Sen. Clinton To Give Major Speech On Economy In Chicago; Bush "Approval" Still In Decline

Sen. Hillary Clinton will be in Chicago tomorrow to address the Chicago Economic Club. In advance of the speech Clinton spoke with Bloomberg news, expressing concern about "skyrocketing" health care costs, the widening trade and budget deficits and the loss of middle-class jobs.

BUSH SHOWS CONTINUED WEAKNESS IN ANOTHER JOB-APPROVAL POLL

Today it's the ABC/Washington Post poll. In this latest look at Bush's job approval numbers, the president hits an-all-time-low (for this poll) of 38%. According to the poll, 55% of registered voters plan to vote for a Democrat for Congress this year, while 40% plan to vote for the GOP.

DANIELS SAYS FASO-WELD FACEOFF NOW GUARANTEED, NY SUN REPORTS

As he said he would, former New York secrtetary of state Randy Daniels pulled out of the GOP race for governor today, throwing his support behind former state Assembly minority leader John Fasso. Daniels told the New York Sun Fasso is now guaranteed to have enough support to get on the ballot to set up a face-off with state GOP favorite William Weld, the former governor of Massachusetts.

LONGEST-SERVING STATE LEGISLATOR TO CALL IT QUITS

The Associated Press today reported that state Sen. John Marchi of Staten Island will not run for re-election. Marchi is 84 and has held his seat since 1957. Marchi, who is the longest-serving state legislator in the country, has suffered mounting health problems.


SCHMIDT RACE LOOKING CLOSER IN OHIO

You may recall last week, in an opinion piece, we mentioned that Rep. Jeanne Schmidt was holding a fairly large lead against her Republican primary opponent Bob McEwen. Schmidt, you may recall, intimated that Rep. John Murtha- a 30-plus year veteran of the Marine Corps - was a coward for calling for an end to the U.S. presence in Iraq.

Another recent poll, done by Zogby, shows Schmidt may not be having such an easy time of it in the race after all. The poll shows she leads Mcewen by a 35%-33% margin.