**President Obama
*Today's announcement: Obama will announce a "ramping up" of the stimulus program, promising to create or save 600,000 jobs. AP: "The administration had always viewed the summer as a peak for stimulus spending, as better weather permitted more public works construction and federal agencies had processed requests from states and others. But Obama now promises an accelerated pace of federal spending over the next few months to boost the economy and produce jobs."

*Hillary Clinton spoke to ABC's "This Week" on the year anniversary of her concession speech during the primaries. She said Obama has "absolutely" passed the 3 am test. "And, you know, the president, in his public actions and demeanor, and certainly in private with me and with the national security team, has been strong, thoughtful, decisive, I think he is doing a terrific job. And it's an honor to serve with him." She planned to say no to his offer of a Cabinet position, but said he "was quite persistent and very persuasive."

*Leading up to today's Cabinet meeting, officials had been dispatched around the country for a "listening tour" of auto manufacturing hubs. The Washington Times follows Commerce Secretary Locke on one.

*Wall Street Journal: "President Barack Obama returned home from abroad Sunday to find that his own oratory laying out an ever-more-ambitious agenda, both in foreign and domestic policy, is ratcheting up demands for concrete achievements."

*The New York Times reports talks to a number of officials and finds that "underlying tensions that have gripped Mr. Obama's economic advisers as they have struggled with the gravest financial crisis since the Depression. ... By all accounts, much of the tension derives from the president's choice of the brilliant but sometimes supercilious Mr. Summers to be the director of the National Economic Council."

**Judge Sotomayor
*Sen. John Thune launched a Web site called "Supreme Court Watch" that's billing itself as "a conservative source for the latest confirmation news." GOP12.com: "The site certainly seems to be an incipient attempt at building a galvanizing conservative water cooler against Sotomayor's nomination. That being said, does Thune want to associate himself with an effort to attack the first Hispanic Supreme Court nominee?"

*The Plum Line has some White House talking points on the Sotomayor nomination, addressing the firefighters case: "There has been an effort by some folks who wish to reignite the culture wars of the past to define this case as an affirmative action case. This is not a case about affirmative action ... this was one of many employment discrimination cases under Title VII to come before the Second Circuit. Some people are trying to criticize Judge Sotomayor for being a judicial activist even as they criticize her for judicial restraint in Ricci. This demonstrates that they are grasping for attacks in the face of a strong nominee. They simply can't have it both ways."

*"The 'racist' label certainly isn't sticking, but partisan feelings still run hot when voters are polled about Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor," Politico reports.

**Campaign Stuff
*VA Gov: One day before the competitive three-way Democratic primary, State Sen. Creigh Deeds leads by 14 points in a PPP poll.

Veteran state politics reporter Jeff Schapiro spoke with Terry McAuliffe yesterday: "McAuliffe, saying that his focus on jobs is resonating with primary voters, shifted his message somewhat during the weekend by declaring he has the best chance of defeating McDonnell in November."

Washington Post notes today that each of the candidates began their Sunday in predominantly black churches. "Enthusiasm among black voters for Barack Obama last fall helped him become the first Democrat since the 1960s to carry Virginia in a presidential election, but it is unclear whether any of the Democrats who hope to succeed Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) has succeeded in tapping that energy."

*IL Sen: One less Dem -- Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) announced this morning she will not run for President Obama's old Senate seat.

*PA Sen: Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) made his debut Saturday in front of the state Democratic Party, Politico chronicles. "Here, at the annual state committee meeting, Specter had his unofficial coming out party and he aimed to please. Using a teleprompter for his speech -- 'I wanted to express myself with precision,' he said -- and sporting a blue and red donkey tie, he told an audience of 300 Democratic elected officials and activists he felt 'welcome and comfortable.' "

Specter said he was "pleased and proud" to return to his roots as a Democrat, invoking FDR and JFK as inspirations during a speech to the leaders of the state party, the Inquirer reports. Specter: "The far right used me for target practice, and they didn't like it when I wouldn't stand still. So I'm especially glad to be here with you, where I feel so welcome."

*FL Sen: Former N.H. Sen. Bob Smith is now officially in the Florida Senate race, joining Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio on the GOP side. In a YouTube video, he called Crist a "movement away from our core conservative values," and of Rubio, says: "Strong political leadership, not wheeling and dealing, will ignite out base and restore our party to power."

*Great lede from J-Mart: "Sarah Palin's on-again, off-again appearance at Monday night's gala GOP fundraising dinner is off -- again. After being invited -- for a second time -- to speak to the annual joint fundraiser for the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Palin was told abruptly Saturday night that she would not be allowed to address the thousands of Republicans there after all."

*SC Gov: "One year from now, S.C. Democrats will hold a referendum on Gov. Mark Sanford and lay the sluggish economy and high unemployment rate at his feet, as a field of largely unknown candidates compete for a chance to replace him. Democrats hope a statewide grassroots network, set up by President Barack Obama, will get the anti-Sanford message out and help deliver voters to the Democratic primary," McClatchy reports.

*NV Sen: "If anger were money, Sen. Harry Reid's opponents would be wealthy indeed. But it isn't, and they're not. Fundraising appeals sent out by a group that launched a supposedly major anti-Reid campaign last month reveal that the Our Country Deserves Better PAC is struggling financially," Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.

**Court Watch (And we don't mean basketball): "Former Rep. William Jefferson's (D-La.) corruption trial is set to begin Tuesday after two years of intense legal wrangling that at one point involved evidence gathered during an FBI raid of his congressional office. Jefferson lost his seat in 2008, but the case is still considered an important bellwether for the federal government's ability to prove bribery charges against lawmakers," The Hill reports.

**Sports Alert: Lakers up 2-0 in the NBA Finals. Last night was much closer than the first, but Kobe and the Lake show appear unwilling to lose for the second year in a row.

--Kyle Trygstad and Mike Memoli