**President Obama
*New York Times covers the president's NAACP speech, saying he "delivered a fiery sermon to black America." He was "one part politician and one part black preacher as he spoke in lilting cadences, his voice quiet at times, thundering at others, in unusually personal terms." He urged black parents to accept their own responsibilities by 'putting away the Xbox and putting our kids to bed at a reasonable hour,' and telling black children that growing up poor is no reason to get bad grades." Obama: "Your destiny is in your hands, and don't you forget that. That's what we have to teach all of our children! No excuses! No excuses!"

*Joe Biden challenged Eric Cantor in his backyard yesterday over stimulus spending, the Richmond Times Dispatch reports. Without naming Cantor, Biden said: "The very guy who says this [stimulus] is not working wants to make sure you get high-speed rail. ... Now where do you think that money is coming from?"

*But ABC suspects that the White House is shifting terminology on the stimulus plan, saying rather than boosting the economy it was primarily "designed to cushion the downturn," as Robert Gibbs put it. "When pressed about the change in terminology, Gibbs said he was not trying to temper expectations after the fact."

*Speaking of Cantor: "Further fueling speculation that House Republican Whip Eric Cantor is mulling a bid for the White House, new federal election reports show the Virginia Republican recently spent big bucks on speech coaching," The Sleuth reports.

*The final word: asked about her role in policymaking in the Obama administration, Hillary Clinton said: "I broke my elbow, not my larynx."

**Health Care
*AP: "President Barack Obama's top domestic priority is on an unpredictable, midsummer trajectory as the White House and Democrats struggle to bring the complex, controversial issue to a vote in both houses before lawmakers leave town for their August break. As a sign of the urgency, some House members worked through the night. The Education and Labor Committee debated amendments to health care legislation until about 6 a.m. Friday and planned to resume at 9:15 a.m."

*After a "sobering" warning from the CBO director, senators involved in health care talks said they "are making solid progress toward a compromise they claimed would hold down costs, addressing the budgetary concerns. But it could take more time to work out difficult issues," AP says, "and that means that Obama's timetable for floor votes in the House and Senate before August would slip."

*"Three tax increases proposed by President Obama and House Democrats on the richest Americans could produce the highest tax rates in a quarter-century," USA Today reports. "Shifting the cost of health care, Social Security and other budget priorities toward high-income Americans would mean an actual tax rate above 45% for the wealthiest -- 'levels never seen,' says Clint Stretch, a tax expert at Deloitte Tax LLP.

*Harry Reid lashed out at the CBO director, who yesterday warned that the health care reform effort would only add to the government's long term costs. Per The Examiner: "What he should do is maybe run for Congress," Reid said. Speaker Pelosi, meanwhile, said Elmendorf did not take into consideration savings the administration expects. "I think we can bend the curve more," in terms of cutting costs from the bill, she said.

*Politico: "It's tempting to say it was just that kind of day in health care -- except lately it seems like most every day goes a little like this in the up-and-down negotiations over a $1 trillion health care overhaul, where every hint of good news for Democrats is met by a clear reminder that success is still a long way off."

*"As a divided Senate tangles over health care legislation, there is bipartisan consensus on one point: Ted Kennedy could make a big difference, if only he were here," NY Times reports.

*"For a brief moment Thursday, Senate Democrats could celebrate. Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus suggested for the first time publicly he was hoping for a bipartisan deal to pay for health care reform by the end of the day. The good feelings didn't last long," Politico reports.

*"The American Medical Association (AMA), which helped torpedo the Clinton administration's effort to revamp the nation's healthcare system 15 years ago, endorsed the House Democrats' health bill on Thursday," The Hill reports.

*Politics Daily's Jill Lawrence: "It would be an understatement to say expectations were high when the Obama high command announced it was turning Obama For America into Organizing For America and moving it from Chicago to DNC headquarters in Washington. Yet for a while, the fabled grassroots troops that powered Obama to the White House appeared to be AWOL. It seemed that the "movement" and its massive 13 million name e-mail list had been lost in transition. Well, they're back, and the next three crucial weeks should give us some indication of whether Team Obama has successfully transformed an election campaign operation into an issue advocacy shop."

**Sotomayor
*"Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor won virtual assurance of rapid confirmation yesterday when Senate Republicans announced that they do not intend to block a vote that would make her the first Hispanic on the nation's highest court, concluding three days of intense questioning," Washington Post reports.

*AP reports that the Sotomayor on display in the Senate this week was the same judge observers have seen at work in New York. "Sotomayor beamed warmth as she entered the hearing room each day and was greeted by a kiss from her mother. ... But as the chairman's gavel each day banged the committee to order and senators began firing questions at her, she transformed into the intensely focused 55-year-old jurist who chose each word as carefully as a diamond cutter works on a stone."

*"Any prospect of a hitch to Judge Sotomayor's confirmation evaporated after the potentially most compelling witness -- Frank Ricci, the firefighter at the center of a controversial reverse-discrimination case she had ruled on -- declined to offer an opinion on her at all," WSJ reports.

*"Sonia Sotomayor's success at her Supreme Court confirmation hearing has some Republicans in a tight spot, with conservative senators forced to weigh the political calculus of voting on the court's first Latina nominee, who also is the first liberal nominee in 15 years," AP reports.

**Campaign Stuff
*KS Sen: "Kansas Republicans no longer wonder whether 1 of the two veteran congressmen running for the U.S. Senate will drop out of the race. Jerry Moran and Todd Tiahrt are building statewide organizations, collecting endorsements and trying to raise several million dollars. That's crucial early work for the August 2010 primary election campaign," AP reports.

*Former Rep. Jim Ryun endorsed Rep. Todd Tiahrt over Rep. Jerry Moran in the Kansas Senate GOP primary.

*In the National Journal insiders poll, a majority of Democrats thinks Sarah Palin would be a liability for candidates in 2010, while "a smaller majority of Republicans thought she would be an asset."

*The New York Times reports that Jon Corzine is for the first time in his political career reaching out aggressively for campaign donations. "Mr. Corzine is trying to raise upward of $15 million from donors, according to people involved, which he hopes to match with no more than $25 million of his own. He is calling wealthy donors personally to ask for money, holding receptions and staging larger events, like a performance by Jon Bon Jovi last month. On Thursday, President Obama joined him at a $5,000- to $10,000-a-plate luncheon expected to raise more than $1 million."

*Rep. Mike Castle continues to battle his leadership over the already-passed energy bill, which The Hill suggests is another sign he won't be running for re-election in 2010.

*Cillizza reports that Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), who will announce his Senate candidacy Monday, plans to raise $25 million for the race.

*Jim Bunning's fundraising total is called pathetic in the Cincinnati Enquirer. "Bunning was out-raised over the last three months by all of the other major candidates and potential rivals either in or considering next year's Kentucky U.S. Senate race." He raised just $302,466 during the second quarter, and has $595,571 in the bank.

--Kyle Trygstad and Mike Memoli