Washington Wrap

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

Friday's Headlines

* Veep Watch: Richardson Out, Durbin In, Durban Out?

* Mixed News on Economic Front, Mixed Signals From Candidates

* Kerry Takes to the Bus

* Kerry's Divorce Not So Secret

* New Members of United Daughters of the Confederacy You Wouldn't Expect

* Nader Off Arizona Ballot

VEEP Watch: Richardson Out, Durbin In, Durbin Out: It's silly season in the Veep Watch World. As the Washington Post points out, "Kerry has been discreet in his deliberations, shielding those under consideration from public exposure. Much of the public discussion has been on Sen. John Edwards (N.C.), Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.) and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack. But sources said several others still figure in Kerry's thinking. That group may include Sens. Bob Graham (Fla.), Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.) and Richard J. Durbin (Ill.), among others."

But "public speculation" has run amuck this week with Matt Drudge, not typically known as a Democratic insider, kicking it off on Tuesday proclaiming to know that Hillary Clinton was Kerry's choice. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson who has been out of the "public speculation" for a while, decided to come back in with a highly publicized "Dear John" letter telling Kerry to count him out after the two had a two-hour conversation on Tuesday. Most believe that this was to allay concerns from Hispanics that Richardson wasn't being taken seriously by Kerry.

As far as timing, the guidance is the announcement will come "as soon as next week." The campaign hopes to let everyone know at the same time and to avoid leaks, but given the intensity of interest and press ingenuity that seems like a tall order.

As late as Thursday, CBS News learned there were still camps inside Kerryland aggressively lobbying for Edwards and Gephardt. The New York Times got a dose of "reasons why" for Gephardt or Vilsack in case the popular favorite John Edwards wasn't picked. On Friday, things seemed to be coming to resolution. Stay tuned.

And then there are the "new names" the "surprise names" and the "names that come and go." Today, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin came back into the "pubic speculation." And then went away. Durbin was on early lists and is said to be someone Kerry has a comfort level with, but he's said in the past he's not interested. CBS News' Beth Lester was told by Durbin's office that he hasn't been vetted, has not turned over any papers and last met with Jim Johnson a month and a half ago. The aide said Durbin-as-veep "was not a realistic thing at this point."

Durbin is also a Catholic, like other possible candidates Vilsack and Biden. CBS News.com's David Paul Kuhn has some thoughts about the implications of an all-Catholic ticket in our new feature, "Worth Noting":

Worth Noting:
It could be a sign of the tolerant times that political pundits are not pointing out that three of the most-referenced vice-presidential possibilities for Sen. John Kerry are Catholic. There has never been an all-Catholic presidential ticket. It would be astonishing if there is in 2004.

The trinity of Catholic Veep options: Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, Sen. Joseph Biden Jr. of Delaware, and former Army Gen. Wesley Clark of Arkansas.

"You can't put two Catholics on the ticket and certainly not this year," said Leo Ribuffo, a presidential historian at George Washington University. "The Kerry campaign must know that."

But does it? Has it occurred to the Kerry campaign? It should, Heritage Foundation presidential historian Lee Edwards said. "It would be extraordinary for an all-Catholic ticket; there is no doubt about it," Edwards emphasized. "There is so much unrest."

It certainly seems to be the wrong year to shatter the Catholic ceiling. It the dank light of the Catholic sexual abuse scandal and with recent tension between Kerry and some American bishops over the Massachusetts senator's right to take communion, being that Kerry is pro-choice, to nominate a fellow pro-choice Catholic would be politically brave, certainly.

Yet what is brave can often be foolish. In the next two weeks, we should know the selection. It will take longer to gauge the implications if we see America's first all-Catholic presidential ticket. --David Paul Kuhn

Mixed News On Economic Front: With Election Day a scant four months away, this is the kind of wire-story lead likely to send Karl Rove into shock.

"The pace of U.S. hiring slumped sharply in June after several months of robust gains, the government reported Friday, as employers added fewer than half the number of payroll jobs forecast and hours of work shrank," Reuters reported on Friday.

But President Bush, speaking to small business owners in the East Room on Friday morning, said the June figures were indicative of "steady growth" and touted the 1.5 million jobs created since last August. Bush also touted rising consumer confidence and home ownership rates.

"We've got an economy which is changing. It's – the nature of the job base is changing. And all of that means it's been a difficult period of time. Yet we're strong. We're getting stronger. We're witnessing steady growth -- steady growth, and that's important. We don't need a boom-or-bust-type growth. We want just steady, consistent growth so that our fellow citizens will be able to find a job," Bush said.

"It's one thing to be reporting, you know, the GDP numbers are up. It's another thing to be able to say more Americans are working, Bush said. "And that's we want. We want people going to work."

While the June figures are the tenth consecutive month of job growth, a sign of less-than-robust economic growth could spell trouble for President Bush's re-election prospects. With Iraq far from settled, Bush and his surrogates have been crowing about the improving economy almost daily. While the disappointing June figures won't stop them, any sign of economic weakness will be jumped on by the Kerry campaign.

Kerry will speak on the economy in Minnesota on Friday. His spokesman, Phil Singer, said: "It takes more than rhetoric to help small businesses and the economy grow. The fact is that George Bush's polices haven't backed the growth of new businesses, failing to help them deal with rising health costs and other key expenses."

The Labor Department reported that 112,000 new jobs were created in June – far short of the 240,000 that Wall Street analysts had expected. In addition, the revised figures for April and May were down significantly from the initial estimates. In May, 324,000 news jobs were created, not 346,000 as was initially reported. In April, 235,000 were created, down from the initial 248,000.

In addition, the AP reports that the Commerce Department said factories experienced decreases in orders dip in May for the second straight month as demand for cars and other big-ticket goods declined.

And, with Vice President Dick Cheney slated to begin a bus tour through manufacturing-heavy battleground states Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia on Saturday and Sunday, news of declining manufacturing jobs did not come at a great time. "The nation's factories took a hit last month, with employment falling by 11,000 after an increase of 75,000 in the previous four months. That improvement had ended a nearly three-year jobs drought, and economists had hoped to see continued hiring," the AP reports.

The president will spend Friday and Saturday nights at Camp David. On Sunday, he heads to Charleston, W.V. for a July 4th event before traveling to the White House to watch the fireworks from the South Lawn that night. Bush has no public events on Monday.

Kerry and the Bus: After weeks traveling on board a chartered plane, the campaign of John Kerry is taking to the bus starting Friday. Kerry will begin a three day bus tour through battleground states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Pennsylvania. Kerry will be joined by his daughters Alexandra and Vanessa, who will hop-scotch across those states as well.

The battleground bus tour takes Kerry to states with a total of 48 Electoral College votes, any of which would help Kerry win the presidency. The stops along the way are mostly focused on rural America, which Gore lost to Bush by a large margin in 2000. Kerry's campaign, an aide told CBS News, is determined not to do the same. Friday's stops include Duluth and Cloquet, Minn., and Bloomer and Eau Claire, Wis.

On Saturday, Kerry tours a farm in Independence, Wis., visits the Port of Dubuque and then watches some Independence Day fireworks on the Mississippi River. No word on where the bus goes while Kerry & Co. are on the boat, but the bus tour resumes on Sunday when it moves to Iowa. In Cascade, JK marches in a parade, attends a barbecue in Independence (yes, another Independence), visits the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library in Cedar Rapids. On Monday, Kerry attends a picnic, also a barbecue, in Pittsburgh with various elected officials from the (battleground) states of Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.

Following the three-day bus tour, Kerry resumes his plane-oriented travel as part of what the campaign bills as a "Restoring Responsible Leadership" tour. Although all Washington will be holding its breath for a veep announcement, Camp Kerry says it will spend Tuesday through Thursday first discussing "his vision of responsible leadership: an Administration that shares the values of America's families and communities, encourages personal responsibility and accountability, and builds opportunity." This will remarks to the African Methodist Episcopal Church 47th Quadrennial Conference and the National Education Association 2004 Annual Meeting on Tuesday and events in Ohio and Wisconsin.

A Divorce is a Divorce, Of Course, Of Course: In the wake of the Jack Ryan divorce records debacle, the press and some Republicans began to question John Kerry about his own 1988 divorce records and whether or not any skeletons are lurking within them. When asked earlier this week whether or not he planned to release them, the AP reports Kerry said, "I have no intention of doing that at all. There's no reason whatsoever. It's history, ancient history…It's none of anybody's business. Period."

But Kerry might not have been aware that many of his divorce records are already public; in fact, the only part that is still sealed involves the couple's financial information, such as assets, debts, and salary. The financial section is impounded in all divorce cases, according to Assistant Norfolk Probate Registrar John Jenney. The separation agreement, which includes custody and alimony arrangements, was submitted to the judge but is not in the public file. It is within the judge's discretion to allow the separation agreement to be kept on file by the attorneys, not the court, which is what happened in this instance.

Stephanie Cutter, Kerry's spokeswoman, said that when Kerry refused to release his divorce records, "he was probably thinking about the pieces that are sealed."

Kerry and his first wife, Julia Thorne, filed jointly for divorce on June 24, 1988 after a six-year separation. The grounds for divorce were "irretrievable breakdown of the marriage." Norfolk Probate Court Judge James Sweeney granted the no-fault divorce on July 25, 1988. On June 9, 1995, a month after Kerry married Theresa Heinz, Kerry and Thorne petitioned the court to seal "all pleadings and other papers filed with the Court." The petition was denied.

Guess Who's Coming To The United Daughters of the Confederacy? The United Daughters of the Confederacy will soon welcome their newest member, Essie Mae Washington-Williams, the daughter of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina. The New York Times reports that she is eligible as Senator Thurmond had been a member of Sons of Confederate Veterans, a similar group also composed of descendants of soldiers who fought for the South in the Civil War. Washington-Williams is a retired 78-year-old biracial teacher who lives in Los Angeles. Last week she had her name was added to a monument to Thurmond on the statehouse grounds in South Carolina along with the names of his other children.

Washington-Williams plans to apply for membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Black Patriots Foundation as well, which honors black Revolutionary War fighters. Her mother, Carrie Butler, was a 16-year-old maid at in the Thurmond family home when she gave birth. The senator gave her financial support and visited once a year, Ms. Washington-Williams said.

She waited until after his death a year ago to come forward out of a desire to protect her father and said, "At last, I feel completely free." Her lawyer, Frank K. Wheaton, explained yesterday Ms. Washington-Williams wants to join the organization to explore her genealogy and heritage. Mr. Wheaton continued that it would be "shortsighted" for anyone to think that her application is supportive of racism or slavery.

Patsy Limpus, president general of the United Daughters of the Confederacy also responded to the concern about racism saying, "That is not the issue here with us, the issue is whether she has a Confederate ancestor." She also said that she knew of "several" blacks in her 170,000-member organization.

Quote of the Day: "PHOENIX (AP) - A judge has ordered independent Ralph Nader off the Arizona ballot."