Washington Wrap

Dotty Lynch, Douglas Kiker, Steve Chaggaris, Clothilde Ewing, Nicola Corless, Smita Kalokhe and Joanna Schubert of The CBS News Political Unit have the latest from the nation's capital.

The ad has raised enough money, $20,000, to pay for a TV buy in Madison, Wis., where Democrats hope to find more money and support. Republicans, however, are trying to get the ad pulled, according to the AP, because they say it leaves out six of the 16 key words from the president's speech: "The British government has learned..."

RNC counsel Caroline Hunter sent a letter to Madison TV stations attacking the ad for "selectively quoting the President," adding that the British government still believes the information is accurate.

DNC Chair Terry McAuliffe says, "We agree accuracy is important when speaking to millions of Americans on an issue as important as going to war. We only wonder why the Republican National Committee didn't send the same letter to President Bush when he made misleading statements in the State of the Union address."

DNC communications strategist Jim Mulhall suggested that maybe the guy from the NSC who fought to pin this on the Brits has moved over to the RNC.

Move Over, John and Howard: There seems to be a new spat developing in the Democratic presidential field that could threaten John Kerry and Howard Dean's spot as top contenders for the Most Acrimonious Award.

The latest brouhaha is between Rep. Dick Gephardt and Sen. Joe Lieberman. It stems in part, from Lieberman's speech on Friday outlining his pro-free trade plan to bolster the sagging U.S. manufacturing sector. In the speech, Lieberman criticized, without too much subtlety, Democrats like Gephardt for wanting to "build walls around our economy" by opposing free trade policies, specifically NAFTA.

Before Lieberman even made his speech, however, Gephardt had put out a pre-emptive press release criticizing Lieberman for backing NAFTA and favorable trade status with China, which, he said, "have caused at least one million American manufacturing jobs to disappear in recent years," the Concord (N.H.) Monitor reports. Gephardt press secrtary Erik Smith also threw this bomb Friday: "The difference between Dick Gephardt and Joe Lieberman is that Dick Gephardt knows a good trade deal from a bad one."

Lieberman's campaign, of course, responded in kind, charging that "Gephardt was wrong then and is wrong now not to have faith in America's workers." In a statement late Friday, Lieberman spokesman Jano Cabrera said, "We welcome Rep. Gephardt's difference of opinion, but wish he would take the more constructive step of actually sponsoring the American manufacturing bill before the House of Representatives."

No further criticisms, insults, retorts or backbiting between the two campaigns were reported over the weeekend, but we'll look for e-mails from other campaigns that try to keep us up to speed on the bad boys.

Code Green Alert: After months of debate, the Green Party came out of a national meeting this weekend with resolve to run a candidate in the 2004 presidential race, the Washington Post reports. Democrats fear a third party candidate could steal votes from the overlapping liberal electorate, but a majority of Green participants agreed that they were willing to take that risk.

Some Greens want to skip the race and support a Democrat who might have a better chance of unseating President Bush. "Bush is a serious threat to your country and the planet – a much greater threat than any Gore-like Democrat," Jason Salzman and Aaron Torso wrote on their Web site, www.repentantnadervoter.com.

But, when session participants were asked to stand in different corners of the room according to their stance on the presidential race, an overwhelming majority were in favor of running a candidate of their own. "I think people were happily surprised that Greens feel they're more on the same page than they may have believed that they were leading up to this conference," Ross Mirkarimi, a California Green Party spokesman told the Post.

Having all but decided to run a candidate, the party introduced three of the six potential contenders: Green Party general counsel David Cobb, Lorna Salzman of New York and New Mexico activist Carol Miller. They all said they might opt out if Ralph Nader decides to run.

Nader, who did not attend the meeting because of family obligations, said he would announce his decision by the end of the year. The other two candidates considering a run are former Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., and New York activist Paul Glover.

Weekend With The Bushes: Our man in Crawford, Steve Chaggaris, reports that President Bush's weekend trip home to Crawford, Texas, was mostly business, with a mix of campaign fundraising and presidential events. And while the president was happy to have Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi over for a visit, the amount of money the president banked at two fund-raisers must have put him on cloud nine.

The Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign raked in $7 million from two $2,000-a-head events, one on Friday evening in Dallas and the other on Saturday in Houston. "We want to thank our friends for helping us," Mr. Bush said in Dallas. "You are laying the foundation for what is going to be a great victory in November of 2004."

Putting the $7 million figure into perspective, what Bush-Cheney 2004 raised in two nights was just $500,000 less than Democratic candidate Howard Dean raised between April and June of this year.

On Sunday, Berlusconi arrived on the president's ranch for a two-day visit and was greeted on the two-lane road leading into town by residents and business owners who complimented their seemingly mandatory U.S. and Texas state flags with Italian red, white and green "tricolore" flags.

Additionally, shopkeepers hung banners and signs welcoming the Italian prime minister and the press corps following him. "Benvenuti A Tutti Da Crawford – Welcome to Everyone From Crawford," read the sign at the Coffee Station restaurant.

Across the intersection of farm route 185 and state route 317 in the heart of Crawford, the Yellow Rose gift shop geared up for the influx of Italians by printing up T-shirts that read "Italy Goes Western" and featured a map of Italy with a cowboy boot resembling the country.

"As a community, when we have foreign visitors, we really try to put out a welcome mat for them," Yellow Rose manager Teresa Bowdoin told CBSNews.com. And for good reason, since the visitors significantly boost business in the normally "nice little quiet place" that's 20 miles from the nearest interstate.

In fact, Bowdoin said, none of the five gift shops at the intersection existed before Mr. Bush was elected in 2000. She's worried that when the president leaves office, whether that's in 2005 or 2009, so will all the visitors. "We're going to have to find some other reason for people to come here," said Bowdoin, who's also the president of the local chamber of commerce.

Meantime, she's just enjoying the boost that the president and his occasional visitors bring. Bowdoin joked: "While they're here, we also need everyone to bring their wives who like to shop."

Political Week Ahead:
Fundraisers and a lot of handshaking seem to be the theme for this week's political calendar. With two more fundraisers, President Bush will add even more to his already impressive war chest, while Hillary Clinton attends a fundraiser for the DSCC later in the week. The Democratic presidential candidates continue to hit the pavement with appearances scheduled for Iowa, New Hampshire, California, Arizona, Texas and Pennsylvania.

Monday 7/21:
President Bush holds a joint presser with Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi in Crawford, Texas. Vice President Cheney headlines a Bush-Cheney fundraiser at the Durham Western Heritage Museum in Omaha, Neb. Bob Graham attended a fundraising breakfast and then has lunch with league of conservative voters in San Francisco. He then attends a meet and greet with the Democratic Leaders of the 21st Century in Beverly Hills, Calif. John Kerry holds conference call with reporters to discuss what the Bush administration needs to do to win the peace in Iraq. Joe Lieberman takes "Joe's Jobs Tour" to California and Arizona. Al Sharpton arrives in Liberia and meets with President Charles Taylor. Other events: the Dixie Chicks are joining forces with MTV's Rock the Vote, to announce a national campaign to motivate young people, especially women, to speak out, register and vote in Santa Monica, Calif.

Tuesday 7/22:
Howard Dean opens the Dean for America Upper Valley office in Lebanon, N.H., then tours Elliot Hospital in Manchester and then attends meet and greets in Portsmouth and Hampton. John Edwards opens the Edwards for President, South Carolina headquarters in Columbia and meets with Rock Hill Democrats to discuss his plans for economic development. Dick Gephardt discusses U.S policy on Iraq with the Bar Association of San Francisco. Graham attends meet and greet lunch with foundation of Orange County in Costa Mesa, Calif. Kerry holds discussion with educators and students in Houston. Lieberman tours the Nanotechnology Company in Pal Alto, Calid., and Hadassah Lieberman campaigns in Tulsa, Okla. Sharpton tours Liberia and visits Liberian refugee camp and slave dungeons at Cape Coast and El Mina.

Wednesday 7/23:
Dean attends meet and greets in Canterbury and Lakeport, N.H. Lieberman tours skills center, then speaks to the Navajo National Tribal Council, then attends roundtable discussion with Latino Community Leaders on the problems of the "Protect Arizona Now Initiative," then makes keynote address at Hotel Employees International Union Local meeting in Phoenix, Ariz. Other: The Republican National Committee will hold its "Victory Starts Here" summer meeting in NYC.

Thursday 7/24:
President Bush does a jobs and growth event in Philadelphia, then headlines a Bush-Cheney fundraiser in Dearborn, Mich. Dean campaigns in Iowa. Other: Grand opening of N.Y. GOP Hispanic outreach office during the RNC convention.

Friday 7/25:
Dean campaigns in Iowa. Edwards continues his Main Street Tour in Iowa. Kerry meets with business leaders in Ames, Marshalltown and Des Moines, Iowa. Dean and Kerry attend Iowa's AFSCME annual convention in Four Points, Iowa. Urban League Convention starts its five-day meeting, President Bush and Edwards to speak at times to be determined. Other: DSCC fundraiser featuring Hillary Clinton in Little Rock, Ark. College Republicans kick off national convention in Washington, D.C.

Saturday 7/26:
Carol Moseley Braun speaks at National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs Annual Banquet in East Rutherford, N.J. Edwards campaigns in Davenport and Clinton, Iowa. Kerry campaigns in Indianola, Des Moines, Iowa, and then travels to San Francisco to address the Human Rights Campaign gala dinner. Kucinich and Matt Gephardt (Dick's son) attend Iowa's AFSCME annual convention in Four Points, Iowa. Other: Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman gives a national political overview at RNC convention in NYC.

Sunday, 7/27:
Edwards holds a town meeting in Nashua, N.H. Kucinich participates in Sen. Tom Harkin's "Hear It From the Heartland" series in Ottumwa, Iowa. Other: DLC National Convention begins in Philadelphia, Braun to attend at a time to be determined. United Food and Commercial Workers Union annual meeting in San Francisco.

Quote of the Day: "I think all foreigners should stop interfering in the internal affairs of Iraq." - Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, as quoted by Reuters. (www.political wire.com)