over the summer, 'will
largely be a big vacuum cleaner eliminating all the refuse that that initial
decision caused.' '
--PENNSYLVANIA
– The Philly Inquirer fronts 'Prime turf for McCain, Obama': 'Both parties'
presumptive nominees are visiting the state this week, in what amount to the
opening days of the general-election campaign. Arizona Sen. John McCain, the
GOP candidate, plans a town-hall meeting this morning at the National Constitution Center.
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, fresh from clinching the Democratic nomination,
is scheduled to hold a fund-raiser Friday evening at Sheraton Philadelphia City
Center Hotel.'
THE SPOUSES -- L.A. Times A1 – 'The GOP takes aim at Michelle Obama: A Web
video by the Tennessee Republican Party deriding the potential first lady for
her 'proud of my country' gaffe is widely seen as a harbinger of future
attacks': 'In the current climate -- where sound bites are recycled endlessly
and context is ignored in favor of impact -- her more dour pronouncements
have paved the way for brutal critiques. ... [I]n a Washington studio, a conservative outfit
called Citizens United is scrambling to finish a 90-minute anti-Obama
documentary.'
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