Election Recycling: You Guys Really Do Care Edition
•In fresh ad blitz, theBushcamp will focus onKerry'sprevious support of a 50-cent increase in the gas tax to illustrateKerryas "a senator who has a consistent record of voting for higher taxes, who wants to cut the deficit in half but, if you cost out some of his proposals. . . has a trillion-dollar tax gap" between his proposed spending and new revenue.Kerryflak estimates are "completely absurd." [ WP and NYT ]
• Senators Hagel and McCainbreak Republican ranks to defendKerry.SaysHagel: "You can take a guy likeJohn Kerry,who's been in the Senate for 19 years, and go through that voting record. You can take it with. . . any of us, and pick out different votes, and then try to manufacture something around that." [ LAT ]
•In new book,Richard Clarke,former counterterrorism coordinator, saysBushignored al Qaeda threat, pressed to blame Iraq, and "manufactured" the war. White House says remarks are partisan. [ WP and WT ]
• Bushcamp sees inKerrya pattern of fabrication and exaggeration going back to Massachusetts campaigns including exaggerated claims of an Irish heritage, back-tracking on Roe v. Wade remarks, and breaking a campaign spending cap. But, notes WT, "For his part,Mr. Bush, on several occasions as president, has made public demands on pending bills, but abandoned those principles later." [ WT ]
• Bushpaints himself as a supporter of employees and advocate against corporate malfeasance, to counterKerry'sassertions. "It's going to be very difficult forBushto insulate himself from those attacks fromKerryand the Democrats. When you see a close connection between corporate America and the White House, that can be very damaging for an incumbent when the election is about his performance on the economy," says a scholar. [ NYT ]
• Senator Kennedy: "All we have to do is go down the list of members of the United Nations to find out where[Kerry's]support is. The CIA knows it. They work for the president. They can give him the names of all of those countries." [ WT ]
• Kerry,short on cash, relies on the Media Fund and MoveOn.org ads to counterBush'sassult. [ WP ]
•RNC has $45 million to the DNC's $18 million;Naderraised $559,000 in February.Kerryhas raised $14 million online since Super Tuesday. [ NYT and WT ]
•Companies milk the election for points among young voters. "A lot of companies are interested in joining young people in that message to say, 'You guys really do care,' and they want to associate themselves with movements that show that young people really are engaged," says an MTV ad exec. [ NYT ]
•A handful of people, under guidance ofKarl Rove,run theBushcampaign. [ USAT ]
• George Soros: "I would be definitely willing to spend more. I probably will spend more, because there is such a disparity [between Democrats and Republicans] in the amount of money available for the media campaign now. . . The purpose of campaign finance reform was primarily to remove special interests from influence, from access, and supporting 527s doesn't give me or anyone else access. I think I am justified in what I am doing." [BG ]
• Kucinichwill campaign through June: "My commitment remains steadfast." [ USAT ]
• Bushenjoys campaigning, as long as he is home for dinner and ESPN plays on Air Force One. [ NYT ]
• Kerry,on vacation, still tends to negative attacks. [ USAT ]
•Late-night joke count, Jan. 1 to March 9: Bush,213;Kerry,53;Kucinich,43. [ WP ]
[Bush has the support of Big Hair. Photo: REUTERS/Larry Downing ]