------------------------------------------------------ The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC ------------------------------------------------------ Tonight on Hardball, the war of words continues between Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and the President Bush. Late this afternoon, Kerry apologized for his comments on Monday, saying "I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform, and I personally apologize to any service member, family member, or American who was offended." Plus more news from the White House today, President Bush says he wants Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to remain in office through the end of his term. We'll begin tonight with a report from Hardball Correspondent David Shuster on the reaction to Kerry's comments, including that of potential 2008 presidential candidates. Read the latest on Kerry at www.politics.msnbc.com. For more on how this new twist in the road to Decision 2006 will effect choices made at the polls next Tuesday, we'll be joined by Bob Shrum, Hardball political analyst and Mark McKinnon, former Bush media advisor and co-founder of HotSoup.com (Check out today's HotSoup on voters being less polarized than their leaders http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15502198/.)
We'll also hear from Harold Schaitberger, President of the International Association of Firefighters and MNSBC Political Analyst Pat Buchanan for more analysis of the controversial Kerry comments, plus the latest in Decision 2006. Later in the show, Todd Purdum from Vanity Fair and Chuck Todd, MSNBC Political analyst and editor-in-chief of the Hotline, will join the mix for more talk on Democrats, Republicans, ads, polls and what surprises are left 6 days to go before the midterm election. Read Todd Purdum's latest from Vanity Fair on Karl Rove http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2006/12/rove200612. Plus, NBC's Tim Russert, host of Meet the Press, will join us from Florida, where tonight he'll moderate a debate between Florida Senate candidates Sen. Bill Nelson (D) and his challenger Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL). We'll talk about the latest numbers from Tuesday's NBC/Wall Street Journal poll on Bush, Iraq and the biggest issues on minds of voters before Decision 2006. Watch the debate tonight at 10 PM ET on MSNBC. And be sure to stay tuned for some of the hottest guests in politics tomorrow: Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and many more. Some stories you may have missed today: -- the latest from Newsweek's Howard Fineman: When success gets obscured by attack http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15512513/ -- AP: Scandal rocks Nevada governor's race http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15510506/ -- Chris Cillizza's The Fix from washingtonpost.com http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/ -- LA Times: Racy words and a desert slugfest http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-me-garciaclute1nov01,0,7508261.story?coll=la-center-politics-cal -- Read the newest posts on Hardblogger http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15110582/ -- MSNBC's map of key '06 races: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14275232/ -- http://firstread.msnbc.com Shelby Poduch compiled the Hardball Briefing in Washington, D.C. ========================================= This e-mail is never sent unsolicited. You have received this The Hardball Briefing Newsletter newsletter because you subscribed to it or, someone forwarded it to you. To remove yourself from the list (or to add yourself to the list if this message was forwarded to you) simply go to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7140407/, select unsubscribe, enter the email address receiving this message, and click the Go button. Microsoft Corporation - One Microsoft Way - Redmond, WA 98052 MSN PRIVACY STATEMENT http://privacy.msn.com <http://privacy.msn.com/>