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Political focus on Maine, Pennsylvania
By John Mercurio
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Welcome to the Campaign Countdown, a new and improved version of the CNN political unit's calendar of events. Election Day is fast approaching -- a fact not lost on candidates around the country, whose campaign schedules are reaching a feverish pitch these days. With that in mind, we're updating our calendar of political happenings each and every weekday to make sure we don't miss important events sure to shape the outcome on November 5. The following is a comprehensive look at what's going on just two weeks before Election Day.
October 22 •President Bush will make political stops in Pennsylvania and Maine. In Pennsylvania, Bush will travel to the United Sports Training Center in Downington to attend a rally for Republican gubernatorial nominee Mike Fisher, the state attorney general, and state Sen. James Gerlach, a GOP House candidate in a tightening race against former Sen. Harris Wofford's son, Dan Wofford, a Democrat. Fisher is trying to narrow Democrat Ed Rendell's double-digit lead in the open-seat governor's race. Sens. Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum, both Pennsylvania Republicans, will also be there. •In Maine, Sen. Susan Collins, a first-term Republican, leads her Democratic challenger, state Senate Majority Leader Chellie Pingree, but Bush's brief visit to the Bangor International Airport should help solidify that lead. President Bush will also campaign for gubernatorial nominee Peter Cianchetti and House nominees Kevin Raye and Steve Joyce. Later today, Fisher will hold a rally with Blair County supporters at the county courthouse in Hollidaysburg.
•For his part, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ed Rendell will greet commuters this morning in his hometown of Philadelphia and will attend the Allegheny County Democrats' dinner in Pittsburgh this evening. •The Democratic National Committee is launching an ad campaign that will be targeted to areas President Bush will be visiting between now and election day. The first ads will air in Bangor, Maine and Chester County, Pennsylvania, where Bush will be today. The ads are basically a refrain, with a twist, of Ronald Reagan's question, "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" They don't mention Bush by name, but blame current economic woes on two years of Republican control. The ad buy, we're told, will be several hundred thousands dollars and perhaps more (which actually goes a fairly long way because most of these will be running cheap media markets). The DNC ad buy comes as the AFL-CIO announced it is no longer running TV ads aimed at influencing House and Senate races this year.
•Former President George Bush will court veterans in Jacksonville, Florida, while former First Lady Barbara Bush heads to Ft. Lauderdale and Cocoa Beach to court women voters. Barbara Bush will attend her son Jeb's third gubernatorial debate at the University of Central Florida in Orlando at 7 p.m. EDT. (Jeb Bush is debating his Democratic challenger, attorney Bill McBride, in their closer-than-expected race). After the debate, Bush will attend a post-debate watching party. Tim Russert, host of NBC's "Meet the Press," will moderate the Bush/McBride match up.
•Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, travels to Warren, Michigan to stump for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jennifer Granholm, the state attorney general. The would-be presidential candidate and Granholm (who, if she wins, would-also-be, except she's Canadian) will meet with veterans and then hold a press event on homeland security. •With major changes in federal campaign finance laws set to take effect after November 5, the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics will release a report today that reveals the 100 overall biggest donors to federal candidates and political parties since the Center started compiling those numbers in the 1990 election cycle. The report, which will be released at a press conference at the National Press Club, is the result of more than 10 years of exhaustive research into the giving of individual, PAC and soft money contributions by corporations, labor unions, and ideological groups. •This guy never stops. Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Connecticut, will be in California today, campaigning for Democratic House nominee Dennis Cardoza and Gov. Gray Davis, as well as himself, and speaking to marketers. The Senator starts the day participating in a roundtable discussion with Cardoza and community leaders at Dewz Restaurant in Modesto. (Cardoza defeated Rep. Gary Condit but now faces a tighter-than-expected race against state Sen. Dick Monteith). Lieberman then headlines a fundraiser for Cardoza in Modesto before he heads to San Francisco to deliver a keynote address to the Direct Marketers Association conference. Later, he attends a dinner fundraiser for Davis at a private home in Northern California and headlines a money event in San Francisco for his political action committee, ROCPAC. •Former U.S. Attorney General and Florida gubernatorial candidate Janet Reno will join election reform experts in Washington to discuss what changes have been made since November 2001 to states' voting systems - including new voting machines and other measures to reduce fraud and error. Speakers will also explain what the new federal election law, if passed, will mean for states in 2003 and beyond. Reno will join election reform experts at the National Press Club to release the 2002 edition of What's Changed, What Hasn't and Why, a nationwide study of election reform. •Energy Secretary Spence Abraham will appear on behalf of Rep. Robin Hayes, R-North Carolina, at the Prince George's County Trap & Skeet Center in suburban Maryland, where Hayes is holding his fourth annual sporting clays event. Despite unfavorable changes to his district under the state's Democrat-controlled remap, Hayes is favored over Democrat Chris Kouri, an attorney, on November 5.
•Pennsylvania Sens. Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum will headline a Capitol Hill fundraiser for Tim Murphy, a Republican running against Democrat Jack Machek in the state's new 18th district. Murphy is favored over Machek on November 5. •Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the state's Democratic gubernatorial nominee, has already been endorsed by gun-control advocate Sarah Brady. But because the issue has taken center stage since the sniper shootings started October 2 in Maryland and Virginia, Townsend is holding a press conference this morning in Annapolis with Brady for an "official" show of support and, more importantly, to highlight the difference between Townsend and Republican Bob Ehrlich on gun-control issues. Brady, the chairwoman of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, will "contrast Townsend's strong record of fighting gun violence against the dangerous views held by Ehrlich," according to a Townsend campaign release. For his part, Ehrlich will be in Ocean City this morning to speak at the Maryland Classified Employees Association (MCEA) Convention. Ehrlich will have lunch in nearby Salisbury at a local rotary club. No credible poll has been released since the sniper attacks began earlier this month, but the race was a considered a toss up in late September. •In New Hampshire, GOP Rep. Charlie Bass and his Democratic challenger, Katrina Swett, debate on WMUR and NHPTV. Also today, the state's gubernatorial candidates, state Sen. Mark Fernald, a Democrat, and businessman Craig Benson, a Republican, debate. •Arizona's gubernatorial candidates -- Democrat Janet Napolitano, Republican Matt Salmon and independent Richard Mahoney -- hold their second debate, live on prime-time television. If past is prelude, the debate could be feisty. •Wisconsin Gov. Scott McCallum, a Republican, will get some help today from when actor Charlton Heston, the National Rifle Association activist. Heston, who will attend an NRA rally earlier today in Joplin, Missouri, is on a two-week NRA tour that hits races in New Hampshire, Colorado, Minnesota, South Dakota and, next week, several southern states. Trailing in recent polls against Democrat Jim Doyle, McCallum is also hoping for a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney later this week. •Texas Senate nominee Ron Kirk, a Democrat, will spend time talking to seniors at Classic Residence Senior Living at 1:30 p.m. Kirk will discuss the need to help our seniors by protecting Social Security and lowering prescription drug costs. While two new Democratic polls show Kirk locked in a dead heat with Republican John Cornyn, an independent survey published by the Dallas Morning News this weekend shows Cornyn up 10 points.
•Al Gore's campaign schedule will pick up later this week, including an expected trip to New Hampshire to campaign for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mark Fernald, who, incidentally, backed Bill Bradley in the state's 2000 primary. But today, Gore is home teaching at Middle Tennessee State University. (A new Democratic poll shows the race to succeed Gov./Senate candidate Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, tightening.)
•Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton will headline a luncheon for Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-New York, at a private home in Poughkeepsie. •California Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat, will attend a tech-net town hall forum this evening at Hyatt Rickeys Hotel in Palo Alto. But, aides confess, the event is likely to devolve into a group of people sitting around watching the World Series. "The governor's race is important, but you've got an all-California world series going on here," said Davis campaign spokesman Gabriel Sanchez. The Anaheim Angels and the San Francisco Giants are tied 1-to-1 in the best of seven series. •White House adviser Karen Hughes will attend a breakfast reception for North Dakota Tax Commissioner Rick Clayburgh, a Republican running against Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-North Dakota.
•Continuing his book tour, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, will spend the day in Chicago for an event at the Union League Club. McCain will also walk though the Chicago Board of Trade and Mercantile Exchange with GOP Senate nominee Jim Durkin, an underdog challenger to Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois. The Senator will hold a press availability with Durkin before he leaves this evening for the Atlanta leg of his national book tour. •North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, a Democrat, heads to New York for a combination of fundraising and media interviews. •Tennessee Senate nominee Bob Clement, a Democrat, addresses ministers at the Tennessee Baptist Missionary and Education Convention at Tennessee Middle Baptist Church in Memphis. Clement trails Republican Lamar Alexander. •Former Rep. Helen Chenoweth-Hage, R-Idaho, holds a news conference on churches and the upcoming elections at the National Press Club in Washington. Chenoweth-Hage, one of the most conservative members during the six years she served in the House, will be speaking on behalf of "America 21," a non-profit, non-partisan organization encouraging Christian conservatives to vote. Chenoweth-Hage is the chairman "America 21." •Colorado Gov. Bill Owens, a Republican, turns 52. Owens faces a cake-walk re-election campaign; he's heavily favored over Democrat Rollie Heath on November 5.
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