Washington Wrap

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

Wednesday's Headlines

* Kerry's Military Records

* Kerry's New Advertising

* New Bush Ad Unveiled

* A Lot of Money for Bush and Kerry

* Nader Files for Matching Funds

* Veep Watch: Three Contestants Join Kerry in Florida

* Democrats Finally Get Some Good News from Florida Recount

* Heinz Company Picks Bush

Kerry Releases Military Records: After controversy over his medial records threatened to overshadow the intended message of the week, the Kerry campaign began releasing his military records on Tuesday night. The documents, of which there are more than 150, should all be available at www.JohnKerry.com by late Wednesday afternoon.

The documents released include details of Kerry's Bronze Star, Silver Star and three Purple Hearts. Also included are performance evaluations, duty assignments, service records and more. The only medical record publicly released is Kerry's fitness evaluation from April 12, 1967.

The release of the records is meant to end questions about the legitimacy of Kerry's first Purple Heart, which he received for shrapnel wounds in December 1968. Kerry's former commander, Lt. Cmdr. Grant Hibbard, questioned the legitimacy of Kerry's wound, and told the Boston Globe that it resembled a "fingernail scrape." The campaign provided the Associated Press with "declassified reports that briefly explain the injuries that led to Kerry's final two Purple Heart awards," but was unable to find similar documentation for the first Purple Heart. Instead, campaign spokesman Michael Meehan showed various news organizations, including CBS News and the AP, "Sick Call Treatment Record" from Dec. 3, 1968 on which handwritten notes say, "Shrapnel in left arm above elbow. Shrapnel removed and appl bacitracin dressing. Ret to Duty."

The campaign says it will not release the medical records to the public because Kerry considers them to be a "private medical record." No word on whether that explanation will quiet the questions raised by Hibbard.

Kerry's Commitment/Risk: On Wednesday, the Kerry campaign which has spend $12 million on ads in the past six weeks, ramped up its buys. They released two new TV spots that will begin running in 17 battleground states. The first ad, called "Commitment" features Kerry looking directly into the camera and is designed to allow Kerry to "look voters straight in the eye" and make a "foundational argument about where he is taking the country," Kerry strategist Mike Donilon told reporters.

In the ad, which shows Kerry in front of a blurred background, Kerry says, "My priorities are jobs and healthcare. My commitment is to defend this country."

The ad, says Donilon, is designed to underscore Kerry's "guiding vision" that the U.S. should "share the burden, not carry it alone." The emphasis on Kerry talking directly to the camera, the campaign explained, was so that voters can really look him "in the eye" and "walk away comfortable that he can do the job."

Both ads will begin running Wednesday in what senior Kerry strategist Tad Devine says is "a substantial media expenditure" that will reach "almost every market in every battleground." Although Kerry's campaign would not release the exact size of the buy, Devine did say that the amount represents the "largest buy of the campaign" and is "substantially more per week than in previous weeks." And taking a none-too-subtle shot at the Bush-Cheney campaign, Devine said that the president's media strategy counted on the idea that "we'd have no means to respond." But to the contrary, explains Devine, "When they launched their campaign, we decided to parry. Done successfully. Now we've begun our thrust. We're going to match them in paid media in a very big way."

Devine also told reporters that they plan to "expand the battleground." While he refused to name other states he said he was sure that in the coming months more states would become competitive.

New Bush Ad: On the same day it reported spending $50 million on ads since March 3, the Bush-Cheney campaign will put out a new 60-second ad on Wednesday entitled "Doublespeak," although this is a small buy that will run only on national cable.

The spot will feature clippings from newspaper editorials – including the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Boston Herald and Manchester (N.H.) Union-Leader - criticizing Kerry on various issues.

The campaign says both "Troops/Fog" – a re-write of an old ad criticizing Kerry on military issues that went out last week - and "Doublespeak" will run on national cable. "Troops/Fog" will continue to run on broadcast stations in the 18 battleground states as well. The campaign would not comment on the duration or size of the ad buy.

Here's the script for "Doublespeak": "John Kerry says, 'A lot of people don't really know who I am.' Well, actually, a lot of people do. Kerry's hometown paper says, 'In his continuing effort to be all things to all voters. ... John Kerry is engaging in a level of doublespeak that makes most voters wince.' The Wall Street Journal said Kerry's tax plan 'would mean increasing the tax burden again, which would likely kill the recovery.' On Iraq, The Washington Post said, 'Kerry's attempts to weave a thread connecting and justifying [his] positions are unconvincing.' The Union Leader says Kerry has 'waffled' on historic education reforms he supported in 2001, but now opposes. And the non-partisan National Journal magazine ranks Kerry the most liberal member of the Senate more liberal than Hillary Clinton or Ted Kennedy. John Kerry's problem is not that people don't know him. It's that people do."

A Whole Lot of Money: Meanwhile, the AP reports that "President Bush and John Kerry each added to their presidential fund-raising firsts last month: Bush in part by hitting $185 million and spending nearly a third of it and Kerry by raising roughly $60 million in one quarter. Kerry's total for January through March tops the $52.9 million Bush raised during the period. It also beats the previous presidential quarterly record of $50 million, set by Bush last summer. The Democratic nominee-to-be has a long way to go to catch up with Bush's record overall fund raising, however. Kerry raised about $85 million from January 2003 through last month."

The Post reports that, "The president's campaign said that through March 31 it raised $126.2 million at events, $52.4 million through direct mail and telephone solicitation, and $5.8 million online."

The Kerry campaign, the AP reports, "raised about $44 million in March alone, thanks in part to a flood of small-dollar donations over the Internet as well as $1,000 and $2,000 checks from Democrats who delayed giving until after the primaries, or previously gave to his Democratic rivals. Kerry started April with about $32 million in the bank. He has spent about $53.6 million since starting his campaign, including roughly $15 million last month."

Not a Whole Lot of Money: In stark contrast to the Bush and Kerry campaigns, Ralph Nader's campaign has raised a total of $600,000, which includes March donations totaling $127,514. They have now applied for matching funds saying they meet the criteria of having raised $5,000 in 20 states. As of the end of March, 91 percent of the donations received by Nader were under $100.

These numbers may look small but the campaign says it has actually raised triple the amount of funds Nader had raised at this point in the 2000 campaign. Nader spokesman Kevin Zeese tells CBS News that comparing the three is like comparing apples and oranges. "Since we are not dialing for corporate dollars like the duopoly and running a volunteer-based, grassroots campaign comparing us to them is like apples and oranges - sure we're both fruit but when I want an apple I don't pick an orange."

The problem for Nader in 2004 is that he has to start from scratch getting on state ballots –an endeavor which cost independent candidate Ross Perot over $5 million when he ran in 1992. In 2000, Nader was on the Green Party ticket that was already on the ballot in half the states.

Graham, Nelson and Edwards in Kerry Casting Call: Wrapping up his three-day, $4 million Florida fundraising tour, Kerry hooked up with three familiar VP possibles on Tuesday. "We're auditioning, want to put your name in," Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter joked, reported the Associated Press.

At a Wyndham Hotel fundraiser, Kerry was flanked by Florida Sens. Bob Graham and Bill Nelson, CBS News' Steve Chaggaris reports. Later that day, on a 40-minute plane ride to Miami, the presidential candidate sat with Graham, Nelson and Sen. John Edwards, who joined Kerry for the second half of the day.

Edwards was all praise, jokes and embraces in his first Kerry campaign fundraiser in Bal Harbour. Edwards left behind any criticism of his former presidential primary rival being a Washington insider. He even loaned Kerry one of his key campaign themes: one America, not two.

"He's going to make the American people believe again between now and November that in our America everything is possible," Edwards said. "This is a man that all of us, my children, my grandchildren will be proud to call president of the United States, the man that's going to lead us out of the wilderness, back to hope, back to a belief that in our America everything is possible and build one America that can work for everybody."

Returning the praise and perhaps dropping a hint, Kerry and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, hugged Edwards. "I think everyone of you will agree with me that John Edwards is a great leader for the future," the Democratic presidential nominee said. "He's there for our country."

"We are thrilled to be here... what a gathering of talent, good looks, brains, charm, youthful enthusiasm," the candidate said to the crowd of young professionals at the fundraisers. "I'm just talking about John Edwards and me!"

The Recount That Wouldn't Die: The AP and L.A. Times report: "President Bush's 2000 campaign has agreed to pay a $90,000 civil fine for failing to disclose fundraising and spending to the Federal Election Commission for its effort to win the Florida recount, the FEC said Tuesday. The campaign paid the fine to settle the case, which resulted from a complaint by Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe.

"Bush raised nearly $14 million for his effort to win the Florida ballot dispute, compared with about $3.2 million spent by Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore. The Bush campaign disclosed details of its recount spending in a report to the Internal Revenue Service in July 2002. The FEC said the campaign should have reported the fundraising to the commission," the AP reports.

McAuliffe filed his complaint back in 2001. FEC Chairman Bradley Smith, a Republican, defended the timing of the fine. Although the Bush-Cheney campaign alleged that the resolution of the case had been "manipulated to come 'back to life' at the start of the 2004 presidential campaign," the real reason it took so long was because of delays the campaign requested, Smith said.

Proof Is in The Ketchup: With the 2004 election featuring power couple John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry many people have assumed the Heinz Company is one of John Kerry's financial backers. Au contraire. In fact, in a letter to reporters, the company took pains to "clear up any confusion regarding the company and the Heinz family," stressing they are a widely held public corporation and a non-partisan organization.

However, according to the AP, the Heinz Company is making political contributions – to Republicans. Apparently, members of the board of the company and its corporate PAC have donated thousands of dollars to Republicans in recent years, and this cycle its PAC has donated $5,000 to the Bush/Cheney campaign. The corporate PAC has given nothing to Kerry.

Quote of the Day: "Glaciers don't give a damn about politics." -Al Gore, clearing up a popular misconception (Middle Tenn. State Sidelines/Editorial point from Hotline's Wake-Up Call!)