Stuart Rothenberg declares in his Roll Call column, "We are not going to have an anti-incumbent election in November. We are going to have an anti-Bush election." "Republican incumbents are in trouble not because they are incumbents, but because they are Republicans."

The New York Times reports that a new Democratic 527 group organized by Harold Ickes, the September Fund, plans to raise spend $25 million for advertising in key midterm races and ballot measures.

In CALIFORNIA, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and challenger Phil Angelides (D) have agreed to take part in one debate on Saturday, October 7. "In an effort to make himself better known to voters, Angelides had hoped to debate Schwarzenegger as many as 10 times. But the governor agreed to debate just once, and the event's timing - at 6 p.m. on a Saturday during major league baseball playoffs - could limit the number of viewers." Meanwhile, a Los Angeles radio station is disputing "the Schwarzenegger administration's claim that [Angelides' campaign] improperly obtained audiotapes of the governor bantering with staff" by saying one of its own talk-radio hosts "had many times accessed the same trove of audiotapes without a password and without hacking."

In CONNECTICUT, the Hartford Courant reviews Democratic Senate nominee Ned Lamont's national security speech yesterday, saying "Lamont seemed more interested in establishing his philosophical underpinnings... than attempting what has been elusive to all: drawing up a detailed strategy for exiting from Iraq."

Both candidates vying for governor in FLORIDA have chosen their running mates. Charlie Crist (R) has chosen state Rep. Jeff Kottkamp, a "conservative" who "brings with him what Crist doesn't have: a wife, a child, home ownership and a solid conservative pedigree that appeals to the Republican Party's traditional base," writes the Miami Herald. Jim Davis (D) has tapped former state Rep. Sen. Daryl Jones, who gives the ticket "a military shine and a precious political foothold in South Florida, where African-American voters overwhelmingly favored the Tampa congressman's opponent in the primary last week." 

The Boston Globe examines how both parties in MASSACHUSETTS are intervening in the primary contests, in some cases to protect incumbents, which is "angering grass-roots activists in a year when incumbents are facing strong challenges from inside their own parties." The balloting is next Tuesday.

In NEW YORK, Sen. Hilary Clinton's opponent John Spencer has challenged her to a debate and is attempting to narrow the gulf between his $800,000 and her $22 million. But the once-gushing well of anti-Clinton money has dried to a trickle, and the national party is sending resources to races it has a better chance of winning, notes the New York Daily News.

Not surprisingly (we guess), TEXAS gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman (I) has called for marijuana to be decriminalized. "'We've got to clear some of the room out of the prisons so we can put the bad guys in there, like the pedophiles and the politicians,' said Friedman."

In the VIRGINIA Senate race, GOP Sen. George Allen "launched a character attack on" Democratic opponent Jim Webb, former Reagan Navy Secretary, for his "past views toward women in combat," based on a 27-year-old magazine article written by Webb and titled, "Women Can't Fight." Webb's campaign "Allen of opposing the admission of women to the Virginia Military Institute and of once having accepted membership into an exclusive club while he was governor."

Conservative columnist Bob Novak and former deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage are now in dispute over the details of their conversation in which Armitage became the first person to reveal Valerie Plame's employment by the CIA. Novak writes today: "First, Armitage did not, as he now indicates, merely pass on something he had heard and that he 'thought' might be so. Rather, he identified to me the CIA division where Mrs. Wilson worked, and said flatly that she recommended the mission to Niger by her husband... Second, Armitage did not slip me this information as idle chitchat, as he now suggests. He made clear he considered it especially suited for my column."

The New York Times covers the inspector general at the Interior Department telling a House committee yesterday that top officials at the agency have tolerated "widespread ethical failures, from cronyism to cover-ups of incompetence. 'Simply stated, short of a crime, anything goes at the highest levels of the Department of the Interior,'" he charged.

And Ohio's 18th districts hosts a Republican primary today to pick a replacement on the ballot for retiring Abramoff-afflicted Rep. Bob Ney (R).

From NBC's Mike Viqueira
Speaker Hastert spokesman Ron Bonjean offers the following reaction to the "no-confidence" resolution about Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld which was introduced earlier today by Democratic Reps. John Murtha and David Obey: "While

From Elizabeth Wilner
The RNC has a couple of good reasons to tout its success yesterday. First, had the effort failed, nervous Republican incumbents everywhere might have begun worrying about the party's ability to get out the vote for them in November. Second, they might as well get their money's worth from the effort -- which probably cost them more than they can afford to spend on each and every big race in November. And third, the party's GOTV machine, which Democrats have yet to emulate, is one bright spot for Republicans at a time when they're looking at the prospect of serious losses come November, and in some hotly contested races, might make the difference between a loss and a win.

From NBC's Mike Viqueira
The increasingly desperate struggle for control of the House is being reflected in an ever-higher degree of hyperbole and downright silliness as the clock ticks down to November 7.Yesterday it was the remarks by Majority Leader John Boehner, who wondered out loud whether Democrats cared more about protecting terrorists than Americans. Today, the House has launched a five-hour debate on a resolution commemorating the 9/11 attacks -- normally a harmonic convergence. But this time, the R's and the D's are already at each other's throats.

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And after those two men file out of the House television gallery, a group of Republicans will march in to blast Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi for saying that capturing Osama bin Laden would not -- at this point -- make us any safer. Pelosi aides are quick to counter that just this past Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press, Vice President Dick Cheney said of bin Laden: "If you killed him tomorrow, you'd still have a problem with al Qaeda, with Zawahiri, and the others."

Fifty-five days until election day... Everyone's (back to) politicking hard after September 11, with no further reasons to even consider letting up before November 7. President Bush raises an expected $850,000 -- at another closed-press event -- for the Republican National Committee in Washington. House Democrats host about 30 of their top candidates for closed-door discussions. Among the attendees: candidates for the seats of GOP Reps. Rob Simmons and Chris Shays of Connecticut, Dave Reichert of Washington state, Sherwood Boehlert of New York, and Jim Nussle of Iowa. And Vice President Cheney heads west later this week for two closed-press appearances on behalf of the GOP governors and the RNC.

(To print out First Read, click here.)

Most of the politicking continues to center on the war in Iraq, the Bush/GOP effort to cast it as central to the broader war on terror, and Democrats' argument that it's the reason why the nation is less safe now than before the war began. Tonight, a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll measuring the success -- if any -- of Bush's latest campaign and of Democrats' effort will be released at 6:30 pm ET on NBC Nightly News and MSNBC.com.

Today, House Republicans plan to take their proposed resolution commemorating the September 11 anniversary to the floor, but Democrats oppose some of the language in the measure; unlike in past years, as NBC's Chip Reid notes, Republicans are including sections praising the passage of the Patriot Act and the House versions of the immigration and port security bills. Intense debate may be in store.

Various Republican entities -- House members, the RNC -- are undertaking an assault on House Minority Leader and potential Speaker Nancy Pelosi as part of a campaign to portray her as weak on national security issues. Their bone of contention: a remark Pelosi made last week that if the United States were to capture Osama bin Laden now, the nation probably wouldn't be any safer. How does the RNC reconcile their sudden outrage over that remark with the way the Administration has been downplaying the threat posed by bin Laden? An RNC aide tells First Read that the Administration hasn't suggested that catching bin Laden would be irrelevant from a safety perspective.

House Majority Leader John Boehner yesterday walked right up to the line of calling Democrats unpatriotic -- something Bush and other top GOP officials always insist they would never do. When asked about Democrats' criticism of Bush's Monday night speech as too political, NBC's Mike Viqueira reports, Boehner replied, "I wonder if they are more interested in protecting the terrorists than they are in protecting the American people." White House spokesperson Tony Snow told NBC's David Gregory yesterday that the White House doesn't agree with that statement.

The Democratic Hill leadership, meanwhile, has written the TV networks hoping to get them to stop airing any further primetime presidential speeches for the duration of the election season -- or if they do, to get them to give similar coverage to Democrats' national security proposals. "Congressional Democrats have a wealth of experience, authority, and the ideas as to how we could better secure our nation, combat terrorism, and ensure a significant transition in Iraq." To prove their point, party leaders appear this morning with former Clinton Secretary of State Madeline Albright, retired Gen. Wesley Clark, and former Carter National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski.

And a House Democratic official tells First Read that Rep. John Murtha (D) plans to hold a press conference today to talk about the Iraq war's "negative impact on military readiness" and roll out a resolution calling for Bush to replace Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. This official says Democrats' campaign against Rumsfeld has succeeded in getting the question posed to GOP candidates around the country.

Also today, moderate GOP Sen. Lincoln Chafee returns to work having narrowly won his tough primary battle against Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey. Both parties got the nominees they needed yesterday to maximize their chances of hanging onto a couple of Senate seats -- Republicans in Rhode Island with Chafee, and Democrats in Maryland with Rep. Ben Cardin, who defeated former NAACP chief Kweisi Mfume. Democrats are being a bit more circumspect about congratulating Cardin, in part because serious voting issues in Maryland have delayed the count. Laffey appears on MSNBC's Hardball at 5:00 pm ET.

The RNC's 72-Hour Program came through for Chafee, probably to the reassurance of GOP incumbents everywhere. It marks the second victory for the program this year, albeit the second expensive one, after the party hung onto a House seat in a special election in California. Democrats, meanwhile, have only just struck a deal on how to fund their turnout efforts this fall; see below.

Got calendar?

The Los Angeles Times, noting how the White House insisted on Monday that Bush's primetime speech would not be political, says "Bush's inclusion in his remarks Monday night of a stout defense of his policies in Iraq... sent Democrats scrambling to issue late-night responses and prompted at least one network" -- NBC -- "to adjust its programming to make time for political analysis... Bush mused Tuesday about the dispute over his speech, telling a group of conservative columnists during an Oval Office interview that he would have been attacked either way." The paper points out that the advance excerpts released by the White House "contained no mentions of Iraq."

Pegged to Boehner's comments yesterday, the Washington Post's Milbank heralds the "arrival of Treason Season... right on schedule. Back in 2002, Bush declared on Sept. 23 that Senate Democrats were 'not interested in the security of the American people.' Republicans gained seats in the midterm elections. Two years later to the day, Bush went to the Rose Garden to say that Democrats' statements about Iraq 'can embolden an enemy,'" then won in November. "The aid-and-comfort line may not work as well this time."

Liberal netroots group MoveOn announced yesterday that they plan a national cable advertising buy criticizing Republicans for politicizing the September 11 anniversary.

The Wall Street Journal says the fight over the NSA warrantless wiretapping program could drag down vulnerable GOP Rep. Heather Wilson of New Mexico. "Her legislation, introduced this summer, will be the starting point for House Republicans beginning committee markups today. The National Security Agency had input, Ms. Wilson says, noting that she didn't share the final proposal with the agency before the bill was filed... Her bill permits the president to go outside existing law to tap domestic calls for 60 days after a terrorist attack. But the Justice Department last week asked for similar authority before an attack."

The Financial Times calls the ongoing White House-Senate negotiations over a legislative solution for military tribunals of detainees "uncomfortably familiar terrain" for the White House.

The US economic picture seems bright enough to the White House right now that they ventured to issue an "Economy Watch" press release touting falling gas prices, always a risky move given how volatile prices can be. Dow Jones also reported late yesterday that the price of crude oil sank its lowest level since March 22. Based in part on that news, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up over 101 points, within 2% of its all-time high.

"The recent drop in oil prices could provide a welcome and surprising boost to consumer pocketbooks this fall, cushioning the economy from a falloff in home prices and construction while venting an important source of inflation pressure," says the Wall Street Journal. "The easing of energy prices is an unexpected -- and little-noted -- positive amid economic anxiety over falling housing activity, previous energy-price increases and the possibility of recession."

The chair of Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, Ed Lazear, said in a speech yesterday that "US wage growth will start to catch up with high productivity and economic growth." His speech, the Financial Times writes, "is part of a broader administration campaign to focus on the strong US economy in the build-up to critical mid-term congressional elections on November 7... However, critics of the Bush administration say that real wage growth, which excludes the inflationary cost of healthcare that has fuelled compensation growth, continues to languish at or below annual inflation."

USA Today revisits the minimum wage craze: "For the first time, a majority of states could require higher pay than the federal rate of $5.15 an hour" after this election. If all the measures out there "pass, it would equal the number of minimum wage ballot measures adopted in the 14-year span ending in 2004."

In ARIZONA, conservative Randy Graf beat moderate Republican Steve Huffman and will now face Gabrielle Giffords (D) for the seat being vacated by Rep. Jim Kolbe (R), the Arizona Republic reports. "Huffman… lost despite an unusual last-minute blitz of support from the national party, which poured $250,000 into advertising on the theory that he was the candidate with the best chance of beating a Democrat." More: "The Giffords-Graf matchup on Nov. 7 will be one of the most intense contests in the nation as Republicans struggle to keep control of a district they have held for 22 years."

Also, the paper adds that conservative Len Munsil (R), "one of the state's leading voices against abortion and gay marriage," won the opportunity to face off against Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D)." The contest "should become a fierce general election battle over illegal immigration, social issues and the economy."

Democratic nominee Adrian Fenty is one pro forma election away from becoming the new mayor of DC -- the Washington Post.

The Baltimore Sun writes up the "snafus" in Baltimore and Montgomery County which have held up the vote count in MARYLAND and "were so severe that they produced a flurry of finger-pointing between Democratic and Republican gubernatorial candidates and promised to become an issue in the final two months of the campaign." More on these voting issues below.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune writes that Keith Ellison won the Democratic primary to succeed MINNESOTA Rep. Martin Sabo (D), "placing him on the verge of becoming the first Muslim elected to Congress." He would also become the state's first black congressman. Meanwhile, the paper adds, incumbent Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) and Mike Hatch (D) won their respective primaries and will face off this fall. "Polls have shown Pawlenty and Hatch neck-and-neck for months."

In NEW HAMPSHIRE, an anti-war candidate won an upset victory over national Democrats' endorsed contender in the 1st Congressional District; GOP Rep. Jeb Bradley may now be somewhat safer.

In NEW YORK, Eliot Spitzer (D) and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D) easily won their primaries last night, as Democrats are poised to make "postwar history this November with a sweep of top statewide offices," the New York Times writes. Spitzer will face John Faso (R) in the race for governor, while Clinton will take on John Spencer (R).

Another New York Times article observes that Clinton's campaign had no victory party after her win over anti-war challenger Jonathan Tasini.

Also in New York, per the Times, African-American Councilwoman Yvette Clarke won the Democratic nod to replace Rep. Major Owens (D). The race "attracted national attention because of the strong run by the white councilman, David Yassky, whose candidacy raised questions about race and representation."

One possible lesson of yesterday's vote in RHODE ISLAND, suggests MSNBC.com's Tom Curry: maybe the electorate (at least, this Rhode Island electorate) is not in the deeply anti-incumbent mood some had thought it was. Laffey ran as a populist who would defy special interests - such as the labor unions he clashed with as mayor of Cranston, -- and who would shake up partisan politics. "Washington is a mess and its heading in the wrong direction," he said two days before the election. "Neither the national Democrats nor the national Democrats want to see me down there." He also said, "I am a polarizing figure; Ronald Reagan was a polarizing figure." Such polarization was not attractive to the majority of voters here.

After he delivered his concession speech, Curry asked Laffey whether his ideas and his campaign would have any effect on Chafee and how he runs against Whitehouse. He laughed and said, "No."

The Providence paper says the "challenge for Chafee will be to keep the campaign focused on his record as an independent voice for Rhode Island, a man who has the courage to vote his conscience on tough issues -- such as the Iraq war... Whitehouse's task will be to make the race about national issues, particularly breaking the Republican lock on Washington, D.C."

The Boston Globe thinks Chafee was able to avoid Democratic Sen. Joe "Lieberman's fate in part by making Laffey the issue in the race, a task national party officials were instrumental in helping with."

As we've written many times before, this year's primaries are the first real test of the Help American Vote Act (HAVA), which was passed by Congress in 2002 to reform the country's voting system in the aftermath of the 2000 Florida recount. Certain provisions of HAVA have caused a political storm in Maryland, where voting rights activists have lobbied for years against electronic voting machines, which they say are susceptible to fraud and error. Despite their efforts, though, the state is one of the few in the nation to use electronic machines in all of its precincts.

But in yesterday's primary, it was human error and not technical glitches that caused voters to be turned away at polls. Election officials failed to deliver data cards required to record votes before the polls opened in Montgomery County, forcing many voters to leave without voting. A state circuit court ordered all precincts in the county to extend voting until 9:00 pm to allow those turned away in the morning an extra hour to vote at night.

The state has suffered other setbacks recently. The Baltimore Sun reported yesterday that 8,500 voters there were informed that were not registered to vote because personal information such as social security numbers could not be verified. The state neglected to tell them they could still vote by provisional ballot. Last month, the state's board of elections cancelled early voting, saying that it was "unconstitutional."

On cue, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law will hold a 12 noon briefing for reporters at the National Press Club to go over potential problems with voting this year, and to discuss "state efforts to restrict voter registration, database policies that affect who gets on the voter rolls and who is purged from them, the impact of new state voter ID requirements and problems plaguing new electronic voting machines."

The Hotline's On Call reported yesterday that the Democratic National Committee and the party's House campaign committee (DCCC) have struck a deal that the DNC will contribute $12 million to turnout efforts this fall. DCCC chair Rahm Emanuel has been a vocal critic of the DNC's priority of building parties in all 50 states, saying that they should focus instead on states hosting races they can win. First Read reported at length not long ago about the Democratic party's various and seemingly uncoordinated voter turnout efforts shaping up for the fall. A DNC aide tells First Read that the deal shows the DNC "is making unprecedented investments to ensure that Democrats retake control of Congress and are elected at every level of government."

In CALIFORNIA, GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed bills into law yesterday as Democrats looked on and the campaign of his opponent contended with a mess over its downloading and release to the press of "tapes of private Schwarzenegger conversations in the governor's office," says the Los Angeles Times. The San Francisco Chronicle notes: "Technical experts said it is possible that... the governor's private files were password-protected but still vulnerable to public download." A criminal investigation is underway.

In CONNECTICUT, Democratic Senate nominee Ned Lamont gives what his campaign bills as a "major security address" today at Yale Law School at 12:45 pm ET. Per advance excerpts, Lamont not surprisingly hits both the Bush Administration and Sen. Joe Lieberman on Iraq: "We are being led by a foreign policy team with years of inside the beltway experience," he is expected to say. "President Bush rushed us into this war based on trumped up intelligence, and Senator Lieberman cheered him on every step of the way."

In FLORIDA, gubernatorial candidate Jim Davis (D) has apologized for voting against compensating two wrongly convicted African-American men, Wilbert Lee and Freddie Pitts. The Miami Herald says "Davis' apology... not only appeared heartfelt, it was politically necessary: Davis limped out of the Democratic primary last week with voting results showing that a pillar of his political party, South Florida blacks, thought very little of his candidacy."

PENNSYLVANIA Democratic Senate nominee Bob Casey Jr. is giving Catholic University Law School's "prestigious 38th annual Pope John XXIII Lecture tomorrow," and some Catholic conservatives are accusing the school of "publicly favoring Casey over Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania." Casey is an alumnus of the school, but some of their positions don't line up -- the Washington Times.

In TEXAS, independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman is on the air statewide with two TV ads, one of which, titled "Good Shepherd," features Friedman telling voters he wants to be their -- you guessed it -- "Good Shepherd." It's an anti-politician message referring to the Book of John: "when the wolves come, the hired hands flee, but the Good Shepherd stays.")

A Democrat-affiliated group called VoteVets will roll out a TV ad campaign against VIRGINIA Sen. George Allen (R) today "for his refusal to vote for the troops," per the vague press release.

The FBI raid of ethically challenged Democratic Rep. Bill Jefferson's office earlier this year and Jefferson's legal counterattack are back in the news, Roll Call reports, as a bunch of prominent folks plan to file amicus briefs on Jefferson's behalf, including former Speakers Newt Gingrich (R) and Tom Foley (D), former House Minority Leader Bob Michel (R.), and Abner Mikva, former chief judge of the DC appeals court and a former Democratic member of Congress.

Anti-tax activist Grover Norquist defends the K Street (Republican lobbying) Project he co-founded in a USA Today op-ed, saying that its purpose is "to encourage trade associations and Washington offices of Fortune 500 firms to hire men and women who share their values and goals: low taxes, less spending, free trade." Meanwhile, an editorial in the paper singles out the Project as "a symbol... of what's amiss in Washington," and a "clear illustration of... how far the GOP has strayed from the principles of limited government and unfettered free enterprise."

And lawyers for former Ambassador Joe Wilson and his wife Valerie Plame tell NBC's Joel Seidman that they plan to file court papers today to include former State Department top official Richard Armitage as an additional defendant in their civil suit against other Administration officials. Melanie Sloan, an attorney for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, which is representing the Wilsons, says that Armitage's apparently inadvertent leak did in fact damage Plame's covert career at the CIA.

From NBC's Ken Strickland and Mike Viqueira
Following up on their claims that President Bush politicized his Oval Office address to the nation last night after the White House said the speech would be apolitical, Democratic leaders Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have sent a letter to the five TV networks requesting equal time for Democrats in the future to express their positions on national security and their views on the war.

From NBC's Mark Murray
While we're focused on all the primaries taking place today, especially the Chafee-Laffey contest in Rhode Island, here are some other developments in the races we're following:

-- In Illinois, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is running automated telephone calls from retired Air Force Gen. Tony McPeak, who calls House candidate Tammy Duckworth (D) -- who lost both of her legs in Iraq -- "a great American." More McPeak: "She's tough. She is a veteran who made extraordinary sacrifices for her country. Tammy Duckworth has what it takes to be a wonderful representative." McPeak supported John Kerry in 2004.

-- In New Jersey, with incumbent Sen. Bob Menendez (D) dogged by news that federal prosecutors are looking into his lease deal with a federally funded nonprofit group, his campaign is launching a TV ad hitting at what they perceive to be challenger Tom Kean Jr.'s (R) biggest weakness in this blue state: President Bush. "[W]hen George Bush tried to sell our ports to a foreign country and threatened our security, I led the fight to stop him," Menendez says in the ad. "Five years after 9/11, President Bush just doesn't get it... And if he won't stand up for New Jersey, I will." NBC political analyst Charlie Cook now calls this "the most vulnerable Democratic seat in the Senate."

-- The National Republican Senatorial Committee is blasting Ohio Senate candidate Sherrod Brown (D) for his speech tomorrow, in DC, at an event sponsored by liberal MoveOn. "If a 15-year career of championing the far left in Congress wasn't enough evidence for Ohioans that Brown is an out of touch liberal, this appearance should put any doubts to rest," an NRSC spokesman said in a statement. Democratic Sens. Barack Obama and Russ Feingold are set to address future MoveOn events.

From NBC's Mike Viqueira
A day that was supposed to be void of "politics," is the focus of a testy political debate between Republicans and Democrats on the Hill today. After President Bush's address to the nation last night on the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D) issued a statement saying Bush should be "ashamed" of using yesterday's anniversary "to give a speech that was designed not to unite the country and commemorate the fallen but to seek support for a war in Iraq that he has admitted had 'nothing' to do with 9/11."

When asked about the negative assessments by Kennedy and others of the speech, House Republican Leader John Boehner walked right up to the line of calling Democrats unpatriotic. "I wonder if they are more interested in protecting the terrorists than they are in protecting the American people," Boehner said. He was then asked by a reporter if he was accusing the Democrats of "treason," which he denied.

In a statement released today, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi accused Bush of trying to "justify" the Iraq war by "drawing nonexistent links to the 9/11 attacks. To try to make partisan gain out of such tragedy dishonors all those we lost on September 11."

Meanwhile, the annual resolution commemorating the events of September 11, normally non-controversial and harmonious, is the latest victim of election year terror politics. Republicans have included language lauding passage of the Patriot Act, as well as the House versions of immigration reform and port security legislation. Democrats have objected and refused to co-sponsor the measure, citing previous years in which no such mention was made of controversial bills.

Republicans are pushing forward and plan to have the resolution on the House floor Wednesday. "For the life of me, I have no idea what the objection is," Boehner said. He accused Democrats of playing "political games."

From NBC's Kelly O'Donnell and Ken Strickland
A debate over just how "political" things got during yesterday's solemn September 11 remembrances, including President Bush's primetime speech, is quickly boiling to a head today. White House press secretary Tony Snow, who among others told reporters yesterday that Bush's speech would not be political, today used a different word, saying the speech was "not partisan." Snow also said this morning that the speech contained only three or four sentences that could be construed as controversial: "This was not a speech about Iraq." And he argued that if Bush hadn't mentioned Iraq, there would be fallout about that, too.

Snow claimed that some "opposition politicians" had sent e-mails yesterday and "decided to use the day to talk politics." So, he suggested, it was appropriate for the President to respond and give his "honest reflections and reactions." "The President took pains yesterday not to be partisan and that was the appropriate thing to do."

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D) took to the floor this morning to accuse Bush of playing politics in his Oval Office address, charging that Bush engaged in "a political move... as a way to bolster sagging public opinion support for the war in Iraq." "When he stood upon that mound of rubble at Ground Zero with bull-horn in hand, he spoke for all of us. Last night, however, the President spoke for his Administration, not for the nation." Reid also charged that Bush continued connect Iraq and September 11 when new evidence shows no connection existed.

GOP Sen. Rick Santorum followed Reid onto the floor. Just a few decibels short of screaming, Santorum defended Bush: "The President did not give a political speech. He spoke the reality of the conflict that is before us."

From Elizabeth Wilner, Mark Murray, Huma Zaidi, and Jennifer Colby
Fifty-six days until election day... We begin with a couple of unfamiliar phrases in American politics: All eyes will be on Rhode Island today, where a Chafee is in serious trouble. From the standpoint of Republicans in Washington, they may lose a Senate seat today, in that they have pretty much written off their chances of holding onto Lincoln Chafee's seat should he fall to primary challenger Stephen Laffey. The conservative Laffey, for his part, argues that the party hasn't been able to count on the centrist Chafee and that he, Laffey, will be a reliable Republican vote. Chafee was appointed to replace his late father, the venerable John Chafee (R), in 1999 and then won a full term in 2000.

(By popular demand, click here for a temporary way to print today's entire First Read.)

Similarities between this contest and last month's Democratic Senate primary in Connecticut are uncanny: The moderate incumbent is being accused of not supporting his party often enough on key votes; diehards on the blogs call him a political traitor; and there's even an investigation into whether his website was hacked into. But the similarities end at the fact that whereas Democrats are assured of keeping their seat in Connecticut, only a moderate Republican seems to stand a chance of hanging onto this seat in this bright blue state. In the current political climate, even Chafee would have a tough time beating back Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse this fall. (Whitehouse, meanwhile, tells MSNBC.com's Tom Curry that the lesson of the Chafee-Laffey brawl is "just how hard George Bush and Karl Rove are fighting to try to keep Linc Chafee in power." See below.)

Chafee isn't the only one on the spot in Rhode Island today: The Republican National Committee's vaunted 72-Hour Program has sprung into action to get out the vote for the incumbent. Should he lose, Democrats might try to spin his loss as a sign of weakness in the program -- and nervous Republican incumbents might also interpret it that way. But as one operative familiar with the program suggested to First Read, the effort in Rhode Island is "an incredibly upside-down exercise," since the program is meant to turn out base voters and "there are none here." This operative concedes that Laffey offers "a sharp contrast that should work in a GOP primary." Polls here close at 9:00 pm ET.

Beyond Rhode Island, eight other states and the District of Columbia hold primaries today. Indeed, we won't see this many races taking place on one day again until November 7. Among those to watch: In Maryland, 18 candidates -- led by Rep. Ben Cardin and former NAACP chief Kweisi Mfume -- duke it out for the Democratic nomination to replace retiring Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D). The winner will face Lt. Gov. Michael Steele (R), one of the GOP's African-American candidates running for major office this year. Cardin is favored to win, but as we wrote yesterday, an Mfume-Steele contest would feature an unprecedented match-up between two African-American major-party nominees. Polls close at 8:00 pm ET.

In Arizona, there are primaries to decide which Democrat and Republican will face off for retiring GOP Rep. Jim Kolbe's seat, which presents Democrats with one of their top pick-up opportunities. In Minnesota, Democrats Mike Hatch and Becky Lourey compete to challenge Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) in November. As we wrote last week, Lourey's son, a US Army helicopter pilot, died in Iraq last year, which makes her (to the best of our knowledge) the only candidate running for major office this year who has lost a child in Iraq. Also in Minnesota, Keith Ellison (D) could become the nation's first Muslim congressman if he wins his primary in a heavily Democratic district. Polls close at 9:00 pm ET and 10:00 pm ET, respectively, in these two states.

Finally, there are several races of note in New York, including the blundering GOP primary between KT McFarland and John Spencer for the right to challenge Sen. Hillary Clinton (D); Clinton's own primary against anti-war challenger Jonathan Tasini; and the four-way Democratic contest to replace retiring Rep. Major Owens (D). That race, a favorite among New York political junkies who have little else to watch today, presents the possibility that the sole white candidate, David Yassky, could win this majority-black district due to the other three candidates splitting the African-American vote. Polls close at 9:00 pm ET.

President Bush has a buffer day of no public events between yesterday's observances and tomorrow's return to the fundraising circuit. Democrats would charge that Bush doesn't need to bother with a down day to transition back to politicking because his primetime speech last night was loaded with it, containing many themes and arguments he makes daily in defense of his approach to Iraq. The White House had said the speech wouldn't be political -- but remember that they also called it part of their campaign to bolster public support for the war in Iraq as part of the war on terror.

A new add to Bush's schedule for Thursday: a closed-door meeting with House Republicans on Capitol Hill. NBC's Mike Viqueira notes that the House plans to leave town on September 29, not to return until a week after election day, and this will likely be their last chance to get a pep talk from their leader.

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Less than two months before a high-stakes election in today's bitterly partisan climate, Washington lawmakers had a tough time maintaining a facade of bipartisan unity during yesterday's solemn observances.

In his primetime speech, the Washington Post says, Bush melded together "one of the most unifying events in recent national experience -- the common horror and sadness of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon -- with one of the most polarizing, the war in Iraq."

The Chicago Tribune's analysis notes that Bush "nearly spent more time talking about the broader struggle for bringing peace to the Middle East than he did about the attacks, reinforcing again his thesis that the war in Iraq is synonymous with the war on terror."

The New York Times' analysis: "To Mr. Bush's admirers, this was the Texan president at his Reaganesque best... To his critics, it was Mr. Bush at his most dangerous, approaching the world with little interest in how America is perceived and lumping together its many opponents, even if their agendas and interests are quite different."

The Boston Globe's Canellos also says that in his "blitzkrieg of 9/11 speeches, Bush has lumped together numerous countries, foreign leaders, religious figures, and political movements under one banner... and ignored the differences among them." Some GOP presidential candidates like Sen. John McCain and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are also adopting such language, Canellos notes.

High-profile Democrats criticized Bush's speech. Senate campaign committee chair Chuck Schumer called it "disappointing. This should have been an occasion to bring everyone together." Sen. Ted Kennedy: "The President should be ashamed of using a national day of mourning to commandeer the airwaves... to seek support for a war in Iraq that he has admitted had 'nothing' to do with 9/11."

Vice President Cheney, meanwhile, "took a swipe at Democrats calling for a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq" during his speech at the Pentagon, the Los Angeles Times notes.

The effort by members of Congress to even temporarily revive the bipartisanship of September 11, 2001 by re-enacting their rally on the Capitol steps failed yesterday, at least to the trained eye. NBC's Mike Viqueira reports that the assembled members of the Senate and House came down the steps together and got off to a sober enough start. Then came the speeches, and the effort to appear unified crumbled. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said "we are not fully safe and we are not fully healed." Speaker Dennis Hastert talked about how Iraq is the central front in the war on terror.

Even the text of the proposed House resolution to mark the anniversary ran into a partisan roadblock yesterday -- Roll Call.

Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes, Bush's former top aide who's now charged with global PR at State, writes in a USA Today op-ed that "one essential ingredient is still lacking in our international response to terrorism" is "the concerted moral outrage of everyday citizens of every faith and country." True to the Bush Administration's campaign-style approach to nearly everything, Hughes calls for a "new grassroots movement across all faiths and continents."

The Financial Times says of Bush's ongoing effort to bolster support for the war in Iraq as part of the war on terror that he "has been able to exploit the power of the presidency over the last week - overshadowing the Democrats' release of their 'Real National Security Strategy' with the first confirmation of the secret CIA prisons." But: "The political impact of the speeches remains unclear."

A Washington Post analysis says "none" of Bush's previous efforts "produced a lasting positive effect on how Americans view either the president or his policies."

Writing again from the "bellwether" House district in Colorado, the New York Times reports that voters of all stripes believe Bush is politicizing Iraq and the war on terrorism. "[I]nterviews suggested that Mr. Bush's newest efforts to cast his party as better suited than Democrats to defend the country had yet to overcome concern and anger among many voters about Iraq and a more generalized sense of discontent."

NBC's Ken Strickland reports that the Senate this week will continue to struggle to find legislative solutions for the NSA warrantless surveillance program and military tribunals for Guantanamo detainees, as Bush has requested. Judiciary Committee chair Arlen Specter will again try to get a committee vote on his White House-backed bill which would redefine some NSA procedures for wiretapping, but if passed, would put the program before FISA courts for constitutional review. The military trials debate pits a bill by three Senate Republicans (McCain, Warner, and Graham) against the White House/GOP leadership's bill. The three have been at odds with the Administration on this issue from the beginning, seeking more protections and rights for detainees. Frist says he'll make a decision by mid-week on which bill will be the starting point for debate.

UN Ambassador John Bolton's confirmation vote (he was previously installed via recess appointment, which expires in January) got held up by Sen. Lincoln Chafee last week because Chafee says he still has questions about Middle East policies. A source tells Strickland that it's unlikely a vote will happen this week unless Chafee gets some answers from the State Department.

Senate Democrats from New York and New Jersey hold a press conference today calling for a new commitment from Republicans to improve port and homeland security. The Los Angeles Times says of the Senate port security bill, which may pass this week, "Republicans have made port security legislation a priority since February, after Democrats seized on the Bush administration's approval of the takeover of some U.S. facilities by Dubai Ports World."

USA Today raises the prospect of $2/gallon gas, eventually, if hurricanes or unrest on oil-producing nations don't interfere. "In many metro areas, prices averaged less than $2.30 Monday, according to AAA. And only in Hawaii was the statewide average more than $3."

House Republicans' big project this week is passing some sort of earmark reform, allowing them to say they did something on ethics and lobbying reform before they head home for recess. USA Today recaps how the blogosphere is shining more light on the earmark process.

The House Republican Policy Committee holds its public forum this afternoon to hear "testimony" from all the committee and subcommittee chairs who held field the 22 hearings on immigration during the August recess. The House GOP leadership will attend. Roll Call notes that hard-line illegal immigration opponent and Rep. Tom Tancredo (R) has been disinvited.

While counting the hours until Rhode Island voters go to the polls to decide the winner of the bare-knuckles Chafee-Laffey primary, MSNBC's Tom Curry went to hear Democratic candidate Sheldon Whitehouse address a pasta-and-meatballs dinner last night catered by his campaign in East Providence.

Whitehouse has the restrained and reasonable style of Chafee -- not the scrappy, aggressive manner of Laffey, Curry says. He didn't electrify the crowd, but it seemed easy to imagine him in the Senate. He displayed a habit, not necessarily fatal, of not answering the questions the voters asked in the Q+A. One woman who asked Whitehouse a question about Supplemental Security Income, a program for old and disabled people who have little or no income, got from him a long answer about Social Security, a different program.

Another woman asked, "Among sitting senators now, who would you model yourself after, whose votes would most closely resemble your own?" Whitehouse never answered that question, confining himself to saying he was "socially progressive strong on law enforcement, strong on national defense." The audience waited in vain to hear a name, Curry says.

But Whitehouse has $1.5 million in cash on hand, and neither Chafee nor Laffey will start their campaign on Wednesday morning with anywhere near that much cash. Whitehouse told the crowd that the lesson of the Chafee-Laffey brawl was "just how hard George Bush and Karl Rove are fighting to try to keep Linc Chafee in power. You know they don't agree with him that much, but they're about one thing and one thing only: the power of that vote that sets up the Senate under Republican leadership." He charged that it doesn't matter who wins today's primary since both Chafee and Laffey would be one more GOP vote.

The key to today's outcome would seem to be how many of the state's 365,000 independents feel inspired to vote, per Curry. And will they -- as conventional wisdom has it -- prefer independent-voting contrarian Chafee to Reagan conservative Laffey?

In an interview with Roll Call, Republican National Committee chair Ken Mehlman: argued that "the elections would be characterized by larger national issues transposed onto a localized, race-by-race battlefield;" said "he no longer considered Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.) the most endangered GOP incumbent;" tried to lower expectations for Virginia Sen. George Allen (R); and said "he would leave it up to Rhode Island GOP officials to recommend whether [Laffey] should receive any RNC financial support if he were to unseat [Chafee] in today's GOP primary."

USA Today looks at how House GOP leaders are pouring their PAC funds into retaining their incumbents, while their Democratic counterparts are directing huge sums to challengers, a reflection of how few of their own seats Democrats are hard-pressed to protect this fall.

The Los Angeles Times takes a long, front-page look at the largely under-the-radar battle over state voter ID laws, which could affect the outcome of some elections.

Today's primaries in ARIZONA represent "the first statewide test of a 2-year-old law requiring voters to show identification when they vote," the Arizona Republic notes.

A new Chicago Tribune/WGN poll shows incumbent ILLINOIS Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) with a 12-point lead over Judy Baar Topinka (R), 45%-33%. But "the poll suggests that a dispirited electorate believes Blagojevich has not lived up to his promises to combat corruption and doubts that Topinka would do better."

One Democrat hoping to oust scandal-plagued Rep. Bill Jefferson in his crowded primary in LOUISIANA is getting some high-profile help -- Roll Call.  

The Baltimore Sun says today's Democratic Senate primary in MARYLAND could provide a lot of "drama." The paper notes that "in the federal and statewide races, the major competition is almost all on the Democratic ballot, with one key exception... The lack of primary competition in the marquee gubernatorial race could dampen the turnout, said State Elections Administrator Linda H. Lamone."

More Baltimore Sun: Another source of drama could be problems at the polls. Thousands of registered voters "were notified that they could not be located on registration lists because their Social Security or driver's license numbers could not be verified."

"In MICHIGAN, the November election is likely to come down to whom the voters blame for one of the nation's most troubled economies," says the Washington Post. "With unemployment higher than the national average and many residents frustrated with Democratic Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm, Republicans see a chance for a swing-state victory."

Vulnerable GOP Sen. Conrad Burns' Democratic challenger in MONTANA plans to hit YouTube with a compilation of Burns' gaffes today -- Roll Call. 

In NEW JERSEY's Senate race, the New York Times says that incumbent Sen. Bob Menendez (D) and challenger Tom Kean Jr. (R) are "running away from divisive and dubious members of their own political parties - and their own political pasts." For Menendez, it's the Hudson County political machine; for Kean, it's the Republican Party and President Bush.

The New York Daily News notes the Clinton campaign mailed out late fliers which read "Hilary Clinton: Always on our side. George Bush: Working against New York." More: "The mailing suggests that Clinton's increasingly partisan, confrontational stance on national issues will continue as another primary - for the Democratic nomination for President in 2008 - gets closer."

RNC chair Ken Mehlman attends a closed-press fundraiser for Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's PAC in New York today. An RNC spokesperson says Mehlman attends fundraisers for any presidential candidates who pitch in on the midterms.

The New York GOP's dearth of viable candidates for high office, as evidenced by their straits in today's primaries, could become an issue for outgoing Gov. George Pataki (R) as he seeks the presidency. Some might question why Pataki didn't do more to build up a candidate bench in his own state.

Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd's home state paper reports from Iowa, "Among Washington's political insiders, [Hillary Clinton] is viewed by many as the candidate to beat for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. But not in Iowa... Clinton has not yet come, and has no immediate plans to visit the site of the nation's first caucus," where party activists can reel off a list of potential problems she faces.

In a speech at the Arab American Institute's 2006 Leadership Conference earlier this morning, Sen. Russ Feingold (D) was expected to call on Bush "to stop using the phrase, 'Islamic fascists,' a misleading term that offends peaceful Muslims around the world, and shows a misunderstanding of the terrorists who threaten our country," per the release from Feingold's office.

From NBC's Kelly O'Donnell
Senior Bush advisors say the speech is running around 16-18 minutes, and that they expect to release excerpts later this afternoon (meaning you'll get a preview later today on MSNBC's Hardball and on NBC Nightly News). President Bush had one practice session on Saturday and a second practice run yesterday, and advisors say he'll do another run-through upon his return to the White House from the Pentagon this afternoon. They continue to advise that this will not be a political speech -- no call to action for Congress, no attempt to draw distinctions between the two parties. It will be, they say, the President's discussion of how September 11 changed the nation and what we have learned about the world.