Washington Wrap
Dotty Lynch, Douglas Kiker, Beth Lester, Clothilde Ewing, Jamie English and Katie Dyer of the CBS News Political Unit have the latest from the nation's capital.
Friday's Headlines
* Ad Wars Take Off
* $900 Billion: Who is Right?
* Edwards and 100 of His Closest Donors Cheer Brother Kerry
* Al Sharpton is Granted Matching Funds
* Illinois Senate Race
Negative Ads and Rapid Responses: On Wednesday, the Bush-Cheney campaign released two television ads, one of which goes after John Kerry directly. Two hours later, the Kerry campaign responded, saying it would release a new ad on Friday and that the buy would be "real."
The Bush-Cheney ads, called "100 days" and "Forward," will both run in 18 battleground states, replacing "Tested" and "Lead," which debuted last week. The "Forward" is a positive spot, saying that America faces a choice to go "forward with confidence, resolve, and hope. Or we can turn back…" The other ad, "100 days," is described by the campaign as "comparative" and attacks Kerry directly on taxes, the economy and defense. The ad intones, "John Kerry's plan: To pay for new government spending, raise taxes by at least $900 billion. On the war on terror: Weaken the Patriot Act used to arrest terrorists and protect America...John Kerry: Wrong on taxes. Wrong on defense."
The Kerry campaign went into rapid-response mode Thursday, putting out the word that they would release an ad offering up surrogates for TV shows to discuss what was wrong with the Bush ad. Although the ad is not yet released, the Kerry campaign provided CBS News with a few lines from the script-in-progress: "Once again, George Bush is misleading America. John Kerry will cut taxes for the middle class....he's never called for a $900 billion dollar tax increase. Doesn't America deserve more from its president than misleading negative ads?" Beyond saying the buy would be "real," the Kerry team has said the ad will run in 16 states: Maine, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Iowa, New Mexico, Oregon, Wisconsin, Florida, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, Nevada, West Virginia, Arizona, Arkansas, and Ohio.
$900 billion: Who is Right? The debate over taxes in the new television ads goes to the crux of the Bush-Kerry battle on domestic issues. The Bush ad claims that Kerry will raise taxes by $900 billion while Kerry aide Stephanie Cutter tells the Washington Post that the figure "is completely made up."
Factcheck.org, a project of the non-partisan Annenberg Public Policy Center analyzed the dueling statements and concluded that both campaigns are operating in the realm of spin. On the specific $900 billion number, FactCheck says that the Bush-Cheney "raise taxes" claim is inaccurate in that Kerry has never "endorsed such a figure." FactCheck also notes that the Republican ad leaves out the new health care coverage that would benefit from Kerry's plans. But, the group notes, "Kerry's ambitious health-care plan would indeed cost an estimated $895 billion over 10 years. And Kerry has also promised to cut the current $500-billion federal deficit in half. Can he pay for all that while raising taxes only for the wealthy? Those numbers don't quite add."
The Kerry campaign has said he would pay for his plans primarily rolling back the tax cuts for those who make over $200,000 a year. But according to FactCheck.org and numbers supplied by the non-partisan Tax Policy Center, those tax plans would not provide "nearly enough" to finance Kerry's plans. The Kerry campaign has also suggested it would close corporate loopholes, but has not released details. A spokesman for the Kerry campaign, Michael Meehan, told FactCheck.org, "John's not the president yet. When he becomes the president he'll send up a whole budget. ... We're not going to get into the back and forth on that." For now, the numbers debate seems sure to continue.
Hey Brother: John Kerry's last major challenger, North Carolina Senator John Edwards, met with Kerry for a private half hour meeting in Edwards' Senate office before Edwards introduced him to over 100 of his campaign donors at the St. Regis Hotel. Edwards welcomed Kerry with the greeting "Hey Brother!"
Asked if reporters were looking at the next Democratic ticket, Edwards laughed before finishing, "We're not taking questions today." Kerry meanwhile, kept the mood light. "See that?" Kerry asked with a smile. "He's answering for me." According to Duke Law School professor Walter Dellinger, who was present at the meeting, the St. Regis room was packed with people from across the country and Edwards asked for their enthusiastic support to be directed to Kerry. Although there was no VP talk, Kerry did draw comparisons between the two campaigns, highlighting the fact that both men were discounted early on.
Speaking of VP candidates, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows Edwards tops both Gephardt and Clinton as a potential Kerry running mate. Testing potential tickets, a Bush-Cheney race against Kerry-Edwards yields a 45 percent to 45 percent draw; with Nader getting 3 percent. But the Republicans beat Kerry-Gephardt 46 percent to 40 percent and Kerry-Hillary Clinton 47 percent to 44 percent.
On Thursday, Kerry also visited Democrats in the House and Senate. The House meeting was held in the Library of Congress after Republicans refused to authorize meeting space in the Capitol. According to a person present at the meeting, Rep. Edward Markey of the Massachusetts House delegation introduced Kerry saying, "The Viet Cong couldn't stop him. Richard Nixon couldn't stop him. George Bush can't stop him. He's going to keep fighting until he wins."
For more on Kerry's fundraising efforts and the implications for VP pick, click on CBSNews.com.
Good News and Bad News for Sharpton: The good news for Sharpton is that the FEC unanimously approved $100,000 in federal matching funds to his campaign. The bad news is that he will also be in the center of an investigation into whether he deserves the money. But in a press release sent to CBS News, Campaign Manager Charles Halloran says the decision "is important for anyone who is not a multimillionaire that may run for President."
At the issue are loans that Al Sharpton, the private citizen, made to Al Sharpton, the candidate. The FEC shows that Sharpton is owed $81,000 as of their last filing, but FEC ruled prohibit federal matching funds to any candidate who loans his own campaign more than $50,000. The FEC now must determine if more than $50,000 dollars was owed for more than 60 days, thus breaching the certification when applying for matching funds.
Sharpton has denounced this complaint as nothing more than a "right wing hit job" and Halloran maintains the campaign's fundraising has been "completely by the book" and that "FEC rules are clear that the personal expenditure limit only kicks in after a candidate receives matching funds - that is today."
Mud Slinging in Illinois Senate Race: A Research 2000 Illinois poll of Democratic likely voters has state senator Barack Obama leading the field of candidates with 36%, state comptroller Dan Hynes with 21%, Cook County treasurer Maria Pappas with 15% and former frontrunner, investment banker Blair Hull with 14%. Among likely Republican voters, investment banker turned teacher Jack Ryan leads with 36%, entrepreneur Jim Oberweis with 16%, businessman Andrew McKenna with 11%, and state senator Steve Rauschenberger with 10%. With only days remaining until Tuesday's Illinois primary, "character issues took center stage as candidates struggled to cut down rivals and raise doubts about opponents' electability in the fall," the Chicago Tribune reports.
Polls showed Hull holding the lead in the Democratic contest only weeks ago until his campaign was damaged by accusations of verbal and physical abuse to an ex-wife during their 1998 divorce. As if that weren't enough, he "acknowledged Wednesday he used cocaine and marijuana until the early 1980s and had twice sought evaluation for alcohol abuse," the Chicago Tribune reports. He said he used cocaine "occasionally" but discontinued use in the early 1980's along with marijuana. Hull said he sought treatment for alcoholism a few years before that and again in 1985.
Questions about substance use by Democratic Senate candidates were prompted by revelations in a 1996 autobiography written by current frontrunner Barack Obama, "Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance." In his book, Obama, a state senator, acknowledged use of marijuana and cocaine as a teenager. Democratic candidates Dan Hynes, Illinois comptroller, and attorney Gery Chico both acknowledged they had smoked marijuana in college.
"As the Democratic race focused on drugs, the Republican campaign became mired in mud as John Borling raised the issue of sealed portions of Jack Ryan's divorce file," the Chicago Tribune reports. In a statement made by Borling, he claimed to know details of the sealed files that could jeopardize Ryan's campaign. Borling declined to elaborate, saying the matter was distasteful. Borling's campaign manager fueled the fire by calling leading state Republicans and suggesting the divorce issue could cost the party a Senate seat if Ryan is the nominee.
Another rival, Jim Oberweis used a mailing to Republican voters to challenge Ryan's position on social issues and moral fiber. He claimed that Ryan provided money to his then-wife, Jeri Ryan, to produce the unrated 1997 movie "Men Cry Bullet," billed with the phrase "Sexual depravity has never been this much fun." Ryan denies financing the film.
Quote of the Day: "Everything from Clark Bar candy bars to computers will go on the auction block." --Announcement of 350 items for auction, including 100 chairs, 50 desks, 40 computers, 20 fax machines and assorted Clark campaign memorabilia including tote bags, buttons and yard signs. (AP)