Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
–John Dickerson reads the polls, sees a failure in salesmanship.
–The White House will get another chance today with the release of the Council of Economic Advisers’ latest stimulus report. Chairwoman Christina Romer will present her findings — that the Recovery Act “saved or created” 3 million jobs and spurred some $280 billion in private sector and local government investment — before the Joint Economic Committee on the Hill.
—Sean Trende argues Democrats’ flagging numbers aren’t just about the economy. Nate Silver responds.
–Stan Collender, who was in the running for OMB’s top spot himself, lauds Lew.
–The lingering Senate agenda: Dems want to send financial reform, unemployment benefits extensions and a small business tax credit to Obama’s desk in the next two weeks, plus win confirmations for Elena Kagan and James Clapper. Harry Reid says he has a rough draft of an energy bill to introduce the week of July 26. Notably included in the legislation: oil spill response measures, alternative energy incentives (that Dems will sell as job-creators) and a utilities-only carbon cap. The political test will be whether they can make a convincing enough case on the first two items to get to 60 on the emissions.
–Tests on BP’s new tight-fitting cap have been delayed. Florida bumper stickers reflect frustration.
–State Rep. Robert Bentley beat Bradley Byrne in Alabama’s GOP gubernatorial runoff. He’ll face Democrat Ron Sparks in November.
–And starts with “c,” rhymes with schmowincidence: the National League’s All-Star win as harbinger of a Republican wave.
What did I miss?