**President Obama
*A new Washington Post/ABC News poll finds Obama with a 57% job approval rating -- his highest mark in more than two weeks. However, less than half of Americans are confident in his leadership and ability to significantly improve the health care system.

*"A new Gallup Poll finds that 68% of Americans believe their federal income taxes will be higher by the time Barack Obama's first term as president ends. This includes 35% who say their taxes will be 'a lot higher.' "

AP: "With control of the health care debate slipping from his grasp, President Barack Obama pitched his ambitious plan to both conservative talk radio and his own liberal supporters Thursday -- and denied a challenge from one backer that he was 'bucklin' a little bit' under Republican criticism. Liberals were on the verge of revolt as Obama refused to say any final deal must include a government-run insurance option, while Republicans pressed their all-but-unified opposition to the White House effort. Obama, who will leave Washington Friday on vacation, said reason would prevail and it was no time to panic."

*The quote of the day yesterday, as Obama noted he'd been written off this time of year before: "There's something about August going into September where everybody in Washington gets all wee-wee'd up," Obama said, with the Washington Times noting "wee-wee'd" was "a term he hasn't used publicly before." "I don't know what it is, but that's what's happening. Instead of being preoccupied with the polls and the pundits and the cable chatter, you guys just kept on working."

*USA Today: "President Obama's scheduled arrival Sunday for his first week-long vacation since taking office has this island near Cape Cod in a dither. Some worry about traffic, but business owners hope the visit will draw tourists in a year that has been slower than usual."

**Health Care
*"President Barack Obama, seeking to rally his base, accused Republican leaders Thursday of trying to block a health-care overhaul from the start and again threw his weight behind a government-run insurance plan. During a radio call-in show and at a town-hall meeting of supporters, Mr. Obama tacked to the left as Democratic allies inched toward trying to pass a health-care bill on their own," WSJ reports.

*New York Times reports that "those involved in the Senate negotiations continued to express confidence that they could ultimately reach an agreement when Congress returned next month, though they said any legislation produced would have to be scaled back from measures that have cleared other committees in the House and the Senate." Obama also spoke with Sens. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine).

*House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said yesterday that health care "won't get through her chamber unless it creates a government-run insurance program to compete with the private industry," Bloomberg reports. Pelosi: "There's no way I can pass a bill in the House of Representatives without a public option."

*Washington Post reports: "In a conference call, the three Democratic and three Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee agreed to redouble their efforts to craft a less costly alternative to the trillion-dollar initiatives so far put forward in Congress. They discussed the possibility of also reining in the scope of their package, the sources said."

*"Grassroots liberal activists have begun a fund-raising drive to support House members who pledge to vote against any health care legislation that lacks a public insurance option. The effort, which began on Tuesday, has already raised more than $175,000, and organizers have increased their goal from $150,000 to $250,000," NY Times reports.

**Ted Kennedy
*The Fix: "If the Kennedy amendment is passed and state law changed, one name that might be appealing, according to a well-connected Democratic strategist with ties to Massachusetts, is former governor Michael Dukakis, the Democratic party's 1988 presidential nominee."

*Boston Globe reports on the Republican reaction to Kennedy's letter. "Everybody feels for Senator Kennedy, but the laws shouldn't be created to benefit particular individuals, it should be principled," said Senate minority leader Richard Tisei. Also, from a Democrat: "I'm not in favor of it," said state Rep. Brian Wallace. "I've got great respect for Senator Kennedy, but I think we've been down this road. I'm in favor of having an election, there's nothing fairer than that. It just opens up a whole can of worms all again."

**Campaign Stuff
*Bush administration inflated terror alerts during elections? Tom Ridge, the former head of the Department of Homeland Security, reportedly writes that in his new book due out next month.

*Not so, aides responded. "We went over backwards repeatedly and with great discipline to make sure politics did not influence any national security and homeland security decisions," former White House chief of staff Andy Card told Politico. "The clear instructions were to make sure politics never influenced anything."

*Gov. Jon Corzine's (D-N.J.) campaign filed a legal challenge with the U.S. Department of Justice yesterday "to force the release of federal records concerning Republican Chris Christie's tenure as U.S. attorney," the Star-Ledger reports. "For months, Corzine's campaign has requested records that include Christie's travel expense reports, his daily calendars, the office's budget and salary documents. Corzine's call to release the records became more emphatic this week after revelations that Christie, who left the prosecutor's office last year, has a continuing financial relationship with the second-in-command at the U.S. Attorney's Office."

*VA Gov: Creigh Deeds (D) is delivering a "major campaign address" today at George Mason University and after will unveil his first TV ad of the general election campaign.

*Charlie Cook has updated his 2010 forecast, saying Democrats are poised to lose seats, Politico notes. "These data confirm anecdotal evidence, and our own view, that the situation this summer has slipped completely out of control for President Obama and Congressional Democrats. Today, The Cook Political Report's Congressional election model, based on individual races, is pointing toward a net Democratic loss of between six and 12 seats, but our sense, factoring in macro-political dynamics is that this is far too low," he wrote.

*IA Gov: State Senate Minority Leader Paul McKinley (R), considering running for governor next year, "says he would reconsider if top-tier candidates like former Gov. Terry Branstad join the 2010 race," Quad City Times reports.

*Swing State Project has a good roundup of the latest fundraising numbers from the various party committees.

Sports Alert: The Nationals today officially roll out their number one draft pick, Stephen Strasburg, at the ballpark. Maybe we can see a first pitch tonight.