http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2009/May/21/senate_set_to_approve_obama_war_funding_request.html**Today's Speeches
*The Washington Post reports that Obama's speech is meant to remind "Americans that strong national security and adherence to laws and national values are not mutually exclusive."

*LA Times: "In a possible sign of a new approach, an administration official said that for the first time, a Guantanamo detainee is being sent to the U.S. to stand trial in a criminal court. Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian captured in Pakistan in 2004, had been indicted by a federal grand jury in New York on allegations that he took part in attacks on two U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998."

*Obama sat down with human rights advocates yesterday, the New York Times reports. He told them "that he was mulling the need for a 'preventive detention' system that would establish a legal basis for the United States to incarcerate terrorism suspects who are deemed a threat to national security but cannot be tried, two participants in the private session said."

*Ben Smith reports that Obama's remarks will be piped into AEI before Cheney's speech. He adds: "One question is how directly Obama will refer to the unpopular former Veep in his remarks, and use Cheney's speech as an illustration of the bad old days; another whether Cheney will address Obama directly, and in particular call on him to personally release classified reports that Cheney has requested."

*ABC previews a Cheney line: "When President Obama makes wise decisions he deserves our support. When he mischaracterizes the decisions we made, he deserves an answer."

*A CNN poll finds "that favorable opinions of the former vice president are on the rise." His unfavorable rating is 55 percent, compared to 37 percent favorable - up eight points since January.

*The Hill, on the minority party finding one issue where it has an advantage: "Senate Republicans on Wednesday vowed to stay on the attack until the Obama administration reverses its decision to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp."

**President Obama
*The AP reports that President Obama interviewed federal appeals court judge Diane Wood for the Supreme Court, "one of the face-to-face meetings he's holding with finalists, officials said Wednesday. The move signals Obama is getting closer to one of the most far-reaching decisions of his presidency."

*Washington Post reports that the Recovery Act's Web site is not providing the kind of transparency promised, and instead "offers little beyond news releases, general breakdowns of spending, and acronym-laden spreadsheets and timelines. And congressional Democrats, state officials and advocates of open government worry that the White House cannot come close to clearing the high bar it set."

*Judge Diane P. Wood ("who reportedly met with the president this week while in town for a legal conference"), U.S. Solicitor Gen. Elena Kagan, Judge Sonia Sotomayor and "other possible nominees have undergone deep background checks as part of the selection process, according to a Democratic official who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter," L.A. Times reports.

*A fairly juicy nugget in Richard Wolfe's forthcoming book on the president. Per FoxNews, Obama is so "distracted by his vice president's indiscipline" that he has been forced to rebuke privately Vice President Biden. "He can't keep his mouth shut," Wolffe quotes a "senior Obama aide" as saying in "Renegade: The Making of a President," set for release June 2.

**Republicans
*Rather than brand the party as "Democratic Socialists," the RNC adopted a resolution condemning Democrats' "march toward socialism," CNN reports. The previous plan was scrapped because some members saw it as "embarrassing and counterproductive."

**In the States
*"Direct democracy has once again upended California -- enough so that the state may finally consider another way by overhauling its Constitution for the first time in 130 years," NY Times reports.

*SurveyUSA's latest take on the Virginia governor race: McAuliffe leads with 37 percent, over Deeds 26 and Moran 22. McAuliffe and Deeds would each lose to Bob McDonnell by 6, with Moran trailing the Republican by 10.

*SurveyUSA also polls potential matchups in the 2010 Minnesota governor race, assuming that Tim Pawlenty seeks a third term. He leads all of the DFL candidates, most of the time with more than 50 percent. He dips under when matched up against former Sen. Mark Dayton, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak.

*And Public Policy Polling finds that Republicans have a strong chance of taking back the Oklahoma governor's mansion. Rep. Mary Fallin (R) is the most popular candidate (51% fav rating), followed by former Republican Rep. J.C. Watts (46%), Democratic Attorney General Drew Edmondson (43%) and Lt. Gov. Jari Askins, also a Democrat (35%).

*Politico has the details on the unfolding Senate race in Utah, "the battle for the heart and soul of the Republican party is playing out." Sen. Bob Bennett (R) will face a more conservative challenger in state Attorney General Mark Shurtleff.

*Florida Republican Party chair Jim Greer, who personally has backed Gov. Charlie Crist in the Senate race, says the party itself is officially neutral. "Several county Republican groups have protested Greer's avid support" of Crist over former House Speaker Marco Rubio.

**Congress
*Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) test drives a 100-mpg Hummer, with Milbank there to chronicle it.

*War Supplemental: "President Barack Obama is likely to get a sweeping bipartisan endorsement when the Senate votes on his request for continuing military and diplomatic operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The $91.3 billion measure being taken up by the Senate on Thursday closely tracks Obama's request for war funds, although the $80 million he was seeking to close the U.S. naval prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was dropped Wednesday," AP reports.

*"Rep. Collin Peterson (Minn.), the outspoken Democratic chairman of the Agriculture panel, has been making it well-known that he wants his committee to have full jurisdictional authority over whatever climate change bill emerges from Chairman Henry Waxman's (D-Calif.) Energy and Commerce Committee. But Peterson is no longer making idle threats. Peterson earlier this week met with the 26 Democrats on his panel and emerged with a "virtually unanimous" agreement that his committee members would stand with him in opposition to a climate change bill that didn't adequately address the concerns of the agriculture industry, according to one of those Democrats," The Hill reports..

*"Sen. Arlen Specter appeared to side with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Wednesday in her spat with the CIA over harsh interrogation methods, saying the agency has a history of being less than forthright with Congress," Politico reports.

**Sports Alert:: Two nights ago, the Lakers barely avoided an upset defeat at the hands of the Denver Nuggets. Last night, the Orlando Magic pulled off the upset against the Cavaliers in Cleveland. Great start to the NBA Conference Finals.

--Mike Memoli and Kyle Trygstad