Washington Wrap

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

Thursday's Headlines

* Cheney the Attack Dog

* Howard Dean Back on Center Stage

* Kerry Enjoys Some Fun in The Sun

* New Media Fund Ad

* Republican Convention Woes?

Cheney Goes on the Attack: In a speech to the Republican faithful on Wednesday, Vice President Dick Cheney went on the attack against likely Democratic nominee John Kerry's foreign policy record. Cheney mentioned Kerry by name and accused him of voting against a laundry list of military funds, weapons and plans. And lest there be any question that Cheney was on the campaign trail, the vice president dismissed both Kerry's foreign policy reasoning and his ability to lead saying, "Whatever the explanation, whatever nuances he might fault us for neglecting, it is not an impressive record for someone who aspires to become commander in chief in this time of testing for our country." The tone of the speech, as the Washington Post dryly notes, was "harsh."

Cheney's foreign policy attack comes as new polling data shows that Americans are almost evenly split about the conduct of the war in Iraq. Results from the National Annenberg Election Survey (conducted March 1 through March 15, margin of error 3 percent) showed that 46 percent believe "the situation in Iraq was worth going to war over," while 49 percent do not.

According to an NAES press release, "The latest findings show some decline in support for the war since the beginning of the year. From January 1 through 15, a majority of 53 percent, said the war was worth it and 41 percent said it was not." With numbers moving in that direction, Cheney's speech was clearly part offense and part defense.

Back in The Spotlight: Howard Dean will be back on center stage on Thursday as he announces his long-awaited second step. Keeping the acronym that lead his presidential campaign, DFA, Dean is launching a new organization, Democracy For America, which will recruit Democratic candidates seeking government offices, as well as promote the candidacy of John Kerry, reports the AP.

In an op/ed piece published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Dean continued promoting his Dean for America agenda, but this time he had an added compliment for former rival Kerry. "To win, Democrats must stand up strong for our principles, not paper over our differences with this president … I am pleased that in this race candidates, including John Kerry, affirmed that our party must stand sharply against the policies of the Bush administration and stand for real change in Washington."

Dean plans on turning to the more than 600,000 people who supported his campaign and hopes that through these people he can help return political power to the community level, the AP reports.

Rallies are planned in Seattle and San Francisco on Thursday, a month to the day Dean dropped out of the presidential race and a third rally is planned on Friday in New York.

Fun In The Sun: John Kerry is taking a five-day break from the campaign trail to "recharge" at his vacation home in Ketchum, Idaho. John and Teresa plan on staying in Ketchum until Tuesday and although he anticipates getting a bit restless, there are no campaign fundraisers or public events planned. "I'm going to go snowboarding, ride my bike, go snowshoeing, climb a mountain, whatever I want to do... I just like to recharge, get time to think and read," Kerry told reporters.

This might be Kerry's last chance at serious physical activity for awhile as he told reporters that he will probably get surgery to repair a slight tear in his right shoulder. Spokesman David Wade said that a date hasn't been set, but the procedure may be later in March or April.

Kerry originally hurt his shoulder last summer in a bike riding accident, but he aggravated it in January while he was standing in the aisle of his campaign bus and grabbed onto the overhead bin when the bus stopped short.

The injury does not affect his day-to-day activities and, as evidenced by the tarmac football sessions whose "impromptu" photos have graced papers in recent weeks. Although the surgery would be minor and would likely just put him in a sling for a few days, it would mean Kerry would have to take a couple of days off from "orange bowling" as well.

Media Fund Take Two: In the second of what will likely be many ads, the Democratic-leaning 527 organization the Media Fund released a new television ad on Wednesday. The ad, called "It's About Jobs," focuses on issue du jour, outsourcing.

In the ad, the narrator intones, "During the past three years, it's true George W. Bush has created more jobs. Unfortunately, they were created in places like China. Bush's policies have encouraged the loss of nearly 3 million jobs. He supported tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas. His economic report suggests this is a positive transformation." The ad features only one main visual, a slowly widening shot of a factory that, as it zooms out, reveals that the factory is actually in China. The ad concludes with an American flag and the words, "George W. Bush is taking our country in the wrong direction. It's time to make America work for every American."

"It's About Jobs" will take the place of "Remember the American Dream," which debuted last week. The new ad will run in the same 17 battleground states as "American," as part of the $5 million advertising buy announced by the Media Fund on March 10.

Republicans Practice Fiscal Conservatism: Despite the Bush campaign's unprecedented fundraising successes, the committee raising money to host September's Republican National Convention in New York is about $30 million short. The New York Daily News reports that even though Mayor Bloomberg has secured more than $60 million in pledges, he now must lean on donors to pay up because he "doesn't like spending money before it's in the bank."

To make the situation worse, cost estimates for the convention have increased by 10 percent. Bloomberg has already dedicated $5 million of his own money. Helping the mayor raise funds are former mayor Rudy Giuliani as the committee's chairman, and former head of the Port Authority Lewis Eisenberg as head of fundraising. City Hall has promised to raise $64 million for the event, while the federal government will spend $25 million on security for the convention.

Quote of the Day: "That's premature. I'm an active candidate. I'm not going to discuss that. I'm still a candidate." --Dennis Kucinich's response to whether he would endorse John Kerry. (Roll Call)