Washington Wrap

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

Monday's Headlines

* Back On the Trail

* Veep Watch

* Reagan v. Bush

* GOP Convention News

* New MoveOn Ad

Bush and Kerry Back At It: After one week of muted campaigning in respect for Ronald Reagan, both presidential campaigns are back in full swing.

Bush begins his week in Liberty, Missouri. According to the campaign, Bush will focus on Medicare, not coincidentally a key issue in that battleground state.

Also this week, Bush surrogates will head out to support the president's message. Bush-Cheney spokesman Terry Holt tells CBS News that campaign manager Ken Mehlman will visit Capital Hill on Wednesday morning to "highlight the distinct difference between the president's positive message and Kerry's negative approach." Although some have suggested Mehlman's trip is to shore up support among nervous congressmen, Holt says the visit is "part of regular communication with leaders on the Hill" and will "set the tone for the debate between the president and John Kerry."

The campaign has also stepped up its ad buy, running far more of the "Pessimism" spot that debuted two weeks ago. Despite its name, Holt says the ad is really about the President's optimistic view of job creation.

Rested from a weekend in Pittsburgh, John Kerry will spend the week talking about the economy. Information received from the campaign indicates that, after raising some money in New Jersey on Monday night, Kerry will be in Ohio (battleground state #1) on Tuesday and Wednesday. He'll raise money, attend a rally and host an "economy event" in the state. Kerry heads to Detroit, Michigan (battleground state #2) for (another) economy event on Thursday. Friday is Virginia (battleground state #3), where Kerry will talk about the minimum wage and then raise some money for himself at two different fundraisers.

And to begin the week, Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill is providing reporters with a "state-by-state report detailing the jobs crisis under George Bush and the devastating impact of the middle class squeeze on American families," according to information received by CBS News. Looks like things are back to politics as usual.

Veep Rumors After McCain: Now that the John McCain fantasy is really over (not only did he tell Kerry no, he filed for re-election to the Senate as a Republican last week), the VP guessing game is heating up. The Los Angeles Times reports that only Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, Dick Gephardt and John Edwards "are known to be on the Kerry short list – subject to painstaking reviews of both their personal and political records." With that being said, it is still unclear who, if anyone, is John Kerry's top choice and if any of the others being vetted (Mark Warner and Wesley Clark) are still in contention.

The L.A. Times profiles Tom Vilsack and points out that allies often suggest he would be a good match because he inspires some media buzz but would not steal the limelight from Kerry (as some suggest John Edwards might do).

"He also has the sort of dramatic biography that television and newspaper reporters love: orphaned at birth, then adopted as an infant by a well-to-do Pittsburgh couple. He managed to transcend physical abuse by his alcoholic mother to build a successful career in law and politics," the Times reports.

Meanwhile, "Labor leaders believe union friend Rep. Dick Gephardt has the inside track to be Sen. John Kerry's vice president," reports Washington Whispers. "AFL-CIO execs say it's a done deal."

Despite the musings of the AFL-CIO brass, an Associated Press poll takes a look at the chances of Vilsack, Gephardt, Edwards and Wesley Clark. According to the poll, Edwards is the slight favorite among registered voters.

A Kerry-Edwards ticket is the only one beating Bush-Cheney in this poll. Kerry-Edwards lead Bush-Cheney nationally by three percentage points, 47 to 44. Bush-Cheney led Kerry-Gephardt (47% to 45%), Kerry-Clark (47% to 43%) and Kerry-Vilsack (47% to 43%).

The AP-Ipsos poll of 788 registered voters was conducted June 7 through 9, margin of sampling error 3.5 percent. For the responses of subgroups, it was slightly larger: 5 percentage points for Democrats, 5.5 percentage points for Republicans.

The New York Times reports that a number of Democratic senators and Senate candidates are also in favor of John Kerry naming John Edwards as his running mate, in part because they believe Edwards could help them in five Senate races in the South, giving them a chance to recapture control of the Senate. The NYT quotes Louisiana's retiring Democratic Senator John Breaux, North Dakota's Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad who have already come out for Edwards and Edward's fellow North Carolinian, Democrat Erskine Bowles. Bowles, who is running to fill Edwards's Senate seat, would definitely like to see more attention paid to the state.

Reagan v Bush on Stem Cells: The Reagan family has stepped up its call for President Bush to ease the restriction on the use of stem cell research. In a Newsweek article, Reagan's daughter Patti Davis, writes that Nancy Reagan "Has emerged as a central figure in the effort to get the federal government out of the way."

The current president and first lady oppose harvesting stem cells from human embryos for research into diseases such as diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's on moral grounds. This is despite the fact that Laura Bush's father's life was claimed by Alzheimer's. But other more moderate conservatives disagree: as Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., says, "The real pro-life position here ... is to use these stem cells."

Reagan's stem-cell liberalization call seems to be gaining momentum. Last week, according to the New York Daily News, 58 senators from both political parties sent a letter to the white house asking President Bush to reduce some of the rules on stem cell research. Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., introduced the Ronald Reagan Memorial Stem Cell Research Act in the House. Despite this increasing pressure from Nancy Reagan, Bush has refused to change his stance.

In an addition to his stem cell research position, President Bush is continuing his push for conservative social values. The Boston Globe reports that the president asked Vatican officials to promote socially conservative issues in the United States more aggressively. While White House officials have not confirmed the meeting, it could be part of a re-election strategy that hinges in part on winning support from highly religious voters.

Of the issues that Bush supposedly discussed with these officials, gay marriage was his priority. Bush opposes gay marriage and supports a constitutional amendment banning it. Kerry, Bush's democratic challenger, also opposes gay marriages but does not back a constitutional amendment. Sen. Kerry supports civil unions, which confer the legal rights of marriage on two people but not the official title.

GOP Convention Watch: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will attend the Republican National Convention in late August, despite a possible political backlash within his home state reports the Los Angeles Times. Although moderate Democrats and independents have embraced Gov. Schwarzenegger, they have not embraced President Bush and polls indicate that they want the president defeated in November. Schwarzenegger might alienate those moderates by lending his support to the President. But, if Schwarzenegger were to miss the convention, he risks offending Bush.

Said Patricia Clarey, the governor's chief of staff, "He's definitely going…No strings attached. Going enthusiastically. He'd welcome the opportunity to do whatever he can to be helpful," she said.

But how helpful the governor will be is still unclear. In striking a balance between being a loyal Republican and a moderate governor, Schwarzenegger has been forced to keep a relatively low profile. One of Schwarzenegger's advisors warned the governor that he should distance himself from President Bush and not even accept the title of honorary chair of Bush's California campaign. Schwarzenegger accepted the title anyway. However, Schwarzenegger refuses to campaign for President Bush outside California and his convention appearance will mark the first time that the governor has stumped for Bush in another state.

Having Schwarzenegger simply appear at the Convention might be enough for Convention organizers, the Times explains. Even if Schwarzenegger does not deliver his speech in primetime, or if he uses the opportunity to tout his moderate agenda, the news media will heavily cover the event because "it would be Schwarzenegger's national debut of sorts as an elected official" and "Schwarzenegger will surely emerge as one of the more compelling stories of a convention where the drama tends to be minimal, the outcome preordained."

In other convention news, the GOP's convention Host Committee released a new ad on Monday featuring New York's longtime Democratic mayor, Ed Koch encouraging New Yorkers to be nice to the Republican delegates and featuring a 7,500 pound elephant named Minnie. The ad is part of a campaign to enlist volunteers to help with the Convention in late August.

The ad starts with Koch talking to the camera, saying "New York City, the greatest city in the world. No wonder the Republicans are coming here for their national convention. While they're here, make nice. Volunteer to show 'em the ropes. They won't know uptown from downtown. They've never ordered pizza by the slice. They don't know from alternate-side-of-the-street parking." The camera then pans over to Minnie, who Koch admonishes, "Hey you, move it! It's Tuesday."

Current New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed Koch as the volunteer chairman of the volunteer drive, charged with enlisting the 8,000 volunteers that New York is contractually obligated to provide. So far, about half that many have signed up. Bloomberg hopes that Koch will be able to sell to New Yorkers the idea that "the convention should be seen as a way of promoting the virtues of New York to the world - not necessarily of getting President Bush re-elected," reports the New York Times. Koch bought into that idea and agreed to do the ad despite believing that you shouldn't "fool around with wild animals, even elephants," and having to repress "these common-sense feelings I have and go play with this elephant, stroke its trunk...I'm thinking, "That trunk could smash down and squash me.'"

MoveOn Does Haliburton: The left-leaning 527 MoveOn.org is going on the airwaves with a new television ad. The ad focuses on Vice President Cheney and his connections with the oil company Halliburton. According to information received by CBS News, the ad buy is worth $1.17 million and will run in the battleground states of Missouri, Nevada, Ohio and Oregon.

The ad begins with a wide shot of the White House, which dissolves into a picture of a domed silver platter. When the dome is removed, instead of food viewers see a stack of contracts with a place card reading "Halliburton: No-Bid Contracts." The announcer then intones, "The Bush administration gave Dick Cheney's old company no-bid contracts for Iraq on a silver platter." Over shots of oil fields and soldiers in chow lines the ad continues, "Then the Pentagon caught Halliburton overcharging $61 million for gasoline. Worse, they billed over one hundred million dollars for meals for our troops that they never delivered." The dome is then lifted again to reveal stacks on money. The ad concludes with the words "George Bush: A Failure of Leadership" super-imposed across the screen. The ad will run until June 21.

Quote of the Day: "I mean, after all, you've got to be optimistic to give six months of your life running the McGovern campaign in Texas." --President Bush talking about Bill Clinton at the unveiling of Clinton's official portrait at the White House. (CBS News)