… Editorial headline from Concord (N. H.) Monitor: “Run, Gary, Run” First sentence: “Gary Hart is still the Democrat who best sees the big picture” Editorial focuses on Hart visit last week with Monitor editors and reporters, and notes: “In this age of bumper stickers and 30-second spots, Hart is a forest candidate. He knows prescription drug benefits and the capital-gains tax are important, but he’d rather shape and sell a larger vision for the country.” More excerpts: “During the 1980s, Hart helped wrench his party away from the discredited policies of the New Deal and the Great Society… As 2004 approaches, Hart is still thinking big thoughts. That makes his voice especially valuable in an election campaign that is bound to be uphill for any Democrat. Hart’s party again needs a change in direction. He should run for president because he can help make that happen.”

… From Drudge Report this morning: “KERRY SAYS HE MAY DIP INTO PERSONAL FUNDS FOR CAMPAIGN…DEVELOPING…” 

… From Greg Pierce’s “Inside Politics” column in yesterday’s Washington Times – under the subhead “Globe probes Kerry” – “Sen. John Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat and presidential hopeful, is coming under close scrutiny from his hometown newspaper. Mr. Kerry ‘will be the subject of a multipart investigative series soon to appear in the Boston Globe,’ the Hill newspaper reports.” The Hill report said the Globe has assigned “a team of reporters to dig through Kerry’s legislative, political and personal lives.” (Iowa Pres Watch Note: Without doubt, IA Dem caucusgoers – and Kerry’s Dem rivals – are eagerly awaiting the story mentioned in the Hill about the “attractive 25-year-old reporter” who “dumped Kerry for a member of Pink Floyd.”)

… From yesterday’s Nashua (N. H.) Telegraph – “Lieberman said Monday that the Bush White House fought the war with Iraq brilliantly but is finding it much harder to win the peace.” Lieberman said he was “surprised we didn’t seem as ready as I thought we would be to secure the country …and to start to create an organized system of governmental control that would lead to Iraqi representative government.” Under the headline – “Lieberman prefers jobs credit to tax cut” – said during a four-stop New Hampshire visit that “voters are focusing upon pocketbook issues now that the worst of the conflict in Iraq is behind the country. ‘I feel it here in New Hampshire and have felt it across the country,’ he said.” More from Kevin Landrigan’s Telegraph report: “Lieberman said Congress should resist the latest 10-year, $726 billion tax cut of President Bush in favor of targeted tax credits for businesses and investors… Lieberman said the Bush tax cut of 2001 not already in place should be short-circuited to reduce future budget deficits in the trillions. ‘It may seem like tough medicine, but that’s what you take if you are sick,’ he told the Nashua Rotary Club during a luncheon speech.” (More on Lieberman New Hampshire visit below.) 

… DC media reports this morning indicate Lieberman and wife reported taxable income of $334,395 for last year. The Liebermans paid $73,751 in federal taxes, $24,592 in state and local incomes taxes and $11,703 in real estate taxes. Lieberman is third candidate – with Dean and Edwards – to release tax info.  

… Although the newspaper is located in Lieberman’s home state of Connecticut, the headline focused on the fortunes of another Dem presidential contender: “Dean Seeks Broader Support …Campaign by Democratic Presidential Candidate Looks Beyond War” The Monday report by Hartford Courant Washington Bureau Chief David Lightman said: “Howard Dean has soared to political fame as the most visible, most vocal anti-war presidential candidate for 2004. He still has momentum and now he has money, but he may also have a problem. Democrats are already wondering if his campaign has peaked, as his and other polls show the party’s defining issue is likely to be the economy, not war. Dean has built a coalition based on style as well as substance. His backers laud his fearless way of taking on President Bush in both detailed and in pithy, sound-bite-friendly terms. But there is a lingering sense among political pros that although Dean is a master of rallying political troops, he lacks the stature and the broad appeal needed to topple George Bush.” Another excerpt: “Even with the war’s end, Dean cannot be dismissed, and indications are he will survive for quite a while.” The Lightman report also noted “many Dean supporters were drawn to him by the war, and they are staying because he speaks more directly than others regardless of the subject.”  

… Tallahassee Democrat reports that Graham – campaigning in known, comfortable FL territory – “shrugged off President Bush’s popularity in public-opinion polls. ‘I’m surprised that George W. Bush is 10 to 20 points lower in the polls than his father was at a comparable point in his candidacy,” said Graham. Yesterday’s Tallahassee Democrat report indicated Graham was in the Florida Panhandle for “some fund-raising and media exposure.” He told reporters he was “satisfied with his first national campaign swing through California and New Hampshire last week” – and that he plans to visit Iowa next week. The Democrat coverage also indicated that “Graham said he’s well on his way to raising about $20 million before the primary caucus season gets started next year.” A related report: The Associated Press – under headline, “Fla. Sen. Graham May Not Seek 4th Term” – reported Graham said yesterday he is “urging potential successors to start working on their bids to replace him in the U. S. Senate.” More from AP coverage: “The Florida lawmaker has not ruled out a fourth term next year if his presidential campaign falters. Still, a handful of state Democrats have expressed interest in the race, and Graham said he has heard from several.” Graham also indicated he will formally announce his presidential candidacy on 5/6. 

… Edwards’ West Coast fundraising rampage continues. On the heels of a Monday Tacoma (WA) News Tribune report that Edwards was the leading Dem fundraiser in Washington state, the Portland Oregonian reported yesterday that Edwards received nearly $62,000 of the almost $100,000 the Dem wannabes raised in Oregon during the first quarter of the year. It also proved there are trial lawyers in Oregon – noting that “at least $33,000 of the nearly $62,000 he raised in Oregon came from trial lawyers or their spouses, according to reports filed last week with the Federal Election Commission.” As in Washington state, Dean was second in Oregon fundraising – with “just less than $25,000. Staunch opposition to the war in Iraq helped bring him to the attention of Democratic activists.” Others: Kerry, $8,050; Gephardt, $2,000; and Lieberman and Kucinich “received less than $4,000 from Oregon contributors.” Graham and Moseley Braun did not have any Oregon contributors and – as the New Hampshire media and Tacoma account have reported – Sharpton did not file a first-quarter FEC report. (Iowa Pres Watch Note: It appears a trend is developing – Reporting on campaign fundraising for the first quarter won’t be complete until at least one newspaper in each state publishes the Edwards trial lawyer contributions for the respective state.)

… Speaking of Sharpton’s apparent disinterest in filing an FEC quarterly report, Greg Pierce – in yesterday’s “Inside Politics” column – reported “Al Sharpton’s strident refusal to file the quarterly financial form required of all presidential candidates has prompted the conservative National Legal and Policy Center to file a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission. Mr. Sharpton last week said that because his campaign is exploratory, he is not subject to the federal reporting guidelines. But the complaint filed yesterday asserts that ‘Alfred C. Sharpton…has been raising funds since August 2002 for a campaign for the Democratic Party nomination for President for the 2004 election.’ Mr. Sharpton registered his campaign in January – something required once a candidate receives $5,000 in contributions or spends $5,000 on campaign activities. Last week, campaign manager Frank Watkins told the New York Post that the campaign had indeed raised more than $5,000. The complaint concludes, ‘Sharpton is clearly a candidate and his Committee is required to file quarterly reports.”

… Headline from Kerry’s presidential campaign website – “On Earth Day, Kerry Calls for New Commitment to Environmental justice in America” (Iowa Pres Watch Note: There’s something of a hidden message there – that the Kerry team capitalizes “Environment,” but that “justice” wasn’t capitalized.) From the Kerry website: “BOSTON – John Kerry today called for a new commitment to ‘make environmental justice the law of the land’ in America by empowering communities with the tools they need to protect their neighborhoods and fight pollution. His remarks came at an Earth Day celebration at the Vine Street Community Center in Roxbury.”

… Lieberman again. More from Lieberman’s New Hampshire visit – from yesterday’s Union Leader. The headline: “Lieberman pitches plan to fix the economy” During an breakfast address in Bedford, Lieberman said – “I will put government back on the side of the great American middle class and those struggling to get there.” Excerpts from Hunter McGee’s coverage: “Lieberman said two million Americans are out of work and New Hampshire has lost more than 17,000 jobs since George W. Bush took office. He said some of the changes were inevitable and unforeseen. ‘But make no mistake: Many of these new challenges are a direct result in the dramatic changes in policy coming from this administration,’ he said. ‘They are a direct result of a President that promised fiscal responsibility, but delivered record deficits.’”

IOWA POLITICS: 

… Harkin-Boswell Cuba Watch continues – Grassley comments: Grassley told WHO Radio that he “would not feel comfortable going to Cuba now” – but stopped short of criticizing public officials or private groups who have chosen to schedule Cuban visits, despite the “human rights” concerns about the recent Cuban crackdown. Grassley noted that he has been an advocate of breaking down trade barriers – especially for food and medicine – but “at this time” he would not vote to lift the Cuba embargo. He added that he would “not have said to any of my colleagues, ‘Don’t go to Cuba’” – but that he would not go because he does not want to “bring any prestige to Castro.” He said governors, congressmen and other high-ranking officials should exercise caution to not give Castro undue recognition. Grassley quote: “With what’s happening now [in Cuba], we should not bring any prestige to Castro.” Vilsack has declined an invitation to join an IA trade mission to Cuba, but Harkin, Boswell and IA Ag Secretary Patty Judge still have Cuban travel plans.

 … Local residents are trying to save two historic murals in a Marshalltown city auditorium. The 12’ x 20’ murals were painted in 1958 on either side of the stage in Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum and the city – which has been working on restoring the building over the past three years – gave a local group until 5/1 to raise $45,000 to restore the artwork. One mural tells the visual history of Marshalltown from 1858 to 1958 in an Americana style of art, while the other depicts local landmarks. 

… Radio Iowa reports that a $243,000 study is being conducted near the north-central Iowa community of Joice – about 10 miles from the Iowa-Minnesota border – to determine if wind-energy turbines are killing birds. The area being studied, which includes the Top of Iowa Wind Farm, it is in the middle of three major wildlife areas. The Top of Iowa facility has 89 wind turbines