Washington Wrap

Dotty Lynch, Douglas Kiker, Beth Lester, Clothilde Ewing, Katie Dyer and Jessica Shyu of the CBS News Political Unit have the latest from the nation's capital.

Wednesday's Headlines

* RNC and Bush-Cheney Going After Left-Leaning 527s Again

* Kerry Has Stars in his Eyes (and Pocketbook)

* Nader Looking to Double Fundraising From 2000

* Grande Mix-Up at Starbucks

* Al Gore a Liberal TV Mogul

* Match-Maker, Match-Maker

GOP Tries to Kill Soft Money: The RNC and the Bush-Cheney campaign announced on Wednesday that they plan to file a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission to stem the flow of unregulated soft money to left-leaning 527s. RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie, Bush-Cheney Chairman Marc Racicot and various campaign finance lawyers for both groups will brief reporters before the complaint is filed on Thursday.

An RNC source say the complaint "has to do with all the illegal soft money (non-federal dollars) 527s are using for the expressed purpose of defeating President Bush (a federal candidate) and electing John Kerry (a federal candidate). The question remains what sort of action can be taken (after illegal activity has been clearly outlined based on the LAW) to address the illegality in a timely manner before it has an irreversible impact on the presidential election?"

In other words, the RNC and Bush-Cheney want to stop the 527s far more quickly than the FEC, which, even if it decides to regulate the groups, might do so at glacial pace in terms of November's presidential election.

In mid-April, the FEC will hold hearings to determine whether or not 527s should fall under its purview. Left-leaning 527s in particular are fighting such a move as it would likely hamper their ability to raise and spend unlimited amounts of soft money, for which they've become the main conduit since McCain-Feingold barred such contributions to the political parties. The Democratic Party, which depended on the big contributions more than the Republicans, was especially hard hit by McCain-Feingold.

Last month, Bush-Cheney filed a complaint with the FEC over ads being run by the Media Fund and Move On.org in 17 battleground states. Bush-Cheney said that since the ads mentioned President Bush by name, it was illegal to use soft money to pay for the $5.1 million campaign. The Media Fund disputed the premise of the complaint, saying that although the group's ads may affect the presidential race, they are meant to highlight issues and are therefore not regulated by the FEC in the same way.

Move On.org founder Wes Boyd argues that the campaign finance laws were never meant to apply to public interest groups and denied it was in cahoots with the Kerry campaign. "We do not coordinate with the Kerry campaign. These charges are baseless and irresponsible," Boyd said. The group has a new ad up Wednesday featuring Richard Clarke's contention that President Bush ignored terrorism for months.

One of the reasons for the continued GOP action may be that the ads are working. Media Fund strategists and former Kerry campaign manager Jim Jordan, tells CBS News that despite national poll numbers showing Kerry's lead over President Bush quickly evaporating, in the key battleground states where the Media Fund and MoveOn.org both have run ads, the situation is "much less fluid."

Kerry Sees Stars: The Kerry campaign rolled into Los Angeles on Tuesday and, several hours later, rolled out $3.2 million richer, based on donations from stars like Barbara Streisand, James Brolin, Kevin Costner (who sported a goatee), Jennifer Aniston (but no Brad Pitt), a very pregnant Helen Hunt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sharon Stone, Ben Affleck and many, many more. Tinseltown's brightest stars turned out to fund-raise for Kerry and were treated to stand-up comedy from Seinfeld-creator Larry David and a concert from James Taylor, reports CBS News' Steve Chaggaris.

David entertained the crowd by comparing himself to President Bush, at one point saying that the similarities between the two would allow him to go "toe to toe" with the president. David explained, "Bush and I like to exaggerate, embellish and, how shall I say, bull---." He continued: "I'm a nincompoop, a chicken and a liar and there's only one problem. It would be a disaster if someone like that was elected president of the United States."

Following David's comedic stylings, Kerry was introduced by the more sedate former Secretary of State Warren Christopher. In his 22-minute remarks, Kerry stayed true to his stump speech, adding a droll line in which he wryly told David that he was, "qualified to be a Republican."

The Beverly Hills event at the home of supermarket tycoon Richard Burkle drew more than 1,500 stars/executives/musicians who paid between $1,000 and $2,000 for the evening's festivities. Beyond the amount raised for Kerry's campaign, the donors also gave $1 million to help fund the Democratic National Committee, reports the AP. The real entertainment, James Taylor, played "The Way I Feel" and "Carolina." After "Carolina," on Taylor's orders, the cameras were ushered out. Once off-camera, the singer impishly noted, "It's way too early to say that song had anything to do with the prospects of Jonathan Edwards."

With money in his pocket (and maybe Carolina on his mind), Kerry is in Washington on Wednesday for surgery to repair a slight tear in his shoulder.

Nader Money: Ralph Nader has heard all the arguments against him running and, while he believes that defeating President Bush is the ultimate goal, he also believes his reasons for running outweigh those against him, reports the New York Times.

To help spread his message, Nader is hoping to raise $15 to $20 million dollars, which will double the $8 million his campaign raised in 2000. And, a campaign spokesman tells CBS News, they are on target to do this. The spokesman pointed out that in the first FEC report of the 2000 race, Nader had raised $198,000 ($40,000 of which was a donation from Nader himself). This time around, he raised $228,000 in the first week following his announcement alone and has raised close to $475,000 overall (again including a $40,000 donation from Nader). So far, about half the money raised is coming from the web.

Nader also aspires to get on the ballot on all 50 states, an extremely trying task that takes organization and time, neither of which are on his side. With that being said he is planning on focusing his attention on where he can get the most votes, a Nader spokesman tells CBS News. Nader also maintains his belief that Democrats will rally around their nominee, John Kerry, and that in the end he will take votes from disaffected Republicans and independents. But his argument has yet to be proven. A CBS News/New York Times poll earlier this month found that when voters were asked to choose between Bush and Kerry, 46 percent chose the president and 43 percent Kerry. But when Nader was added to the mix, Bush's support stayed at 46 percent, while Kerry's dropped to 38 percent and Nader drew 7 percent.

Nader has asked for a meeting with John Kerry for next month to make his case that he can offer fresh ideas to the debate "field-tested by a second front" and the Kerry campaign says it is planning the meeting in approximately three weeks.

Would You Like Some Paper in Your Coffee?: A visitor to a Dupont Circle Starbucks on Sunday morning discovered an unexpected addition to his coffee: five sheets of paper left behind by someone on his way to brief Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. The papers, entitled "Office of the Secretary of Defense" and subheaded "The Special Assistant," were found by a local resident who turned them over to the left-leaning think-tank the Center for American Progress, which has published them on its website.

The papers include "talking points, hand-written notes on spin tactics, and a hand-drawn map to the Secretary's house," the last of which the Center has redacted "in the interest of national security." The Center is calling the discovery "The Pentagon's Papers."

The content of the first two pages appears to be conference call notes apparently written by someone named Eric. The shorthand includes scribbles that read, "Took threat v seriously and then segue to wh we have been doing. Rise above Clarke," and "Our plan had military plans to attack Al Q -- called on def to draw up targets in Afg -- develop mil options." There is also an underlined "DR" in the margin, that may stand for Donald Rumsfeld, next to the words, "Stay inside the line -- we dont need 2 puff this at all. we need 2b careful as hell about it. This thing will go away soon and what will keep it alive will be one of us going over the line."

The third found page includes possible questions "for Sunday talk show," but no answers are provided. The fourth sheet describes measures already taken regarding terrorism and a change in policy from regarding terrorism as a law enforcement issue to an act of war. The fifth page is a hand-drawn map to Rumsfeld's house.

So far there is no reaction from the mysterious Eric or the Pentagon but the Center for American Progress is happy to jump into the fray. Besides publishing the papers themselves, the Center has provided rather tongue-in-cheek answers to the questions posed on page 3 of the found documents. A favorite fake answer? For the question, "Why did the Administration think it had 7 months to develop policy," the Center suggests a reply of "We made a point of ignoring as long as possible anything that was recommended to us by the Clinton Administration."

No word on whether the Pentagon appreciates the talking points.

All Liberal, All the Time: Former Vice President Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, an entrepreneur and Democratic fundraiser, will close a $70-million deal with Vivendi Universal for a small digital cable channel, reports the New York Observer. The channel, Newsworld International, will retain current programming of foreign news for the time being, though Gore and Hyatt hope to turn the it into a "youth-oriented public-affairs channel." While Gore claims that this will not be the "liberal antidote" to Rupert Murdoch's FOX News (Murdoch being unabashedly conservative), his name is on the ownership of this decidedly liberal enterprise.

In other left-leaning radio news, Al Franken's liberal radio talk show "The O'Franken Factor" debuts Wednesday on the progressive Air America radio network as part of an overall liberal strategy to balance the scales. "It's all part of the same thing. It's fighting back …. I think that the country —there's an odd idea that the mainstream media is liberal, and it just isn't. And I think the mainstream media has become scared of its own shadow. Basically, their testicles have been sucked up into their body cavity with a slurping sound," Franken told the Observer.

Match-Making: In an age of campaign blogs and cyber-fundraising, it was only a matter of time before the Web bore its latest political baby: sites that rank candidates according to how they conform to the voters' issue stances. These increasingly popular "select-a-candidate" sites feed its users — mostly young people — political facts in "accessible, bite-sized and interactive" ways, the Los Angeles Times reports. Sites like Idego Methodologies, SelectSmart.com, AOL's President Match and CBSNews.com's Candidate Matchmaker have users select their stances on various issues. The programs then compute which candidates match up best to the users'.

"You're seeing the future, man," San Diego State University student Kirk Howard, told the L.A. Times. "Young people don't have time to listen to speeches or collect the newspapers."

The sites attract people between ages 19 and 29. A January study by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that 21 percent of people in that age range find most of their campaign news from the Internet, up from 9 percent in 2000.

The sites are "crude and imperfect," Tom Rosenstiel told the Times, noting that part of the draw was in the sites' "video-game-like 'play'." Nevertheless, Rosenstiel, who is the executive director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, says, "If this is an entryway into politics and issues, it's a great tool, and I think it's only the beginning."

Quote of the Day: "John Kerry will undergo surgery to repair his right shoulder. He originally hurt it when he suddenly switched positions on Iraq."(Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn)