**President Obama
*In a CNN/Opinion Research poll, Obama's approval rating is at 56 percent, down 10 points from his 100th day. "According to the poll, 44 percent say that Obama's polices have so far made the economy better, with just of half of Americans saying they haven't had a positive effect."

*A Quinnipiac poll out this morning has Obama's approval at 50 percent. Q: "Voters disapprove 49 - 45 percent of the way the President is handling the economy and disapprove 52 - 39 percent of the way he is handling health care, but approve 52 - 38 percent of the way he is handling foreign policy."

*NY Times on Obama and other admin officials' message yesterday in stops across the country: "The day's events were part of the administration's weeklong campaign to spread a message that the economy has been rescued and now, with a hand from the government, is rebuilding on a more high-tech foundation. But with the week likely to end this Friday with the Labor Department's reporting that unemployment in July increased from the 9.5 percent in June, the president and his lieutenants tempered their optimism."

*Christina Romer, chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, said this morning in a speech at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C. (as prepared for delivery): "In an unusually whimsical moment, I sent in as the title of my talk, "So, Is It Working?" Though it may destroy some of the suspense, I thought that given the provocative title, I should probably get straight to the answer: Absolutely. The Recovery Act, together with the actions taken by the Treasury and the Federal Reserve to stabilize financial markets and the housing sector, is helping to slow the decline and change the trajectory of the economy. It is providing a crucial lift to aggregate demand at a time when the economy needs it most. And, we anticipate that the effects will build through the end of this year and the beginning of the next."

*Brennan previewed the speech we noted above with the Washington Post, saying that the U.S. "must fundamentally redefine the struggle against terrorism, replacing the 'war on terror' with a campaign combining all facets of national power to defeat the enemy. "It needs to be much more than a kinetic effort, an intelligence, law enforcement effort. It has to be much more comprehensive," said Brennan. "This is not a 'war on terror.' . . . We cannot let the terror prism guide how we're going to interact and be involved in different parts of the world."

*"Conservative activists are vowing to keep up their fight against President Barack Obama's health care plans, even as the Democratic Party pushes back hard, accusing Republicans of organizing angry mobs," AP reports.

*Washington Post reports: "The Obama administration is considering an overhaul of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that would strip the mortgage finance giants of hundreds of billions of dollars in troubled loans and create a new structure to support the home-loan market, government officials said."

**Congress
*Washington Post reports that the Senate is "inching toward a bipartisan agreement" on health care. "The emerging Finance Committee bill would shave about $100 billion off the projected trillion-dollar cost of the legislation over the next decade and eventually provide coverage to 94 percent of Americans, according to participants in the talks. It would expand Medicaid, crack down on insurers, abandon the government insurance option that President Obama is seeking and, for the first time, tax health-care benefits under the most generous plans. Backers say the bill would also offer the only concrete plan before Congress for reining in the skyrocketing cost of federal health programs over the long term."

*"Cows, clunkers and the courts capture these last hot days of the Senate's summer session with both parties now committed to completing final votes by Thursday night and following the House home," Politico reports. "All Senate business stopped for two hours Wednesday as Democrats held a lengthy caucus on the health care reform battle that still looms ahead this fall. But both the dairy vote Tuesday and the clunker debate expected Thursday underscore how much the economy remains a central worry for the majority party."

*Los Angeles Times: "Democrats had hoped that this month's congressional recess would give lawmakers a chance to explain the healthcare legislation and tell voters what's in it for them. But critics got a jump on that debate and are already deep into a campaign to portray the legislation, which is still being written, as a government takeover of healthcare that will disrupt voters' established relationships with doctors. Absent definitive legislation, critics have been able to demonize provisions that may not be in the final bill."

*AP: "Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor won more GOP support in her drive toward near-certain Senate confirmation Thursday as the first Hispanic justice, even as a growing chorus of Republicans called her unfit for the bench. Republican Sens. Kit Bond of Missouri and Judd Gregg of New Hampshire broke with their party to announce they'd support President Barack Obama's nominee, as the Senate cleared the way for a history-making vote that will shape the court for decades to come and could carry heavy political consequences for both parties."

(As a side note, Gregg and Bond are not running for re-election next year.)

**Headed to Prison: "William Jefferson, the former nine-term congressman, was convicted Wednesday of 11 of 16 counts of public corruption in a verdict that prosecutors said could send the 62-year-old New Orleans Democrat to prison for 20 years. But, in an ironic twist, Jefferson was not convicted of the charge directly related to the $90,000 that was found wrapped in foil and sandwiched between Boca burgers and Pillsbury pie crust boxes when the FBI raided his Washington, D.C., home four years ago this week," New Orleans Times-Picayune reports.

(Jefferson's former House seat will be hotly contested this year after he was defeated by a Republican in 2008.)

**Campaign Stuff
*Mitt Romney's got a book coming, the Times reports. It's called, "No Apology: The Case for American Greatness," and "outlines what appears to be a campaign platform: Mr. Romney's views on how to create a stronger economy, military and families, and his vision on jobs, education, health care, energy and citizenship. The manuscript is currently 304 pages."

*Mike Huckabee compares Obama's spending to his eating problems, CNN notes. "He's hungry for more! Fresh from gulping down $800 billion of our money to load up his Washington smorgasbord, he's planning yet another massive banquet. Obama wants to belly up to the table and swallow the best health care system in the world. And you and I will pay the tab for this gargantuan pig-out!" Huckabee writes.

*KY Sen: "Rand Paul, the son of 2008 presidential candidate Ron Paul, ended months of speculation Wednesday by saying he will run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated next year by fellow Republican Jim Bunning," AP reports.

*IL-10: "State Sen. Michael Bond, D-31st, of Grayslake, has decided not to run for the 10th Congressional District and instead make a bid for re-election for his senate seat. Tuesday was the first day candidates could begin circulating nominating papers for the Feb. 2 general primary. The general election will be Nov., 2, 2010.

**Politics Daily breaks down the false rumors circulating recently, including Sarah Palin's divorce and one about Chuck Todd.

**RealClearSports sat down for 10 questions with USA Today columnist Christine Brennan. Check it out here.

--Kyle Trygstad and Mike Memoli