Washington Wrap

Dotty Lynch, Douglas Kiker, Beth Lester, Clothilde Ewing, Shean Sharifi and Jamie English of the CBS News Political Unit have the latest from the nation's capital.

Thursday's Headlines

* Democrats are Falling in Line, With a Few Exceptions

* FEC To Consider Putting Restraints on 527s

* Open Seat in Colorado Excites Democrats

* It's Good to be Arnold

Day One: The multi-million dollar, 17-state Bush-Cheney ad campaign begins Thursday with ads in battleground states.

John Kerry is down for the day, regrouping in Boston before he begins what is sure to be a heavy fund-raising schedule.

Check out CBSNews.com for more on the Bush-Kerry match-up and the new ads.

What About the Others: With all of the major contenders out of the Democratic race, John Kerry is now the presumptive Democratic nominee. John Edwards praised him in his farewell speech and Wesley Clark, Dick Gephardt and Bob Graham have all endorsed him. But Howard Dean was noticeably silent about Kerry when he thanked Vermont voters for his first primary win and Carol Moseley Braun has all but disappeared after endorsing Dean back in January.

That being said, the Burlington Free Press reports that Dean "will meet next week" with Kerry to discuss ways to help him beat Pres. Bush. But despite pleas from Democratic officials, Dean says he has no plans to hand over his list of contributors or the names of the 640,000 people who signed up as supporters.

Despite the coverage Kerry has received in the last couple of days, Kucinich and Sharpton are still officially in the race. According to the New York Times, Sharpton is assessing whether he will stay in the race and will make a decision on Thursday. People close to Sharpton say he is planning a meeting with Kerry, in hopes he could arrange a prominent role in the campaign, which focuses on working with black and Hispanic voters, reports the Times.

Kucinich on the other hand, continues to campaign with the mindset that now that the race has narrowed, the differences between Kerry and himself will be more prominent. He campaigns in delegate rich Florida on Thursday and heads to Texas on Friday, both of which hold primary contests on March 9.

With Tuesday's results tallied, Sharpton has 23 delegates and Kucinich has 21. Kerry has 1,565 delegates. It will take 2,162 to win the nomination.

FEC To Consider Limiting 527 Fundraising Powers: The FEC voted on Thursday to consider several proposals that could significantly decrease the emerging power of so-called "527" groups, political groups that have emerged in the post-McCain-Feingold world – particularly on the Democratic-leaning side – because their fundraising practices are not hampered by bans on so-called "soft money." The 5-1 vote means the commission will accept comments and briefs for the next 30 days and will have more hearings on the proposals on April 14-15.

As a group, 527s – named after the section in the tax code that permits their existence – are sometimes referred to as the "shadow" Democratic Party because of their ability to raise and spend the kind of money that is forbidden under McCain-Feingold.

As the presidential campaign moves along, campaign finance watchdog groups believe that some 527s – the powerhouse Americans Coming Together is a prime example – will act essentially as campaign surrogates without spending restrictions, despite restrictions on any coordination between the campaign and outside groups like ACT. For cash-strapped Democrat John Kerry, any help countering Bush's massive war chest would be welcome.

Because of McCain-Feingold's ban on soft-money contributions to the political parties, Democrats, who depended far more on those unlimited checks from individuals, unions and the like than their GOP counterpart, are afraid of being financially overpowered by the GOP, which has no trouble raising huge amounts of federally-restricted "hard money."

According to a spokesman, among the issues that the FEC (evenly divided with three Democratic and three Republican members) will consider in April are forcing the 527s to raise at least 25 percent of their contributions in $5,000 hard-money chunks; limits on corporate and union funds for voter registration and GOTV efforts; and, perhaps most importantly, forcing some 527s currently not registered with the FEC to do so.

The AP reports that last month "the FEC last month decided to place some restrictions on outside groups' use of soft money. That decision covered only organizations that register with the FEC as political committees, declaring by doing so that one of their major purposes is spending money for or against federal candidates."

Democrats On a Rocky Mountain High: Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., surprised politicians on both sides of the aisle on Wednesday by announcing he will not seek re-election, amid health concerns. Campbell was treated for prostate cancer late last year, but his decision came after he made two precautionary visits to a Washington, D.C., hospital in the past week, reports the Rocky Mountain News. "After spending another night in the hospital, I realize that deteriorating health may hamper my ability to serve," he said. "Doctors have assured me that after treatment for prostate cancer, the recovery rate is 98 percent. But I believe Coloradans deserve a 100 percent guarantee of service."

Campbell's announcement made no mention of the allegations of a kickback in his Colorado office, involving a former top aide, which has spurred an ethics probe.

The announcement set off a wave of speculation as to who will jump into the race for the now open Senate seat. Among the names mentioned on the Republican side are: Gov. Bill Owens, who is barred by law for seeking re-election in 2006, Rep. Scott McInnis, who is retiring from the House this year and Reps. Tancredo, Musgrave and Beauprez, as well as Lt. Gov. Jan Norton. On the Democratic side, businessman Rutt Bridges declared on Sunday after Democrats had failed to recruit a more seasoned candidate. No there is speculation that Democrat Rep. Mark Udall, who said last year that he was only ruling out a run against Campbell; Rep. Diane DeGette, former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb and ex-Sen. Gary Hart may reconsider the race.

Campbell's decision gives Democrats a glimmer of hope that they can offset potential losses in the South, where five Democratic southern senators are retiring this year, with a win in Colorado and a couple of other non-southern states, reports the Washington Post. Sen. Jon S. Corzine of New Jersey, the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said Campbell's decision "increase[s] our chances of taking back the majority" in the Senate, reports the Post. Campbell is now the third Republican senator to announce retirement plans for this year, joining Don Nickles, Oklahoma, and Peter Fitzgerald, Illinois.

Arnold Flying High in California: After a rocky first few months, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R–Calif., is now solidly on track. At the polls on Tuesday, while most pundits were focused on the Democratic presidential primary, Schwarzenegger scored a double victory by convincing voters to back his ""financial recovery plan," reports the Washington Post. The Governator's wins came in the form of passage of two ballot initiatives that he backed – Propositions 57 and 58. Prop 57 will allow Schwarzenegger to borrow up to $15 billion to deal with California's badly structured debt while Prop 58 puts constitutional limits on state spending.

As the Post reports, the measures were considered unlikely to pass just a few weeks ago. High-profile campaigning including a $10 million effort by the Governor, however, changed that scene. Both measures passed overwhelmingly, drawing support from everyone from liberal Democrats to conservative Republicans, according to exit polls from the Los Angeles Times.

The propositions' passage has created a post-referendum glow around the Governor. Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who once derided Schwarzenegger, told a rally last week that he "has brought a very strong breath of fresh air to this state." And even the man who he beat in the recall election, Gray Davis, appeared with Schwarzenegger on a late night talk show, telling host Jay Leno, "I think Arnold is off to a good start." As the Times reports, "For Schwarzenegger, the question now is how long he can sustain his broad voter support and the improbable harmony among lawmakers in Sacramento."

Quote of the Day: "The shareholders' vote was like stomping on Bambi." - Tom Taulli, adjunct professor at the University of Southern California, regarding the shakeup at Disney, which resulted in former Sen. George Mitchell replacing Michael Eisner as chairman. (LA Daily News)