Washington Wrap

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

Thursday's Headlines

* A Tale of Two Polls

* Bush and Cheney Meet with 9-11 Commission on Bush/Cheney Party Day

* After Primary Win, Specter Sprints Back to the Middle

* Gore Shows His Philanthropic Side

* Chris Dodd Thinking About Tomorrow

Polls: Sentiment Growing Against War in Both U.S. and Iraq: A CBS News/New York Times poll (conducted April 23 through April 27, margin of error 3 percent) shows growing doubts about U.S. efforts in Iraq. Only 32 percent of respondents, the lowest number ever, saying Iraq was a threat that required immediate military action a year ago. And just 47 percent, the lowest number in the poll since the war began, say the U.S. did the right thing taking military action in Iraq. Seven in ten don't believe the Bush administration's claims that the decision to go to war was made in March 2003, and say the administration decided to go to war earlier than that. Sixty-one percent believe the administration did not try hard enough to reach a diplomatic solution before going to war in Iraq; a reversal of the public's belief last year during the war.

As far as the future, 48 percent believe the U.S. should stay in Iraq until the situation stabilizes, wh1le 46 percent say the U.S. should get out as soon as possible.

Opinion of the war among the Iraqis is also growing negative. A new poll of Iraqis conducted by CNN/USA Today/Gallup between March 22 and April 9 – before the latest flare-up of violence - showed that 57 percent say the U.S. should leave within three months while 36 percent say the U.S. should leave as soon as possible.

Iraqis also have mixed views on the justification for violence: almost half, 47 percent, believe attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq could be justified while 52 percent do not.

Although 61 percent say getting rid of Saddam was worth the hardship, just 33 percent said the war had done more good than harm, while 46 percent said it had done more harm than good. Forty-two percent said Iraq was better off because of the war, while 39 percent said it was worse off.

Let the Party Begin: The Bush/Cheney campaign celebrates National Party for the President Day Thursday at 8:30 p.m. EDT. Vice President Cheney and campaign leadership will hold a conference call with tens of thousands of supporters who are attending over 5,000 parties across the country. Cheney will thank the grassroots supporters, answer questions from party hosts, and provide an update from the campaign trail.

But before the party, Bush and Cheney have to eat their peas and appear before the Sept. 11 Commission in a session that is largely on White House terms. CBS News reports that in allowing Bush and Cheney to appear, the White House stipulated that no transcripts may be taken and that neither will speak under oath, hence differentiating it from formal testimony. Although the session will not be recorded, both the panel and the White House will have an aide present to take handwritten notes.

"You would love to be a fly on the wall there," says Fred Greenstein, a presidential historian at Princeton University, "because it will make a great chapter in the Bush presidency."

The private session might not do much to change the perception that the administration is hiding something about 9/11. The latest CBS News/New York Times poll indicates that a large majority of Americans believe President Bush is either hiding something or lying in regards to his statements about Iraq. The survey says that 56 percent of Americans believe the president is mostly telling the truth, but hiding something, and 20 percent of Americans believe the president is mostly lying. Only 20 percent believe the president is telling the entire truth.

Specter's a Moderate Again: It did not take Sen. Arlen Specter long to sprint toward the political middle ground in the wake of his narrow victory over conservative challenger Pat Toomey on Tuesday. While Specter won, the moderate lawmaker was forced to move to the right on several issues, including taxes, in order to placate right-leaning Republican primary voters.

The New York Times reports, "On Wednesday morning, Mr. Specter took steps to win over the centrist Democrats and swing voters who will be crucial in the general election by enumerating his differences with Mr. Bush's conservative agenda.

"In a hastily called news conference, Mr. Specter said he supported stem cell research, while the president opposes it. He voted to trim part of the president's tax cut, much to conservatives' chagrin. He objected to an administration plan to roll back the minimum wage for some workers. And he opposes federally financed vouchers for private schools, an education priority for Mr. Bush.

"'I intend to retain my independent voice,' Mr. Specter said. 'The people of Pennsylvania have not elected me to be a rubber stamp.'"

The Times continues, "Specter stepped away from Mr. Bush as social and fiscal conservatives from Pennsylvania and elsewhere voiced dismay over the razor-thin outcome on Tuesday. Those conservatives had viewed the Pennsylvania primary as a golden opportunity to topple a leading Republican centrist and pressure other moderates to shift rightward. Mr. Specter will lose many of those conservatives if he focuses on moderating his message, the conservatives said."

The Washington Post reports that Specter's win "gives Democrats some hope of toppling the four-term lawmaker this fall, but his centrist legacy and political survival still make him formidable, Democratic and GOP activists said.

"Strategists said it is crucial for Specter that GOP moderates and conservatives close ranks after the hard-fought primary, a healing that seems underway. Toomey urged his supporters to back the senator, and the anti-tax group Club for Growth -- which directed nearly $2 million to Toomey's bid and sharply criticized Specter -- congratulated and endorsed the winner yesterday," the Post reports.

The Washington Times, meanwhile, reports, "Conservatives, frustrated by the Republican leadership's role in Tuesday's Pennsylvania Senate primary victory of liberal Sen. Arlen Specter, publicly are directing their anger on one of their own — Sen. Rick Santorum. 'The person our members are most infuriated at is Rick Santorum,' said Stephen Moore, president of the Club for Growth, which helped lead a conservative crusade in support of Rep. Patrick J. Toomey's Senate primary bid against Mr. Specter."

CBS News' Douglas Kiker takes a look at the impact of Tuesday's primary: "Specter's win accomplished two goals for Bush: Increasing the odds of the GOP maintaining control of the narrowly-divided Senate and increasing his own odds of winning Pennsylvania (a state he lost by just 205,000 votes to Al Gore in 2000) in November. In addition, it showed that the president still has the political juice to help a struggling candidate like Specter get over a primary hump."

Gore Gives Them the Money: Former Vice President Al Gore announced on Wednesday that he would donate $4 million of leftover campaign money to the Democratic National Committee's efforts to defeat President Bush.

"John will be a great President for all Americans, and I want to do everything I can to help him fight against the outrageous and misleading campaign being waged by the Bush-Cheney campaign," Gore said in a statement.

In all, Gore had about $6.5 million in his General Election Legal and Accounting Compliance fund (GELAC). Gore could use the money to pay for outstanding legal and campaign expense, but rules also allow leftover money to be transferred to a national, state or local party committee, or to be donated to charity. He could not however, donate the money directly to John Kerry, thus the $4 million to the DNC's efforts to defeat Bush.

In addition to the $4 million contribution to the DNC, Gore is contributing $1 million the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and $1 million to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

And, obviously not forgetting 2000, the party from Gore's home state of Tennessee, a state he incidentally lost, is getting a $250,000.

In addition, Gore announced today that 100 percent of the surplus funds in his "Recount Fund" from the 2000 election controversy that resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court halting the counting of the ballots - a total of $240,000 - would be donated to the Florida Democratic Party.

Friends of Gore said "they did not ask him if this meant the end of his own political career," but they assumed he was sidelining himself for a while. As for why he gave the money without fanfare, or even a press conference, a former Gore advisor said, "He likes to operate beneath the radar."

Dodd Raises Money, Increases Options: Although the 2004 political season is not exactly over yet, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd is already looking ahead. Dodd's "5-month-old political committee is off to a roaring start, raising $400,000 so far and expecting to raise another $400, 000 in late May as he tries to expand his influence - and political options - by giving $128,000 to candidates across the country and hosting a weekend Connecticut retreat for friends and supporters," reports the Hartford Courant.

Dodd's PAC, called Citizens for Hope, Responsibility, Independence and Service, or CHRISPAC, was founded in late October and has raised about $400,000, according to the Courant. Although Dodd's office was coy about its purpose, a senior aide did allow that "he is creating a foundation that will give him the infrastructure to permit him to move in any number of directions." The possible options, the Courant speculates, "could include a run later this year for Senate Democratic leader - which Dodd lost by one vote to current leader Tom Daschle in 1994 - as well as governor of Connecticut or president in 2008.

Quote of the Day: "Arnold and I are a team. We're united. And there's nobody who's going to end run him by coming to me. Because I get that." – Maria Shriver on her relationship with her husband, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. (L.A. Times)