Washington Wrap

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

Wednesday's Headlines

* Pessimism Tour?

* Veep Watch

* Out of the Loop

* New Club for Growth Ad

* NRA Radio: Stretching Campaign Finance Limits?

The Pessimism Tour?: On Day Two of the which-candidate-can-be-more-positive debate, the Bush-Cheney campaign is going after John Kerry in a very vigorous way. As Kerry travels around the country hosting a series of economic events, the Bush-Cheney team has dubbed Kerry's criticism the "John Kerry Pessimism Tour."

Kerry, whose handlers reject the Pessimism label, will be in Ohio on Wednesday to preview new child tax credit initiatives and after-school programs. Kerry will propose increasing the childcare tax credit by about $800 for the average family and creating a "School's Open 'Til 6 p.m." program, according to information received by CBS News. Kerry will also, presumably, use some the same words in his new stump speech to criticize President Bush including, "We have to do better by being responsible and having responsible leadership that balances the budget, that helps to cut the deficit now."

As Kerry speaks, the Bush-Cheney campaign is pushing the "gloom and doom" scenario. To reinforce that view, the BC04 campaign will host a conference call with campaign manager Ken Mehlman to discuss the president's decidedly upbeat view of where the country is heading. Surrogates will also be out in force and spokesman Steve Schmidt sent a memo saying in part, "Kerry's doom and gloom can't hide the fact that Ohio's economy is adding jobs."

As BC04 tries to make Kerry the gray candidate, Kerry himself will head from Ohio to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night where he will spend some time on Capitol Hill. Although the meetings are not public, it has not escaped anyone's notice that several possible VPs have offices nearby (think Sens. Bayh, Edwards, Graham and Nelson). Kerry is also expected to meet with Wesley Clark, who is doing a fundraiser in Washington on Thursday.

Aides to Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who is in D.C. on Wednesday, say he has no plans to meet with Kerry. But Vilsack himself would only say, "you will have to talk to Sen. Kerry about his schedule," when reporters pressed him on Wednesday morning.

Kerry also has some good economic news to make him more optimistic. The campaign reportst it has raised over $26 million in May, for a total of over $100 million since March.

Veep Watch: New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson told the AP that he is "not interested" in being vice president. Richardson is in Tokyo wrapping up a trade mission and said that he is "very happy being governor of New Mexico," but that he will "help Sen. Kerry in his campaign."

Meanwhile, former Sen. Sam Nunn's name is "around again," though the source is the New York Post's Page Six, which includes the rather odd tidbit that the FBI islooking into records of his business dealings. Last time we checked, the FBI wasn't a tool the Kerry campaign had at its disposal.

Nunn, 65, is an establishment favorite and would bring foreign policy expertise and a Southern presence to the ticket. But sources say he might not be interested since he has an active and lucrative life serving on a number of corporate boards.

Out of the Loop: Vice President Dick Cheney was not informed in 2002 that Halliburton would receive a no-bid contract to restore Iraqi oil facilities, although his chief of staff was privy to that information, reports the Associated Press. A Cheney spokesperson, Kevin Kellems, says that Cheney was not informed, according to Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

At a Defense Department briefing in 2002, an official told participants, including Libby, that, in the event of a war with Iraq, Halliburton would extinguish any oil fires set by troops loyal to Saddam Hussein. However, Cheney has repeatedly denied any knowledge of that deal. Libby's involvement has Cheney in hot water, as Rep. Henry Waxman, senior Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee, has issued a letter to Cheney's office requesting additional information.

When Iraqi oil facilities were not set ablaze, Halliburton was given a no-bid contract to supervise reconstruction of Iraq's oil industry. Halliburton's role in Iraq has continually expanded to not only include oil industry work, but also the feeding and housing of U.S. troops. Halliburton has been awarded in excess of $7 billion for their work in Iraq.

A hearing of the Government Reform Committee was held yesterday to determine Cheney's knowledge of the contract and to compose a list of Halliburton executives that will be asked to testify at a panel meeting next month. David Lesar, Halliburton's CEO, is scheduled to testify, as is Randy Harl, CEO of Halliburton subsidiary KBR. However, Halliburton spokeswoman Wendy Hall has not confirmed if other executives will testify, stating "our primary concern is to monitor the hearing to see what issues come forward."

Bickering from both sides of the aisle has caused speculation concerning the political motives of the hearings and has led Waxman to launch his response by citing examples of fraud on the part of Halliburton. Examples of waste include Halliburton officials residing in five-star hotels at a cost of $10,000 a day to taxpayers and the torching of new $85,000 trucks "if they had a flat tire."

Club for Growth Ad: The right-leaning 527 Club for Growth launched a new television advertisement Wednesday. The ad, called "Leadership," ties President Bush to Ronald Reagan.

The ad opens with footage from John Kerry's star-making 1971 Congressional testimony in front of the Senate Foreign Relations committee in which he said, "We cannot fight Communism all of the world and I think we should have learned that lesson by now." The ad then shows film of Reagan's famous line, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall," followed by President Bush at Ground Zero. The ad replays Kerry's statement and then concludes, "John Kerry: Wrong then, wrong now."

According to information received by CBS News, the ad will run in local markets in Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio and on national cable. The ad buy is for about $500,000 total. This is the second ad in a series that the Club for Growth will continue through August. The first ad, "Freedom," debuted May 14.

The ad has sparked some controversy already. A spokeswoman for the Reagan family, Joanne Drake, said no one had given the group permission to use Mr. Reagan's image and told the Associated Press that the family would not "feel it appropriate to give such permission at this juncture … We protect his image very carefully, particularly as it relates to politics."

Steve Moore, Club for Growth's president responded that the group had notified Mrs. Reagan via letter about the ad and explained, "We wanted to draw on how similar Bush and Reagan have been in terms of fighting evil."

Kerry campaign spokesman Chad Clanton called the use of Reagan's image in a political ad, "sad."

This is the latest is some pretty memorable spots the Club for Growth has produced including an anti-Howard Dean ad debuted days before the Iowa caucuses entitled "Go Back to Vermont." The ad featured a husband and wife duo saying, "Well, I think Howard Dean should take his tax-hiking, government-expanding, latte-drinking, sushi-eating, Volvo-driving, New York Times-reading…body piercing, Hollywood-loving, left-wing freak show back to Vermont where it belongs."

The NRA is Coming to the Morning Commute: On Thursday, the National Rifle Association will begin broadcasting a new radio show titled "NRANews," which some say will stretch the limits of new campaign finance laws, reports The New York Times.

The NRA says the program will contain news and commentary, not advertising. The group says the show will probably not endorse a presidential candidate but will broadcast reporting and commentary against politicians who favor gun control. It will reach approximately 400,000 people and will be broadcast on the Sirius satellite radio network. The satellite company plans to increase its subscription base to over 1,000,000 listeners by the end of next year.

Campaign finance laws prohibit interest groups from using soft money to buy radio or television spots that advocate or oppose candidates within 60 days of a general election or within 30 days of a primary or a national political convention. However, media companies have an exemption to report on, analyze and even endorse federal candidates at any time. Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA, said that lawyers for his group concluded that the organization would become eligible for the exemption after it had begun to broadcast its program. This would allow the NRA to continue to actively participate over the airwaves within the 30- and 60-day periods.

Bob Bauer, a Democratic expert on election law told the Times, "It smells like, and it looks like, a complete circumvention of the law." He predicted the claim to a media exemption would most likely be challenged.

The new strategy is likely to set off a broad debate over what is a media company. Experts in campaign finance said the plan could break open a major loophole in the law, which was intended to reduce the influence of money and special interest groups.

"If the N.R.A. is successful at this, we will definitely see other groups explore going down the same road," said Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politic and former general counsel to the Federal Election Commission.

Quote of the Day: He "will apologize if he unintentionally offended anyone while on a dance floor at a domestic violence and sexual assault conference." --The promise of just-resigned New Hampshire Attorney General Peter Heed (Manchester Union Leader).