**Check out all the highlights from the Sunday talk shows -- including John McCain talking Sarah Palin; Sotomayor, CIA and Cheney discussions by Senate Judiciary Committee members; and much more -- at RealClearPolitics Video.

**Sonia Sotomayor
*Roll Call: "The Senate Judiciary Committee begins hearings on the Supreme Court nomination of Sonia Sotomayor today, but with her installment all but certain, Republicans are unlikely to put the nominee on trial. Rather, GOP Senators will use the high-profile forum to make a case for the direction of the judiciary and to set out their definition of an ideal jurist."

*NBC's Chuck Todd, on "Morning Joe": "It's about her demeanor. How she handles herself under questioning from Republican senators. ... Barring anything that we don't know...these hearings are going to be fine as long as she keeps her cool. ... It's long, it's draining...it can be very frustrating. But a judge should be able to handle it more than most."

*Washington Post: "Democrats are betting that an overly zealous assault on Sotomayor by Republican senators could anger Latinos and accelerate the shift of Hispanic voters away from the Republican Party, particularly in the South and West. Conservatives are hoping to use the Sotomayor hearings as a way to motivate their base if they can successfully portray her as an activist judge whose "empathy" for certain groups guides her rulings more than court precedent or the written law."

*Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, in a statement yesterday: "President Obama called Judge Sotomayor from the Oval Office this morning to wish her good luck as she completed preparations for her confirmation hearing. He complimented the Judge for making courtesy calls to 89 Senators in which she discussed her adherence to the rule of law throughout her 17 years on the federal bench. The President expressed his confidence that Judge Sotomayor would be confirmed to serve as a Justice on the Supreme Court for many years to come."

*Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and ranking member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) appeared together on "Face the Nation." Leahy: "I would hope it does not turn into a partisan fight for the good of the courts and the good of the Supreme Court." Sessions: "It's absolutely critical that who ever sits on the bench -- and no one should sit on the federal bench who is not committed to the principles of the oath."

*Seven New York Times reporters write what to watch for in the hearings.

*Politico offers a list of things to watch as well.

*L.A. Times offers a history of Hart Senate Office Building Room 216, where the Sotomayor hearings will take place.

*Judiciary member Ted Kaufman (D-Del.) writes on op-ed on the hearings for RCP. "Searching for and asking "gotcha" questions is a waste of everyone's time," Kaufman writes.

*Be sure to check out National Journal's Ninth Justice blog, with excellent analysis from Stuart Taylor Jr.

**President Obama
*"After a week of international diplomacy, President Obama returns to Washington this week facing an even greater diplomatic challenge: nudging the large and controversial health-care reform package toward consensus on Capitol Hill," Washington Post reports. And this may be one key reason why they've hit trouble: "Part of the administration's success in keeping everyone involved, however, has relied on deferring the hardest decisions. Now, as the legislation nears completion in House and Senate committees, there is no way to avoid making choices, and that has disrupted the earlier momentum."

*Politico on the status of health care: "A series of setbacks has made the task of completing floor votes in both chambers virtually insurmountable, given the plodding pace of the Senate. The official line from the White House and the congressional leadership is it's possible, but privately, there are a dwindling number of aides who would put money on it. And without a deal by August, the ripple effects could start to endanger the prospect of health care reform this year altogether."

**CIA, Congress and the President
*"After trying for months to shake off the legacy of their predecessors and focus on their own priorities, Obama administration officials have begun to concede that they cannot leave the fight against terrorism unexhumed and are reluctantly moving to examine some of the most controversial and clandestine episodes.

"The acknowledgment came amid fresh disclosures about CIA activity that had been hidden from Congress for seven years, the secrecy surrounding a little-understood electronic surveillance program that operated without court approval, and word that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. favors naming a criminal prosecutor to examine whether U.S. interrogators tortured terrorism suspects," WaPo reports.

*"A secret Central Intelligence Agency initiative terminated by Director Leon Panetta was an attempt to carry out a 2001 presidential authorization to capture or kill al Qaeda operatives, according to former intelligence officials familiar with the matter," WSJ reports.

*The New York Times outlines pressure to come after new revelations about former Vice President Cheney and the Bush administration's surveillance program. "Leading Democrats on Sunday demanded investigations of how a highly classified counterterrorism program was kept secret from the Congressional leadership." That, and other possible probes "makes four fronts on which the intelligence apparatus is under siege. It is just the kind of distraction from Mr. Obama's domestic priorities -- repairing the economy, revamping the health care system, and addressing the long-term problems of energy and climate -- that the White House wanted to avoid."

**Palin
*Sarah Palin tells the Washington Times that she'll campaign not just for Republicans, but even likeminded Democrats as well. "I will go around the country on behalf of candidates who believe in the right things, regardless of their party label or affiliation," she said. "People are so tired of the partisan stuff -- even my own son is not a Republican," said Mrs. Palin, who stunned the political world earlier this month with her decision to step down as governor July 26 with 18 months left in her term.

*The Los Angeles Times writes about the open season from Republican pundits on Palin of late. "What is remarkable is the contempt Palin has engendered within her own party and the fact that so many of her GOP detractors are willing, even eager, to express it publicly -- even with Palin an early front-runner for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination."

**Campaign Stuff
*AL Gov: "One city block in Montgomery, Ala., tells almost everything there is to know about the challenge facing Rep. Artur Davis in his bid to become the state's governor in 2010," reports Politics Daily.

*Club for Growth president Chris Chocola interviewed by Roll Call: "The new president of the anti-tax group told Roll Call that he didn't plan to make any 'drastic' or 'substantive' changes to the way the club operates and said that he is still open to the idea of backing primary challengers against incumbent Republicans on a 'case by case' basis."

*Chris Cillizza finally settles the Mark Kirk Senate speculation. "Seventy-two hours after informing several Republican strategists that he was not running for the Senate in Illinois due to concerns of a primary challenge, Rep. Mark Kirk looks almost certain to get a clear field after all. Illinois Republican Party chairman Andy McKenna is nearly certain to bow out in favor of Kirk today, according to numerous conversations with strategists close to the process. Kirk had made clear that he would not run if McKenna also ran."

*KY Sen: "Secretary of State Trey Grayson takes over next week as president of the National Association of Secretaries of State, a position that could provide helpful political connections if he decides to enter next year's election for U.S. senator from Kentucky," AP reports.

*While Obama is in New Jersey campaigning for Jon Corzine on Thursday, Biden will be in Virginia hosting a fundraiser for Creigh Deeds, Washington Times reports.

*Corzine's internal polling shows him only trailing by four points, PolitickerNJ.com reports.

*Something to watch in Florida. St. Pete Times: For the first time since 1996, the Florida Democratic Party outraised the Republican Party of Florida.

**Engagement Alert: Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) is engaged to Hillary Clinton's personal aide, Huma Abedin.

**Party Time: Gallup: "The percentage of all Americans who identified as Republican in June was 28%, but is higher at 33% among those who are married, and a lower 21% among unmarried Americans. On the other hand, Democratic identification in June was at 35% overall, but 31% among married Americans, and 41% among those who are not married. This marriage gap in party identification is evident across races as well as age groups."

--Kyle Trygstad and Mike Memoli