**President Obama
*Gallup: Obama "averaged a 58% job approval rating for the first eight days of July, down from an average of 61% for June. His approval rating is down most significantly among independents, to 53% so far in July from an average of 59% in June."

*As his trip winds down, Obama is "particularly excited" to visit the Vatican, Time's Scherer reports. "He recognizes that this is much more than your typical state visit," said Denis McDonough, one of Obama's national security advisors. "The President, in both his words and in his deeds, expresses many things that many Catholics recognize as fundamental to our teaching."

*Obama officials "expect a tumultuous reception" for the president in Ghana. The main public ceremony in the capital, Accra will occur Saturday, before he departs for Washington. AP: "He will become the third straight U.S. president to visit Ghana, a relatively stable democracy in a continent wracked by poverty and heavy-handed governments. But he is the first such president of African descent."

*In Cincinnati yesterday, Vice President Biden "spent a good chunk of his speech defending the package from critics," the Enquirer reports. "I say to those who are critics who say we shouldn't do this, or in the neighboring congressional district ... I ask the rhetorical question, what would they do?," said Biden. "Ladies and gentlemen, would they do nothing? I hear nothing other than the criticism. I didn't take this job, Barack didn't take this job,l to do nothing. We took this job to rebuild America. That's what this job is about."

*The Obama administration announced that a top fundraiser will be its German ambassador this week. And the Washington Times reports that the president, "unaware of historic norms, had been on track to give more than the usual 30 percent of ambassadorial jobs to political appointees until objections from career diplomats forced it to reconsider, administration officials say."

*Prepping for next week: Judge Sotomayor "has been barraged by hostile questions" in mock hearings, while also reviewing her past writings, speeches, cases and legal opinions, AP reports. "Sotomayor also has been learning the quirks of senators who will do the questioning, and developing a thick skin for the barbs that might come her way. The point is to ensure that no question comes up that Sotomayor hasn't heard and hasn't answered in the mock exercises."

**Cap-and-Trade: Nearly two-thirds of Republicans in Congress (64%) think the cap-and-trade bill passed in the House two weeks ago will not reduce global warming at all, according to National Journal's bi-weekly Congressional Insiders poll. No Democrats in Congress believed that -- 29% said it would help "a lot" and 40% said "some."

**Health Care
*"Democratic leaders in both chambers insist they will have healthcare legislation passed by the August recess, despite acknowledging significant obstacles ahead regarding how to pay for the plan," The Hill reports.

*"House and Senate Democrats appeared on Thursday to be on a collision course over how to pay for a sweeping overhaul of the nation's health care system, with the House planning to propose an income tax increase on the wealthiest Americans, an idea that Senate negotiators have all but dismissed as unworkable," NYT reports.

*"Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) emerged Thursday afternoon from a private meeting of key Finance panel negotiators on health care reform and expressed optimism that discussions toward a bipartisan bill remained on track. Baucus said Senators are continuing to review options to deliver legislation that is deficit-neutral, explaining that a renewed emphasis has been placed on developing additional cost-cutting measures in addition to new taxes as a means to pay for the health care overhaul," Roll Call reports.

*More from Roll Call: "Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), the chairman of the fiscally conservative Blue Dogs' health care task force, warned leadership in a Thursday night meeting that lasted more than two hours that the vast majority of the group could not support the bill unless major changes were made. Forty Blue Dogs signed a two-page letter communicating a series of demands ranging from more aid to rural areas to more cost-cutting to protections for small businesses."

*The Washington Post spells out the competing solutions to pay for the bill: "The House Ways and Means Committee is close to completing legislation expected to include a surtax of up to 3 percent on households with incomes that exceed $250,000, pushing the top rate over 40 percent, assuming President George W. Bush's 2001 tax cuts are allowed to expire next year as scheduled. The Senate Finance Committee is weighing a "millionaires' tax," a surcharge on health benefits for top earners and a Medicare tax on capital-gains income. And still on the table is Obama's proposal to limit deductions for wealthy taxpayers."

**Campaign Stuff
*Mike reported last night that Sarah Palin will be skipping next week's NGA Conference in Mississippi.

*IL Sen: To the surprise of no one, Sen. Roland Burris (D) will not run for election in 2010, Michael Sneed reports. "Sneed is told Burris was planning to announce his decision today -- and initially planned to only issue a press advisory and not field questions from reporters. Stay tuned."

Alexi Giannoulis, the leading Democrat in the Illinois Senate race now that Lisa Madigan has passed on the race, announced raising $1.8 million for his campaign.

*FL Sen: Charlie Crist raised an "eye-popping $4.3 million" in just 50 days, St. Pete Times reports. "Crist averaged about $86,000 in campaign donations per day." (His GOP rival Rubio raised $340,000) Separately, the Times' Smith says: "Rubio's still a (limping) contender, but the next three months in the fundraising doldrums of summer are make-or-break. As much as we love the idea of covering this whole battle-for-heart-and-soul of the GOP stuff, the reality is you can't tweet your way out of 30-point poll deficit and eight-to-one financial disadvantage."

*NV Sen: "The wealthy parents of Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) gave $96,000 last year to the staffer who was then his mistress and to her family, his attorney said yesterday." The husband of Ensign's mistress spoke on camera with Nevada politics reporter Jon Ralston two days ago.

*How about this - Joe Sestak and Arlen Specter are arguing over who is the real Democrat. Specter points to the fact that Sestak only changed his party affiliation to Democrat to run for Congress. Sestak said he felt it was important to remain an independent while in uniform, and acused the former Republican of a "Swift-Boat" attack.

*Joe Hoeffel, the Democrat who lost to Specter in the 2004 Senate race, is now considering a bid for governor, PA2010.com also reports.

*MA Gov: Charles Baker's (R) campaign could bring "the party back to a brand of Republicanism that has proved to be politically successful in Massachusetts over many years, a blend of moderate social views and fiscal restraint," Boston Globe reports. "On the Democratic side, there are many who believe the party is experiencing the exact opposite dynamic. With total dominance over the state's governing structures, the party is awash in infighting."

*What We Missed: Longtime St. Paul Pioneer-Press political reporter Bill Salisbury finally shaved his beard Tuesday after vowing Nov. 5 to not shave until a winner was confirmed in the Minnesota Senate race. (video included)

**Almanac of American Politics 2010: OK, fellow junkies. Our favorite book and yours looks like it's set to be released soon. National Journal published an excerpt from Michael Barone's introduction to the new 2010 edition in this week's magazine issue (subsc. req'd).

--Mike Memoli and Kyle Trygstad