Washington Wrap

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

Friday's Headlines

* Bush Starts Two-Prong Attack

* Delicate Dance, Day 2

* And the Money Keeps Flowing

* Frist Campaigns in South Dakota

* New MoveOn Ads Target Rumsfeld

Bush on the Offensive: The Bush campaign is planning to hit the airwaves next week in a set of ads that will accuse John Kerry of "playing politics with national security," USA Today reports.

The new ad will be about the Patriot Act and highlights how Kerry "has been on both sides of the issue," campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel tells CBS News.

The new 30-second ad will begin Tuesday in 19 states, including 18 battleground states they have been on for months and Louisiana, which the Kerry campaign is now targeting.

According to USA Today, the ad says Kerry, "pressured by fellow liberals," changed his position on the Patriot Act. Kerry voted for the legislation, which passed 45 days after the Sept. 11 attacks, but has since said he supports repealing parts of the law to eliminate "fishing expeditions into people's library and business records."

In addition to the ad, on Monday night at the Army War College in Carlisle, Penn., Bush will begin a series of weekly speeches that detail steps leading to the June 30 transfer of power in Iraq.

USA Today reports: "Both moves are part of a strategy to remind voters that the fighting in Iraq is part of a broader war on terrorism that will prevent attacks in the USA. Despite recent bad news from Iraq, Bush strategists believe his stewardship of the war on terrorism is one of his biggest political assets."

Some Republicans have complained that Bush has lost ground to Kerry by being too passive. "This is the Bush campaign getting back on offense, and it's a bit overdue," says Scott Reed, a Republican strategist.

The Nader and Kerry Dance: John Kerry and Ralph Nader agree they both want to beat George W. Bush, but it looks they will have to agree to disagree on what they discussed in their first meeting. One point of contention between the two is Iraq, with Nader favoring withdrawing U.S. troops and Kerry opposing the idea until the country has been stabilized. Another point of contention is the presidential debates.

After Wednesday's meeting, Kerry aides said Iraq did not come up during the meeting. And, Kerry adviser Steve Elmendorf, who sat in on the meeting, said he had no recollection of Nader talking about Iraq and said he had double-checked with campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill and she did not remember it being discussed, reports the Washington Post.

However, Nader spokesman Kevin Zeese, who has notes from the meeting, tells CBS News that not only was Iraq discussed, but Kerry also said he had an exit strategy that he would discuss in the future.

Kerry has declined to jump into the fray, saying the meeting was a private discussion. However, Nader is likely to address issues about Iraq when he addresses the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington on Monday evening.

As for the debates, Nader would like to increase the number of debates and the number of candidates participating (namely himself). The nonpartisan Citizens' Debate Commission, www.OpenDebates.org, which Nader backs, will hold a presser on Monday including former presidential candidates Alan Keyes, Eugene McCarthy, Pat Buchanan and possibly John Anderson, all of whom have felt excluded from big debates over the years. They will announce a series of dates and locations for the fall. Bob Asman, who produced the 1996 debates for the Commission on Presidential debates, will also participate. That commission has already put out its list of proposed dates and sites.

Money, Money, Money: According to new filings with the Federal Elections Commission, both the Bush-Cheney and Kerry campaigns have raised a whole lot of money and are finding many ways to spend it.

The Bush-Cheney campaign's filing shows that it raised $15,740,427 in April, bringing its total for the cycle to over $200 million. The numbers also show that BC04 is now spending money like crazy: $126 million so far, including $31 million in April alone. As the Associated Press reports, "Illustrating Bush's wide range of expenses, his April outlays included $100 to hire the Mariachi Tierra Encantada band of Albuquerque for a campaign event and $82,000 to reserve the Reynolds Plantation in Greensboro, Ga., for a dinner to thank his biggest fund-raisers and urge them to help other Republicans." Bush-Cheney started May with $72 million on hand.

Over in Kerryworld, the Massachusetts senator's April FEC filing shows that his campaign raised over $31 million, a fact the campaign was quick to note was more than Bush-Cheney raised: a press release's headline screamed, "Kerry Beats Bush, Again and Again...Kerry Out-raised Bush by More Than $15 Million, Again…Kerry's $30 Million Is Nearly Double Bush's for the Month." These numbers bring Kerry's total raised to $117 million, including the $6 million Kerry loaned his campaign in December. The April filing also sheds light on Kerry's spending: $35 million for the month, including a huge advertising buy of at least $25 million. Other interesting expenditures include $396,759 to Bank of America to American Express for credit card processing and $511 to Armand's Chicago Pizzeria, located right near the Kerry campaign's DC headquarters. Kerry started May with $28 million on hand.

The Kerry folks hope that Internet fundraising ($35 million raised this year on the internet compared to $6.7 million by Bush-Cheney) will continue keep them competitive despite the Bush camp's $44 million advantage in cash-on-hand.

No Love Fest in South Dakota: Breaking with Senate tradition, Republican leader Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., will campaign for the defeat of his colleague, Democratic leader Sen. Tom Daschle, in South Dakota this weekend. Frist will be supporting Rep. John Thune, who lost a 2002 race to SD's other senator, Tim Johnson, by a margin of only 524 votes.

As the Los Angeles Times reports, "The unusual trip underscores the bare-knuckle fight being waged in about 10 states for control of the narrowly divided Senate. It is a battle that has heightened tensions in the chamber and contributed to legislative paralysis in the Senate this year." Frist will visit Sioux Falls and Rapid City during his trip.

The Daschle campaign is trying to make the best of Frist's visit. A press release from Daschle's office was all smiles and collegiality, noting that Frist will be making some non-Thune stops. The release reads, "In March, I met with members of the Ellsworth Task Force. They had heard that Senator Frist would be visiting South Dakota and asked if I would ask him to visit the base. I spoke with Senator Frist and asked him to visit Ellsworth and to sit down with the Ellsworth Task Force. I am pleased he has decided to make Ellsworth part of his visit to our state." Daschle's campaign has also raised a lot of money from a letter to supporters decrying Frist's campaigning for Thune.

And some of Sen. Daschle's are not so committed to the glass-is-half-full approach. Speaking from the Senate floor in April, Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D- W. Va., the Senate's longest-serving member, said, "It used to be unheard of for Senate leaders to seek an active role against each other in campaigns. That time has apparently gone. Has honor gone too? Who cares about honor when a Senate seat might be gained?" It remains to be seen how long Sen. Daschle will try to remain above the fray.

Rumsfeld in MoveOn's Sites: On Monday, the left-leaning organization MoveOn.org will begin running new television and radio ads that call for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to be fired. CBS News has learned that the ads begin with pictures of the American flag as photos of tortured Iraqi prisoners appear and then dissolve. Pictures of Rumsfeld then appear with a quote in which he promises accountability. The ad will be part of a major "Fire Rumsfeld" push by MoveOn.

The ads will run in a national buy including cable and battleground states. The exact size of buy has not been determined yet according to a Move On spokesman.

Quote of the Day: "The message should be simple, left of center and provide insight on the little things in life." --Taco Bell on its new contest to come up with words of wisdom for their sauce packets. The slogan is not meant to be political but instead is supposed to reflect Taco Bell's "think-outside-the-bun 'brand personality.'" (Wall Street Journal).