Election Recycling: Cartoonish and Childish Edition
• 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, Dowdagree pressure is onKerry; 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 ]
• Powellsays Iraq is getting worse: "We have seen an increase in anti-Americanism in the Muslim world." [ WP ]
•Crowds atCheneyevents tired of foreign policy, seek answers to domestic and social problems. [ NYT ]
•Examination ofBush's Guard term shows he excelled, then disappeared. [ LAT ]
• Kerrydoesn't own assault rifle, despite claim. [ NYT ]
• Kennedyto hitBushon 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 ]
• Kerryincreasingly refers to Senate years. [ USAT ]
•Amendment in Colorado could create Florida-level legal battle. [ USAT ]
•Critics sayCheneyblurs 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, Kerryhad same oratory teacher and debate coach at Yale.Karen Hughes: "He actually gave me a lecture once." [ NYT ]
•Study finds network newscasts portrayKerryfavorably, 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 oneKerrysupporter, "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 toKerry, Edwards. [ LAT ][ AP Photo/Bill Haber ]