Washington Wrap

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

Monday's Headlines

* Clinton's Book: We're Gonna Party Like It's 1998

* Veep Announcement Today: No Not Kerry's

* Kerry's Week: It's Still the Economy

* Just One of Those Cheney Days

* Kerry's Foreign Support

Clinton Book Pours Fuel on Old Fires: The release of President Clinton's new autobiography – and, of course, his appearance on 60 Minutes Sunday night – has some in the political world ready to start rumbling like it's 1998 all over again.

The potential effect of the book's release has been debated for months by Democrats and Republicans alike. Various schools of thought include: a) Re-hashing of the Lewinsky scandal will hurt Kerry; b) Clinton's political appeal will hurt Republicans, specifically President Bush; c) Clinton's political appeal will diminish Kerry's image; d) The book's release will distract the political world from Kerry's campaign; e) The book will help/hurt his wife's chances of running for president in the future; etc. The speculative list is nearly endless.

The New York Times reports that, "As a core of Democratic partisans cheer the return of their champion, Bill Clinton, to the limelight in time to pitch in on the campaign trail, many of his old antagonists are gearing up again."

Citizens United, run by longtime Clinton antagonist David Bossie, ran ads last night in selected media markets, starting with, "Here is what you might miss in Bill Clinton's new book," criticizing Clinton for terrorist attacks that occurred while he was president. Rush Limbaugh, the Times reports, has been calling Clinton's book "My Lie," instead of "my Life." Tough anti-Clinton columns have appeared in some of his old nemesis publications like the Weekly Standard and National Review. And, of course, that lovable Web site, the Drudge Report, is chock full of Clinton headlines.

"The book's official release on Tuesday, has stirred an avid debate on its potential impact on the November election. Few, if any, political memoirs have matched its blockbuster potential, and even fewer blockbusters have such overtly political content," reports the Times.

The Washington Post reports that "Bill Clinton, having delivered a command performance in launching his book blitz with Dan Rather last night, is in no danger of getting the Ronald Reagan treatment.

Liberal commentators, some swallowing hard, may have hailed the 93-year-old Gipper as he passed from the scene. But there is no cultural cease-fire for the 57-year-old Democrat who left office less than four years ago."

Former White House spokesman Joe Lockhart told the Post, "The respect and honor that Democrats have shown, in an appropriate way, for President Reagan will not be shown to President Clinton. They don't live by the same credo. They're mean and nasty people. … They aren't self-aware enough to understand the image they'll create for themselves when they trash Clinton at every turn."

Veep Watch: Ever since John Kerry more or less clinched the Democratic nomination, there have been countless stories centered about whom he will choose to join him on the ticket. At one point, there were rumors out of the campaign that he might announce his decision as early as May, then June and now July.

Ralph Nader on the other hand, promised to make his VP announcement by the end of the month and is running true to his word. Nader will beat Kerry to the punch and will make his announcement on Monday afternoon. His announcement comes just days ahead of the Green Party convention this week in Milwaukee, where they will decide whether to field a candidate or go without one and endorse Nader instead.

Meanwhile, members of the Congressional Black Caucus will meet with Nader on Tuesday afternoon to tell him that they want him out of the race, reports Roll Call. The CBC lawmakers, who have yet to endorse John Kerry, asked for the sit-down meeting in April because they fear a repeat of 2000 this fall.

Roll Call reports: "One CBC member said the meeting with Nader will likely be a 'very direct and blunt conversation.' Others said they expected the session to be 'hard hitting' and that the group will not approach Nader with kid gloves."

But Kevin Zeese, spokesman for Nader, said getting out of the race "is not on the table."

Zeese said Nader isn't coming to the meeting to talk about his future political career, but rather to discuss changes he'd like to promote in urban and minority communities.

Kerry's Week: Fresh and rested from a weekend in Nantucket, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry hits the road on Monday to continue his two-week economy theme. This week, Kerry will offer "his vision for an economy that leads the world in scientific discovery, technology and innovation," the campaign said in a release. The campaign says Kerry's plan will "create high-quality jobs for America's workers and invest in lifelong learning that allows workers to take full advantage of new technologies and industries."

On Monday, Kerry speaks in Denver, where he'll focus on expanding funding for scientific research that he says will help cure diseases, lower health care costs and create jobs. The campaign says the plan is in sharp contrast to the Bush administration on science, which Team Kerry says, "has grossly distorted and politicized science on issues from mercury pollution to stem cell research."

On Tuesday, Kerry heads to Albuquerque, N.M., to talk about the need for investment in scientific research "so that America and its workers create and are prepared for the jobs of the future." On Wednesday, speaking to the SEIU's national convention in San Francisco, Kerry will focus on the need for expanding funding for medical research, which Kerry says will in turn lower health care costs for families.

Kerry heads to Silicon Valley – San Jose, Calif. – on Thursday to talk about the need for science, math and technology education. Thursday night he goes to the big fundraising gala in L.A. featuring Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, Willie Nelson and Billy Crystal. And on Friday, Kerry shifts from the heart of the so-called "New Economy" to the struggling center of the country's "Old Economy": Canton, Ohio. Acknowledging that, "there are some jobs we will never get back" because of cheaper overseas labor, Kerry will tell manufacturing workers of the need for "greater investment in the jobs of the future."

And, on Saturday, Kerry addresses the National Association of Latino Elected Officials annual conference in Washington.

Just One of Those Cheney Days: Vice President Dick Cheney will visit Missouri Monday, marking his 11th trip to the battleground state since 2001 and his fifth this year. President Bush won Missouri in 2000 with 50.4 percent of the vote to Al Gore's 47.1. Cheney had planned on visiting the state June 11, but canceled because of President Reagan's death. Springfield's News Leader reports, "Republicans and Democrats alike have been pulling out all the stops — and throwing a few punches — in anticipation of [Monday's] visit by Vice President Dick Cheney."

Cheney has come under attack in recent months from Congressional Democrats because of his alleged role in a no-bid contract awarded to U.S. military supplier Halliburton, which reportedly overcharged the military for food and fuel. Cheney sat on Halliburton's board before he became vice president. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is holding a press conference Monday, which will focus on the vice president's ties to Halliburton, an event that kicks off the DNC's "Halliburton Week."

The Halliburton controversy has spilled over into Cheney's Missouri visit. Rep. Richard Gephardt, Missouri's 3rd district congressman and a possible Democratic vice-presidential nominee, called the News Leader to criticize Cheney and say, "The people that are really paying the price are the soldiers that can't get the equipment that they need."

Cheney will appear at a rally at the Springfield Exposition Center. The News Leader reports that several groups are planning to protest the vice president's campaign speech, including "the Peace Network of the Ozarks, the Greene County Senior Democrats and the Greater Springfield Area Central Labor Council, a group of 92 local unions."

The vice president also faces a new attack on a different front. DontAmend.com and the Equality Campaign have introduced a new Internet ad campaign that attacks Cheney's openly gay daughter, Mary, for running her father's re-election campaign while the Bush-Cheney administration tries to pass the Federal Marriage Amendment.

Originally, the two special-interest groups tried to run the ads in CongressDaily, a newspaper with wide circulation on Capitol Hill, but the publication refused on the grounds that the ads attacked a politician's child. In its press release, DontAmend.com says that they "circumvented this censorship" by running the ads online. The ad features a series of cartoon panels with stick figures representing Mary and Dick Cheney. The third image reads, "Dick's daughter sold out to help Dick run again."

Nicole Devenish, the communications director for the Bush-Cheney campaign, echoed CongressDaily and "dismissed such tactics as going after a politician's offspring," reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

Kerry Was Right When He Said He Has Foreign Support: The John Kerry campaign received a $2,000 check from Chun Jae Yong, the son of former convicted South Korean President Chun Dooh Hwan. The Boston Globe reports Hwan was convicted of bribery. Chun, the younger, has been charged with evading taxes on $14 million of inheritance money.

The Kerry campaign denied having knowledge of Chun Jae Yong's donation or his background. To avoid any appearance of impropriety the campaign says they will return the check. It was originally solicited by Rick Yi, who is one of Kerry's major fundraisers in the Asian-American community. Yi said, " I didn't think anything wrong of it. If I had known who he was at the time I probably would not have taken the money." Yi has raised over $500,000 for Kerry. Before making a donation to the campaign Yi said that Chun had showed him a social security card proving he was a legal U.S. resident.

Rick Yi had also been involved when a top South Korean government official in the Los Angeles consulate office returned home last month amid speculation he engaged in Democratic politics. However, they say they do not believe laws were broken. The vice consulate in question, Chung Byung Man, met with Yi to discuss forming a political group to bring influential Korean-Americans together. Yi reported that he never solicited donations for Kerry but acknowledged that Chung introduced him to some as one of Kerry's main fund-raisers.

Quote of the Day: "It becomes an avalanche. You lose your virginity, frankly. Ultimately he was living beyond his means - that's self-evident." --Connecticut Republican Rep. Chris Shays on GOP Gov. John Rowland's gift-taking ways; Rowland is expect to resign on Monday night. (AP)