It is merely unseemly for Clinton, in payback mood as he departs, to appoint midnight judges or change ethics regulations that will enable his aides to profit as lobbyists in a revolving door; those are the last twitches of his permanent campaign.
Mr. Kerry has scheduled a speech in New York City on Wednesday that will include what one aide described as a "blistering critique" of Mr. Bush's foreign policy, and Mr. Gephardt has scheduled a speech on the same subject for next week in San Francisco.
A select "Sunday group" will also be convened "bi-monthly" that will include two former aides to Peter Mandelson Benn Wegg-Prosser and Patrick Loughran Tony Blairr's former press officer, Matthew Doyle; and DJ Collins, another ex-adviser with extensive New Labour links.
The likely departure of the White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, to run for Mayor of Chicago is part of a half-term reshuffle of top aides that will signal a new chapter in the history of Barack Obama's increasingly embattled presidency.
Mr. Clinton has not appeared at campaign rallies with Mr. Gore, and Gore aides say that will not change.
The leaked blueprint makes clear that from January the main decisions on election planning will be taken by a small, all-male group that will include Miliband, Alexander, former No 10 aide Spencer Livermore, party vice-chairman and chief attack dog Michael Dugher, and Miliband's chief of staff, Tim Livesey.
But the campaign is about to start new advertisements that will directly take on Mr. Kerry, aides said, amplifying the recent attacks by Mr. Bush and his surrogates.
As a Title I teacher in San Francisco, I know that no amount of training will prevent aides from sitting idle if the teachers and administrators with whom they work cannot create the teaching teams that will help children in Title I programs succeed.
All that will be clear, aides say, when Mr. Bush presents a budget later this month.
