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The Morning Grind / DayAhead |
Moving right along
By John Mercurio
CNN Political Unit
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 VIDEO |
 CNN's Candy Crowley on a change in John Kerry's tone.
 CNN's Anderson Cooper looks at the rules of the debates.
 CNN's Judy Woodruff on recent polls showing a tight race.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush starts today as a world leader before morphing back into the education president, meeting in New York with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and the King of Prussia.
Oh, wait: King of Prussia isn't a person, it's the Philly suburb where Bush holds his education event. We hope Bush won't make the same mistake.
Moving right along ...
During their early morning talks, we're told, Musharraf was expected to urge Bush to take a larger behind-the-scenes role in settling Pakistan's bitter dispute with India over the disputed region of Kashmir. Other topics likely included the upcoming presidential elections in Afghanistan, the situation in Iraq and the war on terror.
Later, Bush makes his 37th trip to Pennsylvania as president, where he'll talk education in that city with the funny name before surveying flood damage in Allegheny County caused by Tropical Depression Ivan. Arnold Palmer will introduce Bush at an rally in Westmoreland County -- at the local airport named for Palmer.
Speaking of Ivan, John Kerry
today continues his two-day romp through Florida, where three hurricanes in six weeks had brought polling and most politicking to a halt. Kerry, who hasn't been here since mid-August, stumps this afternoon in West Palm Beach, where he'll tell the state's large retiree community that changes Bush wants to make to Social Security could mean a windfall to financial and investment companies, at the expense of taxpayers.
"That's not a plan. It's a rip-off," Kerry said in remarks prepared for a town hall style meeting in West Palm Beach. "George Bush's scheme hurts seniors by cutting benefits, and it hurts our economy by increasing the deficit. The truth is, the only people who benefit from George Bush's Social Security scheme are the special interests."
Kerry later heads for Columbus, Ohio, where he stays overnight and has a full day of events tomorrow.
Meanwhile, more trouble today for CBS, but it's got nothing to do with Dan Rather -- at least, not that we're aware of. The FCC will announce its final ruling today on the Janet Jackson/Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction." The five commissioners voted to implement staff recommendations and fine CBS a record $550,000 for airing the "incident." The 200 or so stations that are affiliates of CBS will not be fined or penalized. We hope this settles the issue, once and for all.
Also today, they're baa-aaack. The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth return with their fifth and arguably toughest ad. This time, they're playing the Jane Fonda card on what the New York Post calls "Hanoi John."
"Even before Jane Fonda went to Hanoi to meet with the enemy and mock America, John Kerry secretly met with enemy leaders in Paris," an announcer says in the ad, titled "Friends," referring to Kerry's trips to Paris in 1970 and 1971, where he met with representatives of the Viet Cong. One quibble: Kerry hardly kept this trip "secret," telling Congress in his 1971 testimony that he met with Viet Cong spokeswoman Madame Nyguyen Thi Binh and Viet Cong leaders to help get American POWs released and end the war.
"Then he returned and accused American troops of committing war crimes on a daily basis," the ad continues. "Eventually, Jane Fonda apologized for her activities, but John Kerry refuses to. In a time of war, can America trust a man who betrayed his country?"
Camp Kerry reacts to the latest attack: "This is a group has as much credibility as a tabloid magazine. The American people are tired of this kind of junkyard politics. They want an honest discussion about how we're going to clean up the mess in Iraq and strengthen our economy."
The spot, which features video of Fonda, is being aired in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Nevada and West Virginia, as well as nationally on cable. The buy is close to $1.3 million.
We're also watching the Senate today for a vote on Porter Goss' nomination as CIA director. The Senate is expected to begin considering the Goss nomination around 11 a.m. ET, with six hours of debate scheduled prior to a floor vote. Barring some last-minute wrinkle, Goss is expected to win confirmation easily.
And finally today, a new Quinnipiac University poll in New Jersey doesn't offer much hope for retiring Gov. Jim McGreevey if he's mulling a comeback bid.
Only 35 percent of state voters say it's "very likely" or "somewhat likely" that they would ever vote for McGreevey if he runs for office in the future, while 13 percent say it is "not too likely" and 49 percent say it's "not likely at all," according to the Quinnipiac poll released today. Likely voters say, 56 to 41 percent, that McGreevey should resign November 15, rather than step down immediately. But the majority says, 61 to 30 percent, that it would be "a bad thing" if he changes his mind and doesn't resign, the poll finds.
