CNN

Larry Flynt said Wednesday he doesn’t want Vitter, above, “legislating for me.”

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Hustler publisher Larry Flynt took credit Wednesday for exposing Sen. David Vitter as a client of a D.C. prostitute, saying he did so to uncover the Louisiana Republican’s hypocrisy.

“I very seldom get a chance to get a big one, and sometimes I have to go bottom feeding,” Flynt said at a late afternoon news conference. “We have a criteria, and that is if someone is living a life contrary to the way they are advocating - their personal life - than they become fair game.”

Vitter admitted Monday that his telephone number turned up in the phone records of an escort service run by Deborah Jeane Palfrey, though he did not say he had sex with a prostitute. The records date from before he won his Senate seat in 2004.

On Tuesday, Hustler magazine claimed credit for exposing Vitter's connection to the "D.C. Madam,” saying he confessed after a journalist reported finding the senator's number in the escort service's phone records.

In Wednesday’s press conference, Flynt said, “I don’t want a man like that legislating for me, especially in the areas of morality.”

Vitter heavily campaigned on social values in his 2004 Senate race and was one of the top backers of a failed constitutional amendment that would have banned same-sex marriage.

The Louisiana Republican issued a statement Monday night calling his contact with Palfrey a “very serious sin,” but has since not been seen in public.

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

(CNN) – Presidential candidate Bill Richardson fulfilled a “childhood dream” Wednesday. He took a different type of campaign swing in Dyersville, Iowa at the site of the 1989 film “Field of Dreams.”

The Democratic New Mexico governor and avid baseball fan stepped into the batter’s box and accidentally took a crack at a photographer while swinging at a few pitches.

“I hit a photographer. I am a pull hitter. He should have gotten out of the way,” said Richardson, a former left-handed pitcher for Tufts University, to a group of supporters at a stop in Waterloo, Iowa.

A casual Richardson sporting tennis shoes and blue jeans said that as a result of his visit to the “Field of Dreams” earlier in the day, “I am seriously considering pardoning Shoeless Joe Jackson.”

“Field of Dreams” centered on an Iowa farmer who hears a voice and interprets the message to plow through a corn field and build a baseball diamond.

Shoeless Joe Jackson appears as a ghost, along with seven other members of the so-called "Black Sox," who were banned from baseball for throwing the 1919 World Series. Some baseball historians believe Shoeless Joe Jackson was innocent.

– CNN Political Assignment Editor Marissa Muller

AUSTIN, Texas (CNN) - "Lady Bird" Johnson, the woman who became first lady during the one of the darkest days in United States' history, died Thursday, family spokesman Tom Johnson said. She was 94.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee will place his complete focus on the Iowa GOP straw poll next month, he told reporters Wednesday, saying he will “pretty much” stay in the Hawkeye state from now through the August 11 event.

The poll is a state GOP party fundraiser and has traditionally been viewed as a key test of strength five months before the Iowa caucuses. But Republican presidential candidates Rudy Giuliani and John McCain both announced in June they would skip the event, putting its relevancy this year in doubt.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney leads several polls in Iowa and is expected to win the August vote easily. But Huckabee said he won’t be disappointed with a second or third place finish.

“We’ve never said we have to win the straw poll in order to be considered credible,” he said. “It’s not necessarily the ideal goal. We’ve got to do well, that’s what the goal is. And well is not really a place because - for example - if the separation between first, second, and third place is very tight, it may not be perceived that third place is all that distant from second.”

Huckabee also declined to indicated how much his presidential campaign had raised in the second quarter - which ended June 30 - but said it was better than his first quarter $544,000 fundraising haul.

“We’ve got enough money to go through the straw poll and get through that next major milestone for us,” he added.

All presidential candidates are required to disclose their second quarter fundraising totals to the Federal Election Commission by July 15.

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

Watch CNN's Jeanne Moos report on the latest online political video making waves.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - CNN's Jeanne Moos reports on a new online music video spoofing a spoof - it's 'Obama Girl' vs. 'Hott 4 Hill'.

Thompson is likely to launch his presidential bid in August.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson is now likely to announce his presidential campaign in August, not mid-July as previously envisioned and will skip the Republican straw poll in Ames, Iowa, people familiar with Thompson's thinking tell CNN.

The campaign-in-waiting is still being put together, and Thompson supporters say they want to have "100 percent" of the staff in place by the time of the announcement.

"Expectations are through the roof," said one source. "We have to match those at every level. . . . We have to be more ready than any of these other guys.”

Republican presidential candidates Rudy Giuliani and John McCain both announced in June they would skip the Iowa Republican party’s presidential straw poll, scheduled for August 11.

Thompson created a state-level presidential exploratory committee in Tennessee in June.

– CNN Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley

McCain leaves the White House Wednesday after a discussion on Iraq.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Newly installed McCain campaign manager Rick Davis is out with his first e-mail fundraising solicitation Wednesday, writing that Sen. John McCain is embracing the themes of his 2000 presidential campaign “louder than ever.”

“When I last held this post in 2000, our campaign for honest reform, better government and a stronger America had resonated with voters across the country, and our message today is stronger and louder than ever,” Davis wrote in the e-mail. “America is at an important crossroad, and I have accepted this position because I firmly believe that John McCain is the right man with the right message at the right time for America.”

Davis, who ran the Arizona Republican’s insurgent presidential bid in 2000, returned to the post Tuesday after former campaign manager Terry Nelson was forced out following bleak fundraising totals and excessive spending.

Clearly hoping to combat talk of a campaign in crisis, Davis also asks supporters to “send this email to five of your friends and let them know that our campaign for honest reform, better government and a stronger America is moving forward.”

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

Watch the latest Politics 411

WASHINGTON (CNN) - CNN Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley weighs in on whether Arizona GOP Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign is undergoing an identity crisis, following the departure of several top-level aides.

And on the Democratic side, will former President Bill Clinton lend his wife the charisma she needs to win?

Edwards is the winner of a MoveOn.org straw poll.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards tops a recent straw poll of MoveOn.org members on climate-change policy, the liberal political action committee announced Wednesday.

Asked which Democratic "presidential candidate's position on dealing with the climate crisis” is most preferable, Edwards topped the list with 33 percent - more than double the support received by the second place finisher, Dennis Kucinich (16 percent).

New York Sen. Hillary Clinton comes in a close third with just under 16 percent, followed by Illinois Sen. Barack Obama (15 percent), New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (13 percent), Delaware Sen. Joe Biden (3 percent), Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd (3 percent) and former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel (2 percent).

A total of 95,284 people voted in the poll, according to MoveOn.org spokesman Trevor Fitzgibbon. That number is nearly the amount of Democrats who participated in the 2004 Iowa Caucus.

The poll followed a virtual town hall Saturday night on the issue. All of the candidates participated. It was the largest event sponsored by MoveOn.org since 2004, according to the organization, with over 100,000 people either watching online or attending one of 1,300 house parties.

“The enormous response we got from our members on this issue emphasizes how important it will be for our next president to make solving the climate crisis a top priority in 2008,” said Eli Pariser, Executive Director of MoveOn.org, in a statement.

The group plans to run ads in Iowa and New Hampshire newspapers next week announcing the results.

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

Watch CNN's Wolf Blitzer talk with Sen. Jim Webb Tuesday about troop deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Senators lacked the four votes needed Wednesday to bring to the floor a Democrat-sponsored amendment that would have set restrictions on U.S. troop rotations in Iraq and Afghanistan, to give troops more time at home.

The tally for the procedural motion was 56 to 41. Sixty votes were required to cut off debate on the amendment so a vote could be held.

Under the proposal by Jim Webb, D-Virginia, military personnel who return from deployments would have had to remain stateside for at least as long as they spent overseas, before they could be sent back.

The vote was being seen as a test of whether Democrats have gained enough momentum from disaffected Republican senators to begin forcing changes in the U.S. strategy in Iraq.

President Bush vetoed a Democratic-led effort to set a date for withdrawal from Iraq in May. That push is being renewed this week in Congress, with proposed changes to the National Defense Authorization Act for the 2008 budget year.

There are increasing calls from Republican lawmakers to begin a drawdown of U.S. troops.

The Senate vote comes one day before the White House is to deliver an interim report to Congress on how well the Iraqi government is meeting political benchmarks.

McCain said Tuesday his bid for the White House is 'going well.'

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sen. John McCain described his campaign for the White House as "going well" and vowed Tuesday to continue his bid for the GOP presidential nomination even as several of his senior staffers said they were leaving the campaign.

Campaign Manager Terry Nelson and Chief Strategist John Weaver announced earlier in the day they were resigning from their posts. Within a few hours, CNN confirmed that Deputy Campaign Manager Reed Galen and Political Director Rob Jesmer were also leaving the campaign.

McCain is already under fire from conservatives for his position on immigration as well as Independents for supporting the Iraq war. His bid for the White House took a hit last week when it reported only having $2 million in the bank after raising more than $11 million in the second quarter. Major campaign layoffs followed and the resignations Tuesday of several senior staffers further fueled speculation that McCain would drop out of the race.

But after delivering a speech on Iraq from the Senate floor, McCain sought to silence any suggestions that he was throwing in the towel.

"Of course," McCain responded to a reporter who asked if would continue to campaign for the presidency. "With the same people who were running it before. We were a collective team and I'm very grateful for their contributions that they will continue to make."

Read the rest of this entry »

Sen. Snowe will co-sponsor an amendment calling for a troop pullout of Iraq.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine will co-sponsor a Democratic troop-withdrawal amendment that would bring U.S. troops home from Iraq by April 30, 2008, CNN learned from an aide Wednesday.

The senator from Maine became the second Republican to sign on as sponsor of the proposal by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Michigan, and Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, that calls for a withdrawal to begin within 120 days of the bill's passage. Gordon Smith, R-Oregon, also backs the measure.

Snowe indicated Tuesday she was leaning toward supporting it.

A vote on the proposal is expected late this week or early next.

– CNN Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash contributed to this report

Watch President Bush officially open the renovated briefing room Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - He continues to face tough questions on a range of issues, but President Bush nevertheless welcomed the White House press corps back into the building Wednesday after a yearlong absence.

"Welcome back to the West Wing," Bush said in an official ribbon cutting ceremony to reopen the James. S. Brady Press Briefing Room after an 11 month renovation. "We missed you - sort of."

"The relationship between the president and the press is a unique relationship and it's a necessary relationship. I enjoy it – I hope you do," Bush added. "Sometimes you don't like the decisions I make, and sometimes I don't like the way you write about the decisions. But nevertheless, it's a really important part of our process. And the fact that you were working in substandard conditions just wasn't right. "

The room has undergone extensive changes, including new lighting, a better cooling system, and an improved work space for members of the press. There are also now seven seats per row versus the prior six seats, shoring up a front-row seat for CNN's White House reporters.

But perhaps the most noticeable change is a "new interactive media backdrop" located behind the press secretary's podium. Two 45-inch television screens will display content relative the subject of a particular press conference and will also display different "sets" depending on whether the president or the press secretary is speaking.

"I think it's going to benefit future presidents and future White House press corps to be working in modern conditions, conditions where a fellow like me will feel comfortable coming in here and answering a few questions without losing 20 pounds," Bush said during Wednesday morning's ceremony.

While the press was out of the White House for the last year, they were never that far away. They were housed in a makeshift briefing room across the street in Jackson Place.

White House Press Secretary Tony Snow will hold the first press conference in the new facility at 12 p.m. ET.

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

Sen. David Vitter apologized after his telephone number appeared among those linked to an escort service.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Larry Flynt's Hustler magazine claimed credit for exposing Sen. David Vitter's connection to the "D.C. Madam" Tuesday, saying Vitter confessed after a journalist reported finding the senator's number in the escort service's phone records.

"Larry Flynt's ongoing investigation into the dirty secrets of prominent elected officials has exposed another hypocrite," Hustler said.

Vitter, R-Louisiana, admitted Monday that his telephone number turned up in the phone records of an escort service run by Deborah Jeane Palfrey, though he did not say he had sex with a prostitute. The records date from before he won his Senate seat in 2004.

Full story

McCain urged his supporters to stand with him Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, urged supporters of his presidential bid to stand with him Tuesday nigt, hours after several key members of his presidential campaign resigned their posts.

"Challenges are nothing new to me. Whether political challenges, physical challenges or even personal challenges - how you stand up, face them and move forward defines your character and your strength," McCain wrote in an e-mail to supporters Tuesday night, following the most tumultuous day yet in his presidential campaign.

"Now is not the time to be timid or to shy away from our challenges - now is the time to stand up and say what we believe," he added. “I'm fighting to make our nation stronger, our government more effective and our world a safer place - and I hope you will continue to join me in this important journey.”

Earlier Tuesday, Campaign Manager Terry Nelson and Chief Strategist John Weaver announced their resignation from McCain’s presidential campaign. Deputy Campaign Manager Reed Galen and Political Director Rob Jesmer are also leaving the campaign, a source tells CNN.

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

DULUTH, Georgia (CNN ) – It's not often you see a politician share a stage with a potential primary rival and less than 24 hours later do the same with a possible general election opponent.

But that's the double-header former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is playing this week. The Georgia Republican appeared Tuesday night at a "Freedom Concert" in this Atlanta suburb, speaking after fellow potential Republican presidential candidate, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson. Gingrich then headed to Washington for a Wednesday morning news conference on efforts to battle Alzheimer's Disease with New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination.

"Fred's an old friend," Gingrich told CNN. "We've done many things together before." As for the appearances on opposite ends of the political spectrum, Gingrich said, "I think we ought to actually focus on trying to solve some problems. We don't need a year and a half campaign. It is insane to think we need a year and a half of this kind of politics."

Thompson is further along in his presidential deliberations than Gingrich and the Tennessee Republican is expected to officially announce his candidacy soon.

But Gingrich is sticking to his fall timetable to decide whether to seek the GOP presidential nomination.

"Until then, I don't pay attention to what's going on," Gingrich said. "You know, McCain used to be the front runner. Apparently today he's not the front runner. Fred Thompson is having a good run. (Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt) Romney is having a good run. (Former New York City Mayor Rudy) Giuliani is having a good run. We'll see how people look in October."

- CNN Political Desk Managing Editor Steve Brusk

Bush discussed Iraq Tuesday in a town hall event in Cleveland.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Bush will veto a defense appropriations bill being debated in the Senate if it includes an amendment setting a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, the White House said Tuesday.

Senate Democratic leaders have said they plan to bring forward an amendment from Sens. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, and Carl Levin, D-Michigan, that calls for beginning a redeployment of U.S. troops in as little as four months, to be completed by next spring. House Democratic leaders announced late Tuesday that they would bring a similar proposal to a vote by the end of the week.

But in a policy statement issued Tuesday by the Office of Management and Budget, the White House said the proposed Reed-Levin amendment infringed on Bush's authority as commander-in-chief and was "equivalent to setting a date for failure."

Full story

Compiled by Stephen Bach, CNN Washington Bureau

Making news today...

* Sen. John McCain's top political strategists – campaign manager Terry Nelson and chief strategist John Weaver – stepped down Tuesday from their posts with the Arizona Republican's presidential campaign that has come under fire for poor management and lackluster fundraising.

Full story

From the Ticker: Despite turmoil, McCain expresses confidence in presidential bid

"The wheels came off Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) presidential campaign yesterday..." (The Hill)

His "presidential chances look increasingly grim..." (Arizona Republic)

"A close friend of McCain's" said the candidate "was upset the campaign had spent heavily on staff and consultants and had nothing to show for it." (Boston Globe)

"A staff that once numbered about 120 is now down to about 50, and more departures among senior staff members are possible." (Washington Post)

"McCain will refocus on the early primary states of New Hampshire and South Carolina in an effort to stay alive." (New Hampshire Union Leader)

* DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff said yesterday "the nation faces a heightened chance of an attack this summer."

"'I believe we are entering a period this summer of increased risk,' Chertoff told the Chicago Tribune's editorial board in an unusually blunt and frank assessment of America's terror threat level." (Chicago Tribune)

* Larry Flynt's Hustler magazine claimed credit for exposing Sen. David Vitter's connection to the "D.C. Madam" Tuesday, saying Vitter confessed after a journalist reported finding the senator's number in the escort service's phone records.

Full story

* And an update on those strange Beantown ballot translations: in Chinese characters, Barack Obama "comes out as 'Oh Bus Horse' in Cantonese." In the Mandarin dialect it's "Oh Intellectual Overcome Profound Oh Gemstone" or "Europe Pulling a Horse." (USA Today)

Which top tier candidate's alias appears as "Upset Stomach?" Find out in Hot Topics below!

President's Schedule:

* The president and Mrs. Bush participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly-renovated James S. Brady press briefing room at 8:05 am ET.

Bush later makes remarks on the budget at 1:05 pm ET in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

Also on the Political Radar:

* Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) joins Harry Johns, Alzheimer's Association President and CEO, at a 9:30 am ET presser to welcome the formation of a bipartisan study group to examine the response to the growing crisis of Alzheimer's disease. Newt Gingrich will also attend the event.

* The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a 10 am ET hearing, "Preserving Prosecutorial Independence: Is the Department of Justice Politicizing the Hiring and Firing of U.S. Attorneys?" Former WH Political Director Sara Taylor will appear.

Taylor "will refuse to testify today about matters President Bush has deemed shielded by executive privilege, but she will offer to respond to other questions from senators that do not breach White House confidentiality." (Washington Post)

* The House Judiciary Committee holds a noon hearing on "The Use and Misuse of Presidential Clemency Power for Executive Branch Officials." Former Ambassador Joe Wilson will testify.

* Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) addresses the Greater Des Moines Partnership at 1 pm ET at the Hotel Fort Des Moines.

* John Edwards holds a 3 pm ET town hall at Sheet Metal Workers Local #88 in Las Vegas, NV.

* Bill Richardson visits the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, IA, at 10 am ET, and holds "job interview" events in Manchester (11 am ET), Independence (12:15 pm ET), and Waterloo, IA (1:45 pm ET). He also visits his campaign HQ in Cedar Rapids at 4 pm ET.

* The Senate Radio-Television Correspondents' Gallery Daybook

* The House Radio-Television Correspondents' Gallery Daybook

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Political Hot Topics
(Today's top political stories from news organizations across the country)

"REPUBLICAN DISSENTERS" SEEK TO FORCE BUSH'S HAND ON WAR: Facing crumbling support for the war among their own members, Senate Republican leaders yesterday sought to block bipartisan efforts to force a change in the American military mission in Iraq. But the GOP leadership's use of a parliamentary tactic requiring at least 60 votes to pass any war legislation only encouraged the growing number of Republican dissenters to rally and seek new ways to force President Bush's hand. They are weighing a series of proposals that would change the troops' mission from combat to counterterrorism, border protection and the training of Iraqi security forces. Washington Post: In GOP, Growing Friction On Iraq 

LOOKING FOR LEADERSHIP FROM McCONNELL: A virtual no-show during last month's divisive immigration debate, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) is expected by his fellow Republicans to emerge soon from the shadows and reassert himself as a leading face of the GOP. But at least in the early hours of this week's showdown over the Iraq War, that hasn't happened yet. McConnell was missing for much of the Senate's consideration of comprehensive immigration reform — a controversial measure that the Minority Leader quietly opposed and one that divided his party. But the Iraq debate is different, Republicans insisted, given that many Senators and McConnell himself are largely unified behind a message of giving the White House until September to demonstrate progress in the region. That unity, they said, should make it easier for McConnell to once again flex his leadership muscle despite a handful of well-publicized GOP doubters. Roll Call: McConnell Yet to Engage on War 

WAIT UNTIL SEPTEMBER, SAYS BUSH: Fearful of a Republican rebellion over Iraq that his own aides believe could force him to change course, President Bush said Tuesday that the United States would be able to pull back troops "in a while," but asked Congress to wait until September to pass judgment on a future military presence there... The administration's message was spelled out in remarks Mr. Bush delivered in Ohio, in which the president signaled more clearly than before that he might be open to shifting toward a smaller, more limited mission in Iraq in the future — without stating precisely when. New York Times: Bush Counters G.O.P. Dissent on Iraq Policy

CHERTOFF WARNS OF INCREASED RISK: Fearing complacency among the American people over possible terror threats, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in Chicago Tuesday that the nation faces a heightened chance of an attack this summer. "I believe we are entering a period this summer of increased risk," Chertoff told the Chicago Tribune's editorial board in an unusually blunt and frank assessment of America's terror threat level. "Summertime seems to be appealing to them," he said of al-Qaeda. "We do worry that they are rebuilding their activities." Still, Chertoff said there are not enough indications of an imminent plot to raise the current threat levels nationwide. Chicago Tribune: Homeland Security chief warns of 'increased risk' 

BUSH'S UNFINISHED BUSINESS WILL BE "UNPRECEDENTED": The 44th president will move into the Oval Office with an agenda defined in large part by the 43rd president. In many ways, it will be George W. Bush's third term. Among pressing issues left on the table: What's next in Iraq. How to restore America's reputation around the world. Whether to extend tax cuts that expire in 2010. What to do about Medicare's looming shortfall. And how to complete the job of helping the Gulf Coast recover from Hurricane Katrina. No new president gets a clean slate — global politics and the economy don't run in neat four-year cycles — but presidential scholars say the unfinished business Bush will leave for his successor is unprecedented since at least World War II. USA Today: As Bush exits, his issues will linger 

DEFICIT PROJECTED TO BE SMALLEST SINCE '02: The U.S. budget deficit this year will be the smallest since 2002, Wall Street economists forecast before the Bush administration's mid-year review of the nation's fiscal outlook. The gap will total $170 billion in the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, and $175 billion in 2008, according to the median estimate of 40 economists surveyed yesterday by Bloomberg News. Heading into an election year, the deficit would be the narrowest since the $158 billion sum in 2002 that ended the four-year run of surpluses after President George W. Bush took office in 2001. The White House Office of Management and Budget today likely will revise its February forecasts for a $244 billion deficit in 2007, a $239 billion gap in 2008 and revenue projections for both years, analysts said. Bloomberg: Bush Budget Aides to Lower '07 Deficit Forecast, Economists Say 

VITTER "LYING LOW": Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) was Capitol Hill's invisible man yesterday, lying low even as his ties to the notorious "D.C. Madam" threatened to become a political crisis for the conservative lawmaker. Vitter acknowledged late Monday that he had contacted the high-end escort service of Deborah Jeane Palfrey before his 2004 Senate campaign. But Vitter's apology hardly quelled the controversy, prompting Hustler publisher Larry Flynt to claim credit for unmasking Vitter as part of his million-dollar search for congressional sex scandals. Normally a fixture at the GOP's weekly policy lunch, Vitter was nowhere to be found yesterday, and most sources believed the freshman senator remained in Louisiana to avoid the press onslaught. The Hill: Vitter hides as the Senate GOP circles its wagons 

FORMER NOLA MADAM NAMES VITTER AS CLIENT: Jeanette Maier, the madam known for operating a high-end brothel with her mother and daughter, said Tuesday that U.S. Sen. David Vitter made occasional visits to her business beginning in the mid-1990s after the two met at a fishing rodeo where she and her prostitutes were hired to entertain local politicians. After the initial meeting, Maier said she saw Vitter at the bordello and knew him as someone who patronized her call girls. She denied having a personal relationship with him and said he had stopped visiting the establishment by the time it was raided by federal agents in 2001. "Sometimes we'd cross paths," Maier said of their encounters at the house. "He was not a big regular client that he's so clear in my mind that I can remember every time he walked in the door." New Orleans Times-Picayune: Former madam says Vitter was a client at Canal Street brothel 

FORMER SURGEON GENERAL SAYS HE WAS "MUZZLED": Former surgeon general Richard H. Carmona yesterday accused the Bush administration of muzzling him on sensitive public health issues, becoming the most prominent voice among several current and former federal science officials who have complained of political interference. Carmona, a Bush nominee who served from 2002 to 2006, told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that political appointees in the administration routinely scrubbed his speeches for politically sensitive content and blocked him from speaking out on public health matters such as stem cell research, abstinence-only sex education and the emergency contraceptive Plan B. Washington Post: Ex-Surgeon General Says White House Hushed Him 

SHAKEUPS IN McCAIN CAMP: Sen. John McCain's top political strategists stepped down Tuesday from their posts with the Arizona Republican's presidential campaign that has come under fire for poor management and lackluster fundraising. Campaign manager Terry Nelson and chief strategist John Weaver announced their departures in joint statements released by the campaign. Several sources tell CNN that McCain met with Nelson and Weaver on Monday to discuss the campaign's direction. "Apparently [McCain] didn't like the answers and [said] this morning he wanted changes," according to a source familiar with the internal deliberations. Also Tuesday, Deputy Campaign Manager Reed Galen and Political Director Rob Jesmer resigned from the campaign, a campaign source told CNN. CNN.com: McCain's top political strategists forced out 

NOT THROWING IN THE TOWEL: Sen. John McCain described his campaign for the White House as "going well" and vowed Tuesday to continue his bid for the GOP presidential nomination even as several of his senior staffers said they were leaving the campaign... McCain is already under fire from conservatives for his position on immigration as well as Independents for supporting the Iraq war. His bid for the White House took a hit last week when it reported only having $2 million in the bank after raising more than $11 million in the second quarter. Major campaign layoffs followed and the resignations Tuesday of several senior staffers further fueled speculation that McCain would drop out of the race. But after delivering a speech on Iraq from the Senate floor, McCain sought to silence any suggestions that he was throwing in the towel. The Ticker: Despite turmoil, McCain expresses confidence in presidential bid 

CAMPAIGN TO FOCUS ON NH, SC: With his underfunded Presidential campaign in apparent disarray and struggling in the polls, Republican John McCain will refocus on the early primary states of New Hampshire and South Carolina in an effort to stay alive, a top aide said yesterday. Mike Dennehy of Concord, a McCain senior campaign consultant and former national political director, told the New Hampshire Union Leader that a major shakeup at the top of the campaign yesterday will result in a new approach that's actually much like the proven old approach of 2000. And that means that beginning Friday, Granite Staters will be seeing far more of McCain than they have so far this year, Dennehy said. New Hampshire Union Leader: McCain refocuses campaign on NH and South Carolina 

"BALLOT CHAOS" IN BOSTON? Boston's 2008 presidential primary ballot could read like a bad Chinese menu. There might be "Sticky Rice" in column A, "Virtue Soup" in column B and, in column C, "Upset Stomach." Those could be choices facing some voters if the names of Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and Hillary Rodham Clinton were converted into Chinese characters, according to Massachusetts' top election official. And that gives Secretary of State William Galvin heartburn. On Tuesday, Galvin filed a challenge in federal court to a Justice Department agreement requiring that ballots be fully translated to protect the rights of Chinese-speaking voters. Galvin says Chinese — which uses characters, not letters; has sounds with several meanings; and is spoken in several dialects — will create ballot chaos. USA Today: Candidates lost in Chinese translation 

HILLARY AND OBAMA SQUARE OFF ON WAR IN DES MOINES: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama had their own little war over Iraq in Iowa yesterday as the Senate debated the conflict back in Washington. The top Democratic rivals flew to the first-in-the-nation 2008 battleground on little notice, and spoke less than a mile apart in Des Moines. Obama threw the sharpest jabs, reminding people he opposed the looming war in 2002 when the idea was still popular. "This is a war that never should have been waged, it should have never been authorized," Obama said in a jab at Clinton, who voted for the war and supported it until late 2005... For her part, Clinton said, "America needs a President with the strength and experience to end this war," drawing a contrast between herself and Obama, who's only been in office since winning his post in 2004. New York Daily News: Hil, Bam trade jabs in battle over war 

QUESTIONER OFFERS OBAMA "OUTSTANDING IDEA": An unemployed senior citizen and Army veteran from West Des Moines caught the attention of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama Tuesday when he pleaded for the United States to withdraw time limits on educational benefits given to soldiers. Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois, said in front of a Des Moines crowd of about 600 people that John Strong had "an outstanding idea." The crowd cheered. "We might introduce legislation next week," Obama told Strong. "Maybe we'll name it after you." Josh Earnest, an Obama campaign spokesman, said the senator "was serious enough about it to ask his Senate staff to start figuring out questions" about costs and how it might work. Des Moines Register: Vet's idea intrigues Obama 

"NO REASON" FOR RX WEED, SAYS RUDY: Presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani said Tuesday that people who want to legalize marijuana for medical purposes really just want to make the drug available to everyone. "I believe the effort to try and make marijuana available for medical uses is really a way to legalize it. There's no reason for it," the former New York mayor said during a town hall-style meeting at New Hampshire Technical Institute. He also said there are better alternatives. "You can accomplish everything you want to accomplish with things other than marijuana, probably better. There are pain medications much superior to marijuana," he said. "We'd be much better off telling people the truth. Marijuana adds nothing to the array of legal medications and prescription medications that are available for pain relief." AP via Yahoo! News: Giuliani rejects medical marijuana use