• With public skeptical or disapproving of agenda, Bush lacks clear mandate, according to new poll. Iraq, war on terrorism viewed as top priorities; 58 percent disapprove of handling of Iraq; 61 percent approve response to terrorism. [WP]
•Bush lauds Powell, King: "We need our children to know how great the struggle for racial justice in our society has been, and how much work remains to be done." [WP, NYT, WT]
•Cheney gets his hands dirty orchestrating bold domestic agenda; attends senior and lower-level meetings. [NYT]
• Commission advises Congress to cut Medicare payments to hospitals, supporting Republican position. [NYT]
•Kerry says votes were "suppressed": "In a nation which is willing to spend several hundred million dollars in Iraq to bring them democracy, we cannot tolerate that here in America too many people were denied that democracy." [BG]
• Lawmakers, advocates think guest worker program is unlikely to pass; McCain, Kennedy working on bipartisan proposal. Hagel: "This is a very bloody issue within the Republican Party." [LAT]
•Bush's values combined with GOP's commitment to religious education and faith-based initiatives appealed to many African-American pastors who endorsed Bush; Dowd predicts Republicans could soon win a quarter of the African-American vote: "The minister is the No. 1 influencer in the African American community." [LAT]
•Dean: "Obviously I'd rather be president of the United States, but that's not going to happen. So my question is: How can I bring America back to where it ought to be, both for the party and the country's sake?" [WP]
• Florida DNC delegation endorses Dean. Says chairman: "I'm a gun-owning pickup-truck driver and I have a bulldog named Lockjaw. I am a Southern chairman of a Southern state, and I am perfectly comfortable with Howard Dean as DNC chair." [NYT]
•Wolfowitz visits Sri Lanka. [NYT]
