Daily Report: 2004 Presidential Watch: Republican conservative news on the Democrat caucus, primary candidates national campaigns.

THE CLINTON COMEDIES:

Chicago Sun-Times reports that CA Guv Davis, confronted with prospect of facing the Terminator, turns to political hero to “save his skin” – SuperBill. Headline from yesterday’s Sun-Times: “Clinton advising Gray Davis” Excerpts from coverage by Julian Coman: “Faced with Arnold Schwarzenegger's bid for his job, California's beleaguered Gov. Gray Davis has turned to perhaps the only man in America who can save his skin. Former President Bill Clinton has taken a hands-on role in the Democratic governor's campaign to help him try to avoid being recalled by voters. Close aides of Davis said the two men met privately for more than an hour last week in Chicago and are in daily telephone contact. The former president apparently advised Davis to play the sober politician to Schwarzenegger's brash show business star. ‘Davis and Clinton are friends, and Bill is giving him all the help that he can,’ one prominent California Democrat said. ‘The Chicago meeting was an important strategy session. They've been discussing the themes that Gray needs to push in his campaign, the problem of fund-raising, and how to get help for the governor at a national level.’ Another senior Democrat confirmed: ‘Clinton has been [to California] a couple of times and is managing the whole deal by phone. If Davis survives, he'll owe it to the Clintons. Then, if Hillary jumps into the presidential race, she'll have the California delegates locked up as well as the ones in New York.’ As the unfolding political circus prompts a mixture of amusement and consternation across the country, Clinton has advised the bruised governor to present a businesslike image in the lead-up to the Oct. 7 recall vote. “

Tort Reform battle takes on even stronger partisan overtones – which also explains why Edwards has been so successful raising bucks for his presidential bid. Headline from yesterday’s Washington Post: “Battle Over Damage Awards Takes a More Partisan Turn…Trial Lawyers – Key Democratic Donors – Say They’re Targets” Excerpt from the Post’s Thomas B. Edsall: “The drive to limit court-awarded damages in civil lawsuits, often dubbed ‘tort reform,’ is usually framed as a contest between accident victims' rights and reasonable constraints on corporate behavior. Increasingly, however, the battle is deeply partisan, as conservative groups try to mobilize the political right and cripple a key Democratic constituency, trial lawyers. Just as the Republican Party has used opposition to taxes as a mechanism to win over middle- and working-class voters, ‘tort reform’ has become the GOP's rallying cry to unite its core supporters and encourage them to reach for their checkbooks. ‘It's a double kiss,’ said a key strategist involved in the battle taking place in Congress, state legislatures, bar associations and local judicial elections. ‘Republicans get to force one of the biggest backers of Democrats to spend money just to survive and, at the same time, please everybody from the Chamber [of Commerce] to the drug companies, to the Realtors, doctors, you name it.’ Ed Lazarus, a Democratic political operative who works for the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, said: ‘It's very clear what the program is -- it is to defund the Democratic Party.’ For the GOP, he said, ‘it's a double header: more income for your side, and you take income from the other.’ At least 21 states have passed some form of tort revision this year, and Congress is weighing several proposals. While the drive generally is seen as a winning issue for Republicans, intra-party quarrels have erupted -- most notably in Florida -- where some Republicans feel their colleagues are reaching too far. Trial lawyers generally represent people who file suits alleging they were wrongly injured by defective products, reckless corporations, careless doctors and so forth. The lawyers typically work for a contingency fee, so their pay is based on the size of the plaintiff's court award or out-of-court settlement, if any. Many Republicans and their allies view the large judgments won by some trial lawyers -- on behalf of injured patients, states seeking repayment for smoking-related health costs, asbestosis victims, people injured in defective vehicles -- as a drain on the economy, a disincentive to those contemplating entrepreneurial risk and a major factor in rising health care costs. ‘One of the biggest obstacles to growth is the lawsuit industry,’ President Bush declared in a 2002 Mississippi speech as the legislature there was taking up tort legislation. ‘Junk and frivolous lawsuits can ruin an honest business. It hurts economic vitality and economic growth.’”

Des Moines Register, top front-page headline: “5 injured in goodwill mission…Videos urge uprisings against U. S.”

Quad-City Times, main online stories: “Actor, dancer Gregory Hines dead at 57” & “Prisons adjust to accommodating older inmates”

Nation/world online heads, Omaha World-Herald: Liberia – “Taylor blames U. S. for his ouster” & “Energy shortages fuel Iraqi discontent”

Featured reports, New York Times: “Riots Continue Over Fuel Crisis in Iraq’s South” & “Bush’s Task in California: Avoid Recall Fray”

Sioux City Journal, top online stories: “Basra residents protest; attacks would Americans” & “Bush administration lawyer likens power struggle over pot laws to civil right standoffs”

Chicago Tribune online, main reports: “Iraq violence spreads” & “Wide gulf for Episcopalians”

From the Korean Front: Headline from VOANews (Voice of America) – “South Korean Vessels Violate S. Korean Sea Border” Part of report by VOA’s Barry Kalb: “Three North Korean boats briefly crossed the sea border between the two Koreas, and were chased back by warning fire from South Korean naval vessels. The incident came amid diplomatic efforts to lay the groundwork for talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program. According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the three North Korean vessels spent 43 minutes in South Korean waters, before being chased back by five warning shots. An official statement said it was not clear if the incursion was deliberate or accidental, or if the intruders were military or fishing boats. This was the 14th such incursion this year, and the third time the South Koreans have fired at North Korean vessels. The incursion comes as nations in the region and the United States prepare for six-party talks in Beijing, aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons program. The North's nuclear program has caused considerable uneasiness in the region. China's vice foreign minister was in the North Korean capital Friday to prepare for the Beijing talks, and officials from the two countries expressed hope that the talks would lead to a peaceful solution of the nuclear dispute.”

Federal sentencing debate heats up – while Ashcroft and Justice Dept. start monitoring judicial decisions, Justice Kennedy urges American Bar Assn. to repeal mandatory minimum sentences. Headline from FOXNews.com – “Justice Kennedy: Mandatory Minimums Often Unjust” Report excerpt: “Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said Saturday that prison terms are too long and that he favors scrapping the practice of setting mandatory minimum sentences for some federal crimes. ‘Our resources are misspent, our punishments too severe, our sentences too long,’ Kennedy told the annual meeting of the American Bar Association his remark met by long applause. ‘I can accept neither the necessity nor the wisdom of federal mandatory minimum sentences,’ Kennedy said. ‘In all too many cases, mandatory minimum sentences are unjust.’ Kennedy is a moderate conservative placed on the court by former President Ronald Reagan. His criticism puts him at odds with Attorney General John Ashcroft, who wants prosecutors to closely monitor which judges impose more lenient sentences than federal guidelines recommend. Such oversight, critics say, could limit judicial independence. Kennedy said he agrees with the need for federal sentencing guidelines. The 15-year-old system gives judges a range of possible punishments for most crimes and eliminates some of the disparities in terms imposed by different judges for the same crime. Still, the guidelines lead to longer prison terms than were common before, Kennedy said. ‘We should revisit this compromise,’ he said. ‘The federal sentencing guidelines should be revised downward.’ Prosecutors often ask for sentences at or near the top of the guideline range, and defense lawyers ask for terms at or even below the bottom. Judges have some freedom to ‘downwardly depart,’ from the guidelines and hand down a lesser punishment. Ashcroft recently directed U.S. attorneys to promptly report to Justice Department headquarters any such departures that are not part of a plea agreement in exchange for cooperation. ‘The Department of Justice has a solemn obligation to ensure that laws concerning criminal sentencing are faithfully, fairly and consistently enforced,’ Ashcroft wrote in a memo issued July 28. Kennedy did not address Ashcroft's directive. The justice asked the ABA to lobby Congress to repeal mandatory minimum sentence laws, even though they have withstood court scrutiny. ‘The court on which I set and other courts have upheld long sentences, but please remember because a court has said something is permissible does not mean it is wise,’ Kennedy said.”

Des Moines Register: Local – “A Court Ave. crowd pleaser…The city should move ahead – but with cautious attention to financial details.” & “We still live an underdog …The remarkable popularity of ‘Seabiscuit’ suggests a yearning for ordinary heroes.”

Race Week in Iowa. Although the Iowa State Fair continues for another week, the state’s insatiable sprint car racing fans will be attracted to two communities – Knoxville, home of the Sprint Car Racing Museum, and Oskaloosa for the annual race fest that concludes with the 43^rd Knoxville Nationals. The weeklong racing adventure started last night in Knoxville, moves to Oskaloosa tonight and tomorrow night, and then concludes Saturday night with championship for the Nationals – which start Wednesday – at the fabled Knoxville Raceway. Watch for World of Outlaws stars the Kinsers -- Steve and Mark – to dominate the Nationals.

DSM 7 a. m. 67, mostly cloudy. Temperatures at 7 a. m. ranged from 56 in Spencer and 57 in Decorah and Harlan to 66 in Creston and 67 in Lamoni and Des Moines. Today’s high 83, chance T-storms. Tonight’s low 63, areas of fog. Tuesday’s high 83, areas of fog. Tuesday night’s low 61, mostly clear.

At 199 years and counting, tourists already making way to Sioux City for Lewis and Clark activities. From report by the Sioux City Journal’s Julie Weeder: Although this is the 199th anniversary of Lewis and Clark trailing through Siouxland, the tourists aren't waiting until the 200th anniversary. Skip Meisner, coordinator of the Siouxland Lewis and Clark Committee, said: "We are becoming a major Lewis and Clark destination." The activities happening next weekend to mark the anniversary expect to attract more visitors than ever before, if numbers at local tourist attractions have any indication. Visitors to the Sergeant Floyd River Museum and Welcome Center are up 20 percent this summer compared to last year, said Kathy Meisner, supervisor of the Welcome Center. The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center is expected to reach 100,000 visitors by it's first anniversary on Sept. 21, said Interpretive Center executive director Alan Hansen. During three days this past week, the Welcome Center's guest book gathered visitors' signatures from a long list of states, as well as Holland, Germany, Belgium, England and Iran. The Interpretive Center also added Kosovo and the former Soviet Union state Georgia.