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The Morning Grind / DayAhead |
Waiting for debates
By John Mercurio
CNN Political Unit
 |  Bush speaks during the presidential debate in October 2000 and Kerry gestures as he debates in Massachusetts in April 1996. |
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 CNNs Carol Lin interviews a Republican and a Democrat who worked on past debates.
 Sen. John Kerry is set to meet with Wisconsin voters in a town hall-style meeting. CNN's Frank Buckley reports.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- It's not often we can say one particular week is a turning point in this campaign (and really mean it). This is unquestionably one of those weeks. Technically, of course, this turning point extends into next week, since we'll know far more about how the debates, and the September jobs report, have started to affect the race by then.
Until then, however, we are forced to endure a week in which President Bush and John Kerry sharply curtail their public schedules, manipulate expectations for the debate and try not to alter the campaign's current dynamics. Except for a few public events, Bush and Kerry will remain cloistered in Texas and Wisconsin, respectively, for debate prep. (Full story)
Kerry holds a town hall meeting in Spring Green, Wisconsin, this morning and then goes dark for the day. Bush flies today to Ohio to participate in a "Focus on Education" event in Springfield before speaking at a rally in West Chester. He then heads back to his Crawford, Texas, ranch for the night.
Ohioans might not recognize the president, as he hasn't been around for almost two weeks. Bush is making his 26th visit to Ohio as president, and he'll be back Saturday.
Apparently those visits have paid off. The Akron Beacon-Journal reports today that Bush appears to have the support of one of the state's more controversial political figures -- former Rep. James Traficant, a.k.a. federal prison inmate No. 31213-060 in Ray Brook, New York. Traficant appears to have written in a recent letter that ''Bush is answer (sic) for America!! You're on the right track!!''
Traficant apparently wrote the letter in response to Texan Tony Brown, who runs a wacky Web site. The newspaper claims that the handwriting in the letter appears to match samples of Traficant's writing, but The Grind could not independently verify its authenticity.
Kerry launches ad
On the eve of Bush's visit to Ohio, Camp Kerry launched a new TV ad telling state voters that Bush's rhetoric doesn't match reality. "Each time Bush visits Ohio, he tells Ohioans that the economy is getting better. But last month, 11,000 jobs were lost, and the state's economy fell further behind the national economy," Kerry spokesman Phil Singer writes in a campaign memo.
Kerry-Edwards senior advisor Joel Johnson and Laura Nichols, a senior advisor and debate coordinator, will conduct a background briefing with reporters at 12 p.m. ET today to discuss the campaign's debate plan, including events the campaign is holding around the debates, surrogates and other communications matters.
Perhaps we'll learn more in the Johnson-Nichols call about the senator's "theory" for the upcoming debates, which spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter discussed cryptically in today's New York Times. ''What everybody learned out of 2000 was that the Bush people went in with a theory of that debate, and no matter what happened they stuck to that theory and they won the spin war,'' Cutter told the Times, adding without elaboration that Kerry has his own "theory."
CNN's Mike Roselli reports that lawyer Greg Craig will play Bush in any mock debates. Other advisors who will be at the prep sessions -- Ron Klain, Joe Lockhart, Bob Shrum, John Sasso and maybe Mary Beth Cahill. It was unclear yesterday when Mike McCurry will arrive; he has a standing family trip.
Also today, former president and international elections monitor Jimmy Carter charged that "basic international requirements" for a fair vote are still missing in Florida. "The disturbing fact is that a repetition of the problems of 2000 now seems likely," he said. Florida lacks nonpartisan electoral officials and uniform voting procedures. "With reforms unlikely at this late stage of the election, perhaps the only recourse will be to focus maximum public scrutiny on the suspicious process in Florida," Carter wrote. (Full story)
And finally, Sen. Ted Kennedy today delivers another blistering attack on the Bush administration's handling of Iraq. During a speech to students at George Washington University, Kennedy will say that Bush's leadership has been "a toxic mix of ignorance, arrogance, and stubborn ideology. ... If this election is decided on the question of whether America is safer because of President George Bush, John Kerry will win in a landslide."
