Washington Wrap

For Round Two, we've dropped McCain and Clinton and come up with a list of people that CBS News has learned are under consideration by John Kerry. The Kerry campaign has been very careful not to leak much about the selection process, so a wildcard could emerge, but this is a list we think includes all the serious candidates at this point:

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Economics 101: John Kerry and George W. Bush may not agree on much but both of their campaigns believe that the economy is of utmost importance this year. Beginning Monday, the two campaigns waded into a back-and-forth on the economy that shows signs of getting nasty rather quickly.

John Kerry stepped in first, as part of what his campaign says will be a month-long focus on the economy. Despite strong employment growth, Kerry "served notice Monday that he still considered the economy a central vulnerability for" the president, reports The New York Times. Campaign officials hosted a briefing for reporters where Bush's economic policies were described as failures and Kerry will attend a series of economic events this week. Kerry will "paint a gloomy picture: the worst jobs performance since the Great Depression, an explosion of personal bankruptcies, skyrocketing bills for child care, health insurance and education, all piled on top of workers who are earning less or working more," reports the Washington Post.

To back up its claims, the Kerry campaign circulated several information sheets showing net job loss under Bush, a decline in high-paying jobs, increasing health care costs and a shift to outsourcing. And in the first rendition of a brand new economic speech given to the AFL-CIO in Atlantic City, N.J., on Tuesday morning, Kerry continued the theme saying, "Talk about value systems and all these politicians running around talking about values. I just think it's wrong for middle class Americans to be saddled with endless debt and deficits while the most fortunate among us walk away with billions in tax cuts."

The Bush-Cheney campaign dismisses Kerry's numbers and released its own statistics showing strong job creation and an increase in high-paying jobs. The multi-page memo sent to organizations, including CBS News, tries to rebut each criticism leveled by Kerry just hours earlier. Moreover, the BC04 team is accusing Kerry of running a campaign based on pessimism. The campaign released a message Tuesday morning that says in part, "Kerry's economic pessimism won't put a single American back to work or raise the wages of one employee, but does demonstrate the clear choice Americans face in November between progress and growth and the politics of pessimism."

Bush-Cheney hopes that playing on Kerry's message will create a message of its own: Kerry is too pessimistic to lead America. As the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports, Bush-Cheney's brain trust "is hoping middle class voters will turn on Kerry for waging a 'doom and gloom campaign' they say ignores positive economic news."

Kerry, presumably, disagrees with this characterization. His new stump speech was worked on by several of the top Democratic speech-meisters including Kerry campaign media advisor Bob Shrum and his friend, Dick Goodwin who traveled with Kerry on Tuesday. It incorporates the line, "We've always come together as one America in order to give to life to our mighty dream... We're a country of optimists." With the economic events set to continue through the next two weeks at least, look for the who-is-more-optimistic contest to continue. The dream will never die.

Rockin' with Celebrity Money: On June 20, it will be time for the campaigns to put their money where their mouths are, as the deadline for May's fundraising reports is fast upon us. The Bush-Cheney campaign will release its numbers two days early, on Friday, June 18, and the Kerry campaign will surely be close behind. (For those with a quick calculator and a lot of time on their hands, all 200,000 or so individual contributions to the campaign are listed on the Bush-Cheney Web site.)

Meanwhile, John Kerry is deep into June's fundraising. On Monday, he brought in more than $1 million at a star-studded fundraiser at rocker Jon Bovi's New Jersey home, with actress Meg Ryan and actors James Gandolfini and Steve Buscemi of the "Sopranos" adding their star power.

The Newark Star-Ledger reports, "Kerry mingled inside Bon Jovi's Middletown home on the Navesink River with about 60 heavy-hitters who chipped in $25,000-a-couple for the Democratic National Committee. Then, he headed out to the patio where a tent was set up and joined about 300 supporters who contributed $1,000 apiece to his record-setting campaign war chest."

But despite the locale, the 300 or so donors were more sedate than your typical rock 'n' roll crowd. Nevertheless, Kerry was fired up, making frequent references to his rock star host. "I'm running for president because no one in the United States of America should be suffering `livin'-on-a-prayer' or bad medicine."

Before heading out to Atlantic City, Kerry closed the evening by telling guests, "I know it makes a lot of you nervous, the idea of my coming here to a fund-raiser, leaving at 8:30 with a million dollars and then 11 o'clock I'm on the news at the blackjack table in Atlantic City. I promise I will not gamble with your money the way George Bush has gambled with the money of this country."

Others in attendance were Sen. Jon Corzine, D-N.J., Gov. James E. McGreevey, state Sen. Raymond Lesniak and Democratic attorney Joseph Ferriero.

Will 'The Hammer' fall?: Tom DeLay, R-Texas, the House Majority Leader, became the target Tuesday of an ethics investigation filed by Rep. Chris Bell, D-Texas.

The Washington Post reports that the complaint alleges three violations. The first says the majority leader illegally solicited and accepted campaign contributions of $56,500 from Westar Energy in return for action on legislation. The second charge accuses DeLay of laundering $190,000 worth of corporate donations through the Republican National Committee, which sent $190,000 to Texas GOP candidates. State law prohibits candidates from receiving corporate donations. The third charges alleges that Delay improperly asked the FAA to find a private plane thought to be carrying Texas Democratic legislators whose absence precluded the quorum needed to pass a Republican redistricting plan.

In response to the filing, DeLay spokesman Jonathan Grella said, "These are warmed-over and factually deficient allegations from a bitter partisan on his way out of office." Bell lost his congressional seat in March after a DeLay-orchestrated redistricting plan was implemented in Texas. Bell's spokesmen Eric Burns responded, "Nothing in this complaint is going to bring his seat in Congress back. This isn't about retaliation; it isn't about politics. It's about protecting the integrity of the House."

Bell's complaint is the first filed against a House Leader by another member of Congress since 1997. Both parties agreed then to stop filing ethics complaints against each other in a war of charges and countercharges dating back to the 1980s. In reaction to this complaint, Republican House Leaders will discuss this week whether to file complaints against key Democrats. Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told the Post that, although they did not discourage Bell from filing the charges, they did not encourage him either.

We're in the Money: The Senate's release of financial disclosures filed by its members show many of the nation's top politicians are not rattling empty piggy banks. On the contrary, according to The New York Times, assets listed in the millions have caused the House of Representative's former general counsel, Stanley Brand, to label the Senate as "a millionaires club."

Among the wealthiest members in the Senate are John Kerry's four potential running-mate picks. John Edwards takes first place, reporting assets of $14.3 million to $44.7 million. After earning millions as a trial lawyer, Edwards' portfolio grew substantially with his purchase of United Technologies Corporation stock a week before the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Blackhawk helicopters are produced through a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation.

Other potential running mates including Bob Graham, Evan Bayh, and Bill Nelson also reported assets in the millions of dollars. Nelson and Graham, both of Florida, reported $1.8 million to $7 million and $7 million to $30 million, respectively. Bayh rounded out the group, reporting $3.3 million to $5.1 million in assets.

Kerry's potential running mate picks aren't the only ones who don't have to keep track of their pennies and dimes. According to The Washington Post, Majority Leader Bill Frist reported blind trusts and other investments worth $15 million to $45 million. Among other tidbits, Frist has part-ownership of a music recording company, Hots Hits Inc.

Other senators including John D. Rockefeller IV, Edward M. Kennedy, and Hillary Rodham Clinton also had notable mentions. Clinton reported that speaking fees for her husband (remember him?) declined from $9.5 million in 2002 to $4.4 million last year, due in part to his work on his upcoming memoir. Her memoir, "Living History," generated $2.3 million in royalties. Income from these pursuits has allowed the Clintons to pay off their $1 to $5 million debts to Washington law firm Williams and Connolly, as well as fees owed to Arkansas' Wright Lindsey & Jennings.

Quote of the Day: Teresa Heinz Kerry: "I mean I'm cheeky, I'm sexy, whatever. You know I've got a lot of life inside." CBS News' Byron Pitts: "You don't hear many 65-year old women say they're sexy." Heinz Kerry: "How many of that age have you asked?" (From Tuesday's CBS Evening News profile of Teresa Heinz Kerry)