Trail Bytes

As the presidential race heads into the home stretch, CBS News reporters are out on the road traveling with the Bush-Cheney and Kerry-Edwards campaigns.

Read their dispatches and keep up with the latest campaign news in Trail Bytes, updated daily on CBSNews.com

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH

Looking to get out in front of the attack ad issue, President Bush let it be known he'll pursue court action to shut down the "shadowy political groups" responsible for many of those ads.

A spokesman says Mr. Bush made the commitment in a phone call yesterday morning with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. And if court action doesn't work, the president will work with McCain on new legislation to stop the activities of those groups.

The president is on the record against the so-called '527' groups responsible for many, though not all of the attack ads of the presidential campaign. The groups include Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the outfit behind the ads accusing John Kerry of lying about his war record in Vietnam.

Mr. Bush has denounced the operations of all '527' groups, many of which use large, unregulated contributions to produce brutal attacks on his presidency.

The action also helps Mr. Bush score points with McCain, whose support he hopes will reap votes from independents in key states.

New York City Meets New Mexico

To the people of New Mexico, New York City is often the punch line for a salsa commercial. But President Bush thought he'd get a boost in the state by campaigning there yesterday with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

At rallies in Las Cruces, Farmington and Albuquerque, ardent Bush supporters gave Giuliani an enthusiastic welcome as he joked about where he was.

"It's great to be in Brooklyn," said the man who came to be known as America's mayor for his calming response to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

President Bush tried to acclimatize his guest to the southwest.

"This is a part of the world, Rudy, where the boots outnumber the suits," he said to thunderous cheers as if pledging allegiance to the style of the region.

Both Mr. Bush and Giuliani had doffed their suits and ties and appeared in open collared shirts with their sleeves rolled up.

The former mayor, spoken of as a challenger to Sen. Hillary Clinton in 2006 or as a presidential candidate in 2008, lavished praise on the incumbent.

"In addition to everything else, I owe a great deal to President Bush for the strength that he gave to me, to my city and to my country when we went though our worst days."

Giuliani said Mr. Bush "has brought America back stronger than ever," from the attacks
of September 11.

New Poverty Numbers

The new report from the Census Bureau showing a 1.3-million increase in the number of Americans living in poverty was a body blow to the Bush campaign.

In none of his rallies yesterday, did Mr Bush mention the report. Instead, he continued to make the case that his policies, especially the tax cuts, have created jobs and promoted economic growth.

In an effort to put the best face on the report, the Bush campaign issued a statement by New Hampshire Republican Judd Gregg, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. He said the study does not reflect the most recent positive developments. He said it only incorporates data from 2003, and fails to include the full effect of the Bush tax cuts and the 1.5-million new jobs created over the past year.

Today's Schedule

The president returned to the White House last night for the first time in eight days, but he won't be staying long.

He's back out campaigning this afternoon, attending a rally in Miami. It's his 26th visit to Florida, the state that decided the 2000 election. And the Bush campaign is not shy about pointing out that the Miami area is home to 17 percent of the state's voters.

Mr. Bush is accompanied on today's trip by the keynote speaker at the Republican convention next week, Georgia Democratic Sen. Zell Miller, who has endorsed Mr. Bush for re-election, much to the chagrin of the Democratic National Committee.
--Mark Knoller

SEN. JOHN KERRY, D-MASS.

It's official: the three upcoming presidential debates aren't enough for John Kerry.

During a town hall meeting in Anoka, Minn., on Thursday, Kerry revised a debate challenge he made five months ago and suggested weekly debates with President Bush, where each discussion would focus on a different issue. Back in mid-March, he proposed monthly debates with Bush, a plan that was quickly brushed aside by the president.

"America deserves a serious discussion about its future. It does not deserve a campaign of smear and fear," Kerry said Thursday. "America deserves a discussion like we're having here today, which I'm prepared to have with this president every single week from now until the election.

"Let's meet every week from now 'til the election and talk about the real issues facing Americans that will strengthen our country and make America great again."

Later, Kerry was asked about Republican efforts to paint him as a waffler and a "flip-flopper" on the issues. And he responded with the most concise and spirited retort he's ever given in reaction to the months of name-calling by the GOP.

"It's standard Republican playbook," Kerry said, as he became increasingly feisty. "They just say it. And if you spend enough money and say it enough, people like you are going to ask the question.

"Now let me ask you something, is opposing the Homeland Security department and then suddenly embracing it when the newspapers write something, is that flip-flopping?" asked Kerry, turning the tables on his opponent.

"Is telling you you're going to fund No Child Left Behind and then stripping it for $27 billion, is that a flip-flop? I mean, you tell me, ladies and gentlemen. Let's get real here," he said to a standing ovation.

"That's why it'd be great to be talking about this every week."
--Steve Chaggaris

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS, D-N.C.

When the president held his rally in Las Cruces, N.M., Thursday, John Edwards was across town at the Holiday Inn; his own rally just a few miles away was scheduled at noon. According to Edwards press secretary Mark Kornblau, the senator spent his morning working on his foreign policy speech to be given Monday, going for a run and, oh yes, watching "snippets" of the president's speech on television.

"The president happened to be in the same place as I was earlier today in New Mexico," Edwards noted at a town hall meeting in Golden, Colo., that evening. "And it would be interesting to hear what he has to say about these important issues," he said, referring to healthcare. After a dramatic pause and a sarcastic grin, the senator continued, "You just heard it! He was completely silent about these important issues for the American people, and you know not only that, sometimes I guess silence is golden, but this is not one of those times."

The town hall was the first in the Kerry/Edwards campaign's "Take 5 Initiative," where Democratic diehards are asked to bring along five undecided Independents or Republicans to an event. "We want people who have not decided who they're going to vote for, to hear what John Kerry and I have to say, to hear what our plan for America is," Edwards explained.

Although the campaign could not provide a specific number of participants, surely some of the more than 1,000 crowded into the Jefferson County Fairgrounds Event Center were undecided – some, but not all. One participant declared that Bush and Cheney "scare the bejesus out of me," prior to his question. Edwards laughed and asked rhetorically, "I got a wild feeling that you're not one of those undecided voters, are you?"

Another ardent supporter wondered what Kerry and Edwards would do to disquiet the expected attacks launched from the Republican convention hall. Edwards responded, "I think the simple answer is when they come after you, you have to fight back." Through the applause of the approving crowd he continued, "What we want to be careful about is, we don't want to get sucked into the mud and the ditch with them."

But the senator couldn't resist an unprompted barb at his competition just a few minutes later when fielding a question on civil unions. "A few days ago, the vice president said that he disagreed with the president about this issue. Somebody must have forgot to tell him what he was supposed to say," Edwards said mockingly.

Whether or not the campaign is directing what Kerry's running mate is "supposed to say" is unknown, but he will hold another town hall meeting Friday outside of St. Louis before heading back to D.C. for the weekend.
--Bonney Kapp

VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY

It turns out the kind of things that make good campaign images are the same things children like to do on their summer vacations. Credit Vice President and Lynne Cheney for using this to its full effect on Wednesday as their three granddaughters accompanied them on their latest bus tour through northeast Pennsylvania.

If Kate, Elizabeth, and Grace (ages nine, six and four, respectively) had seen the day's official schedule they may have opted out of the trip that saw their granddad deliver his standard campaign speech in Wilkes-Barre, Pottsville and Bloomsburg. But it's the unscheduled events that make for great stories once school starts in the fall.

The two-bus campaign motorcade, with accompanying staff, press and security vehicles, made its first unplanned stop in Hazleton, Pa., at a voter registration event. The kids were on stage, bouncing around with early morning energy as their "Grandfather of the United States" (as Lynne Cheney has called him) delivered a message on the importance of voting.

"If anybody tells you that your efforts don't matter, matter that you vote or get out and volunteer or contribute to the campaign, remember what happened four years ago," he urged the crowd of supporters.

A few hours later, after the event in Pottsville, the motorcade stopped in front of a fruit and vegetable stand. While the vice president and his wife were shown the freshly picked goods, the girls had run across the street to feed a herd of cattle that had gathered to watch the commotion. With handfuls of hay provided by a local farmer, they were soon accompanied by their mother, Aunt Mary, and grandparents who watched the dairy cows munch their lunch in amusement.

(For the record, Cheney bought apples, tomatoes, green peppers and 12 ears of corn from Paul Levan's Farmers Market.)

After the last event, the press was told that Cheney family was planning to stop for dinner. Speculation was running high about which local Williamsport diner or café would make the best campaign stop. It turns out when you're traveling with three children under the age of ten, nothing beats the all-American Ronald McDonald.

The vice president sat in the back of the McDonalds enjoying a green salad with chicken, surrounded by the girls as they ate their Happy Meals.

"Such will power," Lynne Cheney quipped about her husband's healthy choice.

Finally as the sun set, the motorcade pulled across the street and the VP attended the first few innings of a Little League World Series game between North Carolina and Texas. The girls, wrapped in blankets, witnessed Texas catcher Chance Murski hit a grand slam before all piled back into the buses bound for the airport, Air Force Two and home.

A long day that will surely earn an "A" on the girls' "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" essays once school starts in a few weeks.
--Josh Gross