Washington Wrap

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

Friday's Headlines

* Kerry Campaign Begins Massive Fundraising Drive

* Brouhaha Continues Over Bush's Ads

* Bush, Kerry Neck-and-Neck, Will Nader be the Spoiler?

* Arnold Keeps Himself Busy

* Insiders Finally Pick Edwards No. 1

The $144 Million Shadow Lurking Over Kerry: With the Democratic nomination now all-but-assured, John Kerry's presidential campaign is scrambling for campaign cash to counter the $144 million (and counting) war chest that President Bush has accumulated.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Kerry campaign "about $7 million in debt, is living off $2 million in donations from Internet and telephone solicitations that began after Mr. Kerry's near sweep in Tuesday's primaries."

At last count, Bush had $105 million cash on hand to use as a battering ram against Kerry. As a result, CBS News' Steve Chaggaris reports that Kerry "plans to raise $80 million before the Democratic National Convention this summer."

The New York Times says "the Kerry campaign plans to convene 85 top fund-raisers in Washington next week to begin a drive that will include a tour of 20 cities intended to raise as much as $20 million." The campaign hopes to raise half of that $20 million at high-dollar events and the other half via Internet contributions.

To that end, the Times and Wall Street Journal report that the Kerry campaign has been discussing fundraising strategy with both John Edwards (long on trial lawyers able to write those cherished $2,000 checks) and Howard Dean (with his vaunted 600,000 online backers.)

The Wall Street Journal reports that "some wealthy supporters, such as film director Steven Spielberg, who sat on their checkbooks are now reaching for their pens. California Democrats are throwing together a four-city, two-day money marathon in late March that will kick off a string of April fundraisers for Kerry in New York, Boston and Chicago."

The Journal also reports that the DNC made a push for members to give money to Kerry that netted $600,000 for the presumptive nominee in less than one day.

The Times reports that "Many Democratic fund-raisers and strategists said they were resigned to watching Mr. Bush outspend Mr. Kerry by tens of millions of dollars in the months ahead, an advantage that could pose a severe obstacle for the Kerry campaign.

Mr. Kerry's financial team hopes to stem the advantage by coupling a major fund-raising drive with the natural support Mr. Kerry can expect as Democratic groups coalesce around their presumptive nominee."

Louis Susman, Kerry's national finance chairman, tells the Times, "We're going to raise every dollar we can. We're not raising money just to be competitive. We want to go toe to toe."

Dust-Up Continues Over Bush's Ads: President Bush's re-election advertising campaign kicked off yesterday with negative publicity as family members of the victims of September 11 claim that the president is exploiting images of the tragedy for political gain. The 16-state, two-week, $10.5 million barrage of ads includes "Safer, Stronger," which shows pictures of a destroyed World Trade Center and firefighters carrying a flag draped body, and "Tested" which also shows the same images of the WTC.

The Washington Post reports that an angry 265,000-member International Association of Firefighters is demanding that Bush withdraw the ads and apologize to victims' families. And Kelly Campbell, co-director of a nonpartisan group called Sept. 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, stated: "For the most part 9/11 families are very sensitive to someone using images of our loved one's death for their own ends, and that's what's pretty blatantly happening here."

Having started the campaign on the wrong foot, Bush campaign officials are now on the defensive. In yesterday's appearance on CBS News' Early Show, Bush strategist Karen Hughes said, "With all due respect, I just completely disagree [with the families], and I believe the vast majority of the American people will as well." And Bush surrogate former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani defended the ads by saying that the president's "leadership on that day is central to his record, and his continued leadership is critical to our ultimate success against world terrorism."

According to The New York Times, John Kerry has remained silent on the issue. However his staff has e-mailed reporters a quote from a 2002 AP article in which President Bush, in seeking more money from Congress to fight terrorism, vowed, "I have no ambition whatsoever to use this as a political issue."

Ready, Set, Go: President Bush and John Kerry will be kicking off their general election campaigns in a dead heat, according to a new survey of registered voters that showed Bush with 46 percent support and Kerry with 45 percent. In the AP-Ipsos poll, taken between Monday and Wednesday of this week, Kerry did not appear to get a bounce from securing the nomination on Tuesday, AP reports.

The real wrinkle, however, is that Ralph Nader received 6 percent support in the poll. Nader, who polled an average of 4 percent nationally during his Green Party candidacy in 2000, ended-up with 2.7 percent of the national vote. While it is doubtful that Nader will make his run for the presidency as the Green Party candidate again, some Democrats blame him for Al Gore's loss in 2000. In some states, like Florida and New Hampshire, the margin of victory was very narrow between Bush and Gore and over half of Nader's supporters said that they would have voted for Gore if Nader had not been on the ballot.

The AP reports that President Bush's job approval rating, which has dipped in recent weeks, was at 48 percent. Forty-nine percent of respondents disapprove of the job he is doing. Six in ten said "the country is on the wrong track" while 35 percent think the country is going in the right direction. Not surprisingly, Bush polled higher with whites, men, Protestants, homeowners and suburban dwellers; Kerry with minorities, low-income people, singles, older voters and Catholics; and Nader with young adults and independents.

Arnold's Not Just a Pretty Face: The Terminator-turned-governor of California is putting more on his plate after his budget proposals passed. Arnold Schwarzenegger will announce tomorrow that he is the new executive editor of Muscle & Fitness and Flex magazines, USA Today reports.

Schwarzenegger has graced the cover of Muscle & Fitness over 30 times and Flex nearly 20. He has also written a column for Muscle & Fitness for ten years. The two magazines are owned by the American Media Inc. that owns celebrity tabloids The National Inquirer and Star. Schwarzenegger said he would have no part in the tabloid magazines.

The capacity of what the job will entail has not been said. Though pop culture columnist for New York magazine, Simon Dumenco, said, "Executive editors at a lot of magazines actually run the magazines. Clearly that's not going to be the case here. Otherwise, I wish California good luck."

People have shunned such activity in the past. Jesse Ventura encountered much criticism when he took jobs as a football announcer and wrestling referee during his gubernatorial tenure.

Schwarzenegger claims that he wants to be a strong leader for physical fitness and would not do this job for the money as it is, "petty compared to the movies. You don't do it for that reason. I want to promote physical fitness."

John Edwards Finally First: After weeks of polling, this week's National Journal Insiders Poll finally has John Edwards in first place … for vice president. With the Democratic nomination essentially wrapped up for John Kerry, this week's Insiders poll looks at who Kerry should choose as a running mate. Edwards receives 23 first-place votes, down from 29 in February but still well ahead of his nearest rival. "If Kerry is serious about winner the general [election], he needs to select a vice president that balances his perceived liabilities. The best candidate to do this is John Edwards," explains one Insider.

In second place for the veepstakes is the first democratic presidential dropout, Dick Gephardt, with 13 first-place votes. And the Insiders have lots of nice things to say about Gephardt" "Brings help where Kerry needs it," "very solid campaigner" and "geography makes him the best VP pick" are just some of the comments. Also in the top five are New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and Florida Sen. Bob Graham. And although Florida is never far from Democrats' minds, Vilsack is the "hot stock" this week, with one Insider saying, "This one has all the makings of success."

Losing stock in D.C.'s favorite parlor game? Wesley Clark, who disappears from the top five, although he will be campaigning for Kerry on Saturday in Kansas. Stay tuned to see whether the Insiders think a trip to Topeka will up Clark's veep possibilities.

Quote of the Day: "This thing got up to a critical mass." -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry on why he chose to publicly deny rumors about his marriage. (Austin-American Statesman)