Washington Wrap
Dotty Lynch, Douglas Kiker, Steve Chaggaris and Clothilde Ewing of The CBS News Political Unit have the latest from the nation's capital.
Aircraft Carrier Politics: As President Bush wraps up a combination policy/$2 million fund-raising trip and heads back to Crawford, one Democratic candidate plans to use a famous photo op against him.
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., is trading Charlestown, Mass., for Charleston, S.C. for his campaign kickoff announcement in a week and a half. He's decided to pass on using the USS Constitution in Massachusetts as a backdrop and instead will use the aircraft carrier, the USS Yorktown, in South Carolina, reports the Boston Globe.
"I have worked with aircraft carriers for real," the Navy veteran Kerry said, mocking the president's photo-op landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln.
Kerry's two-day announcement tour will take him to South Carolina and Iowa on Sept. 2, and then to New Hampshire and Boston, for a rally at Faneuil Hall, on Sept. 3.
Meantime, there were rumors that former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, D-Ill., was considering throwing her support to Kerry after the two met last week in Des Moines, Iowa, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. Not true, her campaign said, adding that she's planning her own official announcement in September.
The Sun-Times also reports that Moseley-Braun will receive her first endorsements next week from two women's groups: the National Organization for Women and the National Women's Political Caucus.
How About Staying In The Senate?: Two Democrats are facing questions about what they're even doing in the presidential race: Sens. Bob Graham, D-Fla., and John Edwards, D-N.C.
Thursday, the Orlando Sentinel, in an editorial, urged Graham to drop out and concentrate on running for re-election to the Senate in 2004. "The longer he continues his long-shot bid for president, the more he risks diminishing his effectiveness as a senator."
As for Edwards, a town-meeting participant in New Hampshire asked him how he could be running for president and for re-election to the Senate in 2004, reports the Charlotte News Observer.
"I'm running for president," Edwards said. "That's all I'm doing. What I'm doing is 100 percent running for president. … I'm not doing anything to run for the Senate seat."
However, Edwards hasn't officially announced he's not running for re-election to the Senate, or publicly told North Carolina Dems to start looking for a replacement. The participant, who turned out to be a North Carolina resident, said he's afraid Edwards' fence-sitting could hurt the party's chances of holding the Senate seat.
"I disagree with you, and I know North Carolina well," Edwards responded.
Weekend Ahead:
Friday 8/22:
President Bush was in Washington State speaking about salmon and then headed to a Bush/Cheney lunch in Seattle. Howard Dean campaigns in Merrimack, Concord and Manchester, New Hampshire. John Edwards' "Real Solution Express" continues through New Hampshire, stopping in Plymouth, Littleton, Tilton and Laconia. Chrissy Gephardt campaigns for her father in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Bob Graham campaigns in Ridgeland, Charleston and Jasper Counties in South Carolina. Dennis Kucinich campaigns in Keene, Dublin and Peterborough, N.H.
Saturday 8/23:
Dean stops by the commemoration of the March on Washington and then kicks of his "Sleepless Summer Tour" in Falls Church, Va., and Milwaukee, Wisc. Edwards stops in Allenstown, Portsmouth, Dover, Exeter and Manchester, N.H. John Kerry campaigns in Nashua, N.H.
Sunday 8/24:
Dean travels from Milwaukee to Portland to Seattle. Edwards campaigns in Nashua, Keene, Claremont and Lebanon, N.H. Dick Gephardt campaigns in Manchester, Loudon, Portsmouth and Dover, N.H.
Quote Of the Day: "I love my culture. I love everything about it. I love the music, I love the language. I love the food. Look at me, I really love the food." – California Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante on his Hispanic heritage and rotund figure. (The New York Times)