•Bush "absolutely" would land on carrier again. Kerry: "I will never be a president who just says, 'Mission Accomplished.' I will get the mission accomplished." [WP, LAT, BG]
• Strong rhetoric, intense commercials lead to first debate. Carville, Dowd agree pressure is on Kerry; operatives play expectations game. [NYT, WT, USAT]
• 501c groups, governed by IRS not FEC, have less disclosure requirements than 527s; source of funds and expenditures remain secret. [WP]
• Heightened domestic security to continue through inauguration: "the new normalcy." State officials on notice. [WP, WP]
• Range of government proposals postponed until after election; politics suspected: "The president should drive the message and we should be reinforcing that. Hopefully we'll be able to do that for the next 60 days. After that, there's a very full plate of issues to be addressed." [NYT, NYT]
•Powell says Iraq is getting worse: "We have seen an increase in anti-Americanism in the Muslim world." [WP]
• Crowds at Cheney events tired of foreign policy, seek answers to domestic and social problems. [NYT]
• Examination of Bush's Guard term shows he excelled, then disappeared. [LAT]
•Kerry doesn't own assault rifle, despite claim. [NYT]
•Kennedy to hit Bush on Iraq today: "The war in Iraq has made the mushroom cloud more likely, not less likely." [WT, BG]
• Ten toughest things to do during a presidential campaign. [USAT]
•Kerry increasingly refers to Senate years. [USAT]
• Amendment in Colorado could create Florida-level legal battle. [USAT]
• Critics say Cheney blurs line on Iraq, al Qaeda. Feldman: "I don't think it's an accident. I don't think it's a slip of the tongue." [LAT]
•Kerry's lead in Oregon has narrowed. [LAT]
•Bush, Kerry had same oratory teacher and debate coach at Yale. Karen Hughes: "He actually gave me a lecture once." [NYT]
• Study finds network newscasts portray Kerry favorably, less so on Fox News' "Special Report." [WP]
• Ballots in some battlegrounds open to voters. [WSJ]
• Voters in Ohio annoyed by campaign ads. "Windsufing" most memorable, but says one Kerry supporter, "It was so cartoonish and childish and elementary that it was insulting. [USAT]
• Minnesota swings. Devine: "We consider it a principal battleground." [WSJ]
• Georgetown residents like their local connection to Kerry, Edwards. [LAT][AP Photo/Bill Haber]
