Washington Wrap

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

Monday's Headlines
* Veep Vetting

* The President's Week Ahead: First Pitches, Swing States and Down on the Ranch

* The Attacks Go Out

* Boston Planning an Image Makeover for Democratic Convention

* New Pro-Democratic Hispanic Ads Hitting the Air

Kerry Vetting Process (Slowly) Underway: The quadrennial vice-presidential dance is underway, with the Kerry camp taking a slow but steady approach. The Associated Press reports that despite the many insiders pushing for a quick decision, "their presumptive nominee doesn't appear to be in any hurry. Kerry's selection process is unlikely to yield a decision for weeks. There are no firm assurances he will announce his selection before the nominating convention in late July, even though that's the goal."

Many Democrats think Kerry needs a running mate quickly to help raise money and to serve as an attack dog, leaving the top man free to remain above the fray while he sells his message. Even though that is an attractive tactic, as Democratic strategist Steve Jarding explains to the AP, given the importance of Kerry's selection, "There's pressure to do it early, but there's pressure to do it right."

The pressure to "do it right" has been heightened by disagreements within the Kerry campaign about what qualities are most important in a vice presidential nominee. CBS News learned in March of an under-the-radar tussle between operatives within the campaign who favor a Southern candidate and others who favor a Midwesterner. The Boston Globe's Glen Johnson reported that at "Kerry's Beacon Hill home yesterday afternoon, the senator and his chief of staff, Mary Beth Cahill, discussed the search for a running mate with Jim Johnson, the Washington businessman heading the search. Johnson also joined Kerry on his flight back to the capital last night."

But even as the Kerry campaign tries to slow timing expectations, the who-will-it-be parlor game is already in full swing. The New York Times reported on Sunday that Johnson has had "conversations with at least four contenders for the nomination. They are Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico and Gov. Thomas J. Vilsack of Iowa."

And that is only a short list: political daily Hotline's latest list includes 57 potential veeps. With such a long list, no wonder the campaign seems to be taking its time.

The President's Week Ahead: Basking in the glow of last week's strong jobs report, President Bush heads to Charlotte, N.C., on Monday for – you guessed it – an event on job training and the economy at a community college. After the official event – billed to taxpayers – Bush attends the final Bush-Cheney fundraising event of the campaign at the Charlotte Convention Center.

Later on Monday, Bush swings by a key swing state to throw out the first ball at the St. Louis Cardinals vs. Brewers game at Busch Stadium. Bush, a baseball fanatic and former partner in the Texas Rangers team, will get a Cardinals jersey with the number 43 on it. The AP also reports that fans were advised to get to the stadium four hours early because of security delays.

Bush and his friend, current Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr., were part of a 29-member partnership that owned the Rangers. Bush owned only 1.8 percent of the franchise but was given the authority to make major decisions. He approved the deal that traded Sammy Sosa to the Chicago White Sox, the AP reports.

Also on Monday, Vice President Dick Cheney throws out the first ball in Cincinnati at the Reds-Cubs game. Ohio, like Missouri, is reportedly considering officially changing the state motto to "Battleground State."

On Tuesday, Bush travels from the ranch up to El Dorado, Arkansas , another swing state for an official event on – you guessed it again – job training and the economy.

Bush is down at his ranch for the remainder of the week while his administration prepares for Condi Rice's testimony to the 9/11 commission on Thursday, He's in Crawford for Easter and next Monday holds a press conference with President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt at the ranch.

Kerry and Kennedy Issue Attacks on Bush: Putative Democratic nominee John Kerry and another man from Massachusetts who once wanted to be president, Sen. Edward Kennedy, are taking aim at President Bush in two different ways. As the New York Times reports, Kerry is seeking to portray Bush as a "borrow-and-spend leader" and will accuse the Bush administration "of fueling the deficit and crippling state budgets by approving or proposing programs worth more than $6 trillion without paying for them." On Sunday, Kerry released a report containing those charges with the thinly veiled contrast that Kerry is a fiscally responsible deficit hawk.

As Kerry focused on one issue, his attack dog buddy Kennedy delivered a wide-ranging "critique of administration policy on health care, education and the economy" on MOoday. Kennedy told his audience at the Washington-based left-leaning think tank the Brookings Institution that the Bush team had created "the largest credibility gap since Richard Nixon. He has broken the basic bond of trust with the American people," according to a copy of the speech obtained by CBS News. Kennedy went on to detail that credibility gap as it relates to the war in Iraq, saying the result is "a massive and very dangerous crisis in our foreign policy." Kennedy then turned towards domestic issues, talking about what he sees as the Administration's support for outsourcing, an inadequate Medicare prescription-drug bill, poorly thought-out education reform and more.

In a conclusion that could easily have been written by Kerry's message-maestros at Shrum, Devine and Donilon, Kennedy finished his remarks saying, "This is the pattern and the record of the Bush Administration. Iraq. Jobs. Medicare. Schools. Issue after issue. Mislead. Deceive. Make up the needed facts. Smear the character of any critic. Again and again and again, we see this cynical and despicable strategy playing out. It's undermining our national security, undermining our economy, undermining our health care, undermining our schools, undermining public trust in government, undermining our very democracy. We need a change. November can't come too soon."

Those words are certainly music to Kerry's ears, but it remains to be seen if Kennedy's speech will reach the ears of any swing voters.

Boston's PR Makeover: A few days after announcing the city's main traffic artery and train stations will be closed for almost a week in late July-early Augusts, "organizers of the Democratic National Convention are launching an image-enhancing publicity blitz that includes speeches at historic sites, TV ads, and informational booklets full of pro-Boston facts, bound for reporters around the country," The Boston Globe reports.

The Globe says "Mayor Thomas M. Menino wants to improve Boston's image around the country with what his planners call the most comprehensive pre-convention marketing campaign a city has ever mounted. National Democrats, meanwhile, are also planning steps to put a positive spin on Boston in a way that benefits Senator John F. Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee."

The PR campaign's theme will "encompass the first stirrings of the Revolution and abolitionism, highlighting Boston as a center of educational excellence and technological and medical advances. The campaign aims to undo old images of a traffic-bound, racially torn city and remake Boston's image as a glittering mecca of democratic ideals and a desirable tourist destination."

In addition to selling Boston, "The campaign also has a second purpose: Coming after a long string of grim headlines about stalled fund-raising, labor unrest, and predictions of traffic nightmares during the convention, it's meant to make Boston residents feel good about the convention when 35,000 delegates swoop into town in late July," The Globe reports.

Wooing the Hispanic Bloc: Three political ads targeting Hispanic voters will debut Monday, the same day the Herald/Zogby International Hispanic poll (March 29-31; 3.2 percent margin of error), reported that Kerry holds a 58 percent to 33 percent lead over Bush among Hispanics, reports The Miami Herald. New Democratic Network will unveil the three ads as the next phase of its multi-million dollar advertising campaign to bolster the party's presence in the airwaves. The first set of ads from the campaign group led by Hispanic and Democratic leaders were in Spanish and launched in early March.

Although Kerry holds almost a 25-point lead on the president, strategists say he must keep Bush's support from Hispanics at less than 35 percent to have a chance at the White House. In 2000, Bush edged into the traditionally Democratic voting bloc and won with 35 percent of the vote. Still, nothing is ever certain, pollster John Zogby said, according to the Herald. "The Hispanic vote is borderline for Kerry and it's borderline for the president," he said. Hispanic voters are key to the election that depends on them in battleground states like Florida, New Mexico and Arizona.

The poll also shows candidate Ralph Nader draining 2 percent of votes from Kerry and not from Bush, "potentially swinging a squeaky-tight election," the Herald reports.

Quote of the Day: "I did eat with my family, so long as my mother wasn't cooking." -- President Bush kidding his mother in an article about why he surrounds himself with strong women (New York Times)