Washington Wrap

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

Monday's Headlines

* Swift Boats Won't Sink

* Bush on the Ranch

* Kerry Works the Hamptons

* Edwards the Attack Dog

* Pressure Mounts on McGreevey

Swift Boats Won't Sink: In the controversy that just keeps going, the anti-Kerry 527 Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the Kerry-Edwards campaign, the Bush-Cheney team and even Bob Dole spent the weekend sparring over Kerry's military record and the attacks on it. On Friday morning, the SBVfT released a new ad going after Kerry's anti-war testimony. By Friday afternoon, the Kerry campaign had filed a lawsuit with the Federal Election Commission, charging that the SBVfT is running "inaccurate ads that are illegally coordinated with the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign and RNC," according to the Kerry camp. Both BC04 and the RNC deny any involvement. But that was just a start.

Over the weekend, the Kerry campaign released two ads, one Internet and one television. Both ads have essentially the same content: challenging Bush to denounce the SBVfT ad campaign. The television ad, called "Issues," will air in Ohio, West Virginia and Wisconsin – the same states where the anti-Kerry ad is running. A Kerry official says the buy is "more than matching" the SBVfT purchase and will go up in New Mexico, Nevada and Pennsylvania if the Swifties do.

On Sunday, the controversy also got a voice from former Sen., presidential candidate and WWII veteran Bob Dole. Speaking on CNN's "Late Edition," Dole went after Kerry's testimony saying, "One day he's saying that we were shooting civilians, cutting off their ears, cutting off their heads, throwing away his medals or his ribbons. The next day he's standing there, 'I want to be president because I'm a Vietnam veteran.' Maybe he should apologize to all the other 2.5 million veterans who served. He wasn't the only one in Vietnam." Dole also questioned Kerry's Purple Hearts.

And there were also harsh words from the Democratic side. Former Clinton chief of staff John Podesta, appearing on ABC's "This Week," said, "Senator Kerry carries shrapnel in his thigh as distinct from President Bush who carries two fillings in his teeth from his service in the Alabama National Guard, which seems to be his only time that he showed up."

Some new defenders have also stepped up to support Kerry. Wisconsin state Rep. Terry M. Musser, who is a Vietnam veteran and co-chairman of Wisconsin Veterans for Bush came out against the Swifties and called on Republicans to stop the ads, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He said, "My opinion is that anybody who served anywhere is a hero."

In Colorado, the Washington Post reports, "Jim Russell, who participated in Swift boat operations when Kerry did, wrote a letter to the editor of the Telluride Daily Planet to angrily dispute the claim that Kerry was not under enemy fire when he rescued Jim Rassman from the water, a feat that brought Kerry a Bronze Star and Purple Heart."

And from Illinois, a Chicago Tribune editorial writer entered the fray saying, "Only two of those officers remain to talk about what happened on Feb. 28, 1969. One is John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate who won a Silver Star for what happened on that date. I am the other …. Kerry's critics, armed with stories I know to be untrue, have charged that the accounts of what happened were overblown. The critics have taken pains to say they're not trying to cast doubts on the merit of what others did, but their version of events has splashed doubt on all of us. It's gotten harder and harder for those of us who were there to listen to accounts we know to be untrue, especially when they come from people who were not there."

The Kerry campaign itself is also hitting back, hoping to neutralize the Swifties massive publicity buzz. Vice Presidential hopeful Sen. John Edwards called on Bush to denounce the ads in North Carolina on Sunday. Former Sen., Vietnam Veteran and three-time amputee Max Cleland traveled around Wisconsin rallying vets for Kerry over the weekend. And Kerry crewmate Del Sandusky is in Pennsylvania on Monday, telling his version of Kerry's heroism.

On Monday, the Kerry campaign is holding a conference call with reporters featuring Rhode Island Sen Jack Reed, and some Vietnam Vets to "debunk the SBVFT charges."

Bush Campaign Deals with the Inevitable, War and Taxes: On Monday the Bush campaign released a new ad, Taxing Our Economy, accusing John Kerry of duplicity on taxes. Here's the script:

Now Kerry promises ....
John Kerry: We won't raise taxes on the middle class.
Voice Over: Really???
John Kerry's voted to raise gas taxes on the middle class ....10 times....
He supported a 50 cent a gallon gas tax increase.
Higher taxes on middle class parents.... 18 times.
He voted to raise taxes on social security benefits.
98 votes for tax increases.
There's what Kerry says and then there's what Kerry does.

But down on the ranch, the talk is of war. CBS News' Mark Knoller reports:

Knoller Nugget: The President's top national security advisers gathered at the Bush ranch in Crawford, TX Monday morning to discuss defense priorities. It's the fourth summer in a row that President Bush has staged such a ranch meeting.

Among those present were Vice President Cheney, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Richard Myers.

With some 140,000 American forces in Iraq - that - and the larger war on terrorism -- top the agenda. Mr. Bush already announced his plan to reduce the number of US troops abroad by 70,000 over 10 years.

If the President takes questions from reporters after the meeting, he is certain to be asked about the Kerry campaign charge that Mr. Bush orchestrated the ad attacking his rival's military service in Vietnam. The Bush campaign has repeatedly denied that.

In fact, the Bush campaign Monday delivered a letter to the Federal Election Commission calling the Kerry campaign complaint "frivolous" and calling on the agency to dismiss it immediately.

The Bush campaign also wrote TV stations around the country to denounce the Kerry campaign ad accusing the president of orchestrating the attack by the group "Swiftboat Veterans for Truth." Under FCC law, stations cannot refuse to air the ad, but the Bush campaign asks that it make the Bush campaign denial a focus of other programming.

Kerry Trying to Take a Day Off: John Kerry is in Boston on Monday with no public events scheduled. His campaign is doing a conference call with reporters trying to respond to a new Bush-Cheney ad. They Kerry folks say that President Bush is shifting "more of the tax burden on to working families, cutting overtime pay for six million people and covering up key details about his health care claims."

Over the weekend Kerry spent time with lots of vacationers, but as CBS News' Steve Chaggaris reports, Kerry was on the job:

Trail Byte: While most folks who visit the Hamptons on NY's Long Island are there to relax while mingling with the rich and famous, Kerry's 16 hours there over the weekend was mostly work-related.

He raised $2 million at two Saturday night fundraisers. Before jetting on Sunday, he did have an opportunity to go to church and get a bit of hanging with celebrities mixed in as well.

Immediately after landing in the Long Island vacation spot, Kerry headed straight to a $1 million fundraiser hosted by financier and venture capitalist Alan Patricof and featuring the music of Jimmy Buffet. Kerry later stopped by another $1 million fundraiser at the home of "Sex and the City" creator Darren Star.

At the first event, Kerry took the opportunity to assail President Bush for not urging the group Swiftboat Veterans for Truth to pull their ads attacking Kerry's service in Vietnam. "The president needs to stand up and stop that," Kerry told the crowd. "The president needs to have the courage to talk about it."

His comments came a day before the campaign released a TV ad that went even further, charging the Bush folks of actually supporting Swiftboat Veterans for Truth.

"George Bush's campaign supports a front group attacking John Kerry's military record," the ad says. "Attacks called smears, lies. Sen. (John) McCain (R-Arizona) calls them dishonest."

Just as the news of the ad was breaking Sunday morning, the candidate and his wife were dropping in on director Steven Spielberg at his East Hampton home in what aides called a stop "to say hello." The stop actually turned into a one-hour visit.

Before visiting the Spielbergs, the Kerrys attended Mass at St. Therese of Lisieux Roman Catholic Church in Montauk, NY. At the end of the service, the priest thanked them for attending and many of the parishioners who stopped to chat with the two offered them wishes of "good luck" and "God bless you."

Not everyone was so happy to see the Democratic nominee in their neck of the woods, however. On the route to the airport, one sign was prominently displayed on the side of the road: "Kerry Go Home."

On Wisconsin: John Edwards does a town meeting on Monday in Racine Wisconsin. Edwards who John Kerry once said was probably in diapers when he was in Vietnam is expected to continue his defense of Kerry's record in that war. CBS News' Bonney Kapp is on the trail:

Trail Byte: After two down days at his Washington, DC home, John Edwards came out swinging in defense of his running mate this weekend, proving the sunny senator is more than an optimistic injection for the Democratic ticket.

"First, the argument and the claim that John Kerry did not serve this country honorably and proudly and courageously, is a lie," Edwards told a crowd of 500 in Roanoke, Virginia, on Saturday.

Edwards likened the Republican 527 ad questioning Kerry's Vietnam service to the attacks on John McCain during the race for the 2000 Republican nomination, declaring, "There is one person who can stop this: George W. Bush." He continued, "This is a test-it's a test of backbone, leadership, and we're going to see whether the president meets that test."

At town hall meetings in southwestern Virginia and neighboring West Virginia on Saturday, Edwards veered off his standard road to hope more than a few times, much to the delight of the enthusiastic crowds. "You remember President Bush came into office saying he was a uniter not a divider," Edwards reminded the Roanoke crowd. "It's just hard to say with a straight face," he added through howls of laughter.

Edwards also hammered his opponents on Bush's failure to fulfill a campaign promise to invest in clean coal technology development, calling it "another on a long list of broken promises from this administration." For good measure, Edwards went on to say, "Well, I hope the people of West Virginia aren't going to be fooled again."

The senator then moved on to criticize the administration's recent change in overtime pay policy, questioning, "How many times is this president going to have to prove whose side he's on?" And in an atypical campaign promise, Edwards continued, "The one thing you can count on-that if [Bush] is reelected to the White House, he's going to be with the same people for the next four years, except more intensely than he's been with them for the last four years."

Edwards didn't back down on Sunday, when he went further in his accusations against the president's involvement in the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth ad. "These false attacks are tied directly to President Bush and his friends," he said to members of the national press before his front porch visit in McAdenville, NC. In his statement, he spoke directly to the president. "Mr. President, the clock is running, the American people deserve to hear from you and they deserve to hear from you that these ads should come down."

When Mr. Bush failed to meet Edwards' demands by Sunday night, the senator opened-fire at a rally in Milwaukee, saying, "It is time to say that these ads are wrong and that they should be taken down. It's also time for the president to come out of hiding."

Press secretary, Mark Kornblau maintained that "unless the president shows some backbone," Edwards will continue to speak out on the ads questioning Kerry's service in Vietnam at Monday's campaign events in Wisconsin.

Pressure Mounts on McGreevey: A new poll released over the weekend shows that New Jersey voters want Gov. James McGreevey to step down sooner than his self-imposed November 15 resignation date, but that they won't hold John Kerry or state Democrats responsible for McGreevey's indiscretions.

When participants were asked whether he should resign now so a special election can take place or on November 15, 51 percent of the participants said now, while 37 percent said November. Asked whether news about McGreevey and his resignation made them less likely to vote for Kerry, only 11 percent said it made them less likely, while 71 percent said it would have no effect and 18 percent said they were not sure.

And, in good news for state Democrats, participants were asked whether news about McGreevey and his resignation made them less likely to vote for a Democrat to replace him if a special election was held, 18 percent said it made them less likely, while 67 percent said it would have no effect, 15 percent were not sure.

The telephone poll was conducted August 18 to August 19 and has a margin of error of four percent.

U.S. Sen Jon Corzine, who last week said he accepted McGreevey's decision to stay put beyond the September 3 deadline for a special election, gave himself some wiggle room on Sunday saying that he remains prepared to solve the problem by running for governor in a special election, reports the New Jersey Star Ledger.

Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," Corzine made his sharpest public statement yet on the whether McGreevey should step down now and force a special election or should stick to his November deadline.

"I do think there's a crisis of confidence with regard to government in the state of New Jersey, and if there is an ability to try to bring some orderliness to it, some independence, a commitment to good government, and people think that I'm the one to best do that, then I'm prepared to do that," Corzine said.

However, he said he accepts McGreevey's decision to stay until November as final and he reiterated his view that it is inappropriate for him to ask McGreevey to resign earlier.

Meanwhile, in an op-ed piece in the New York Times on Sunday, McGreevey defended his decision to remain in office until November.

"Much has been said about my decision not to resign immediately, but to set Nov. 15 as the effective date of my resignation," McGreevey wrote. "My initial inclination was to accept responsibility, apologize and move on quickly. The more I reflected, however, the more I realized that leaving office abruptly would be an abandonment of responsibility," he continued.

Quote of the Day: ?I have talked to Karl (Rove) about the platform for a total of less than two minutes since I began working on this in the last month." --Sen. Bill Frist who chairs the GOP Platform Committee which meets this week in New York. (Washington Times)