Daily Briefing: Get a Grip

• Disapproval of Bush could drive a rejection of Republican candidates in November. GOP pollster: “Democrats will have an easier time of getting out their vote because of their intense disapproval of the president. That means we Republicans are going to have to bring our ‘A’ turnout game in November.” [WP]
• Rumsfeld’s “grip on the Defense Department is slipping as some uniformed officers increasingly chart their own course.” [W$J]
• Republicans back Rumsfeld on Sunday talk shows. [NYT, USAT]
• 48 American troops have died in Iraq so far this month. [USAT]
• If Roe were overturned, 22 states are likely to “impose significant new restrictions on abortion.” [USAT]
• Josh Bolten officially takes office today; he gave Andy Card an Egg McMuffin on his way out. [USAT]
• Time magazine names Sens. Thad Cochran, Kent Conrad, Dick Durbin, Ted Kennedy, Jon Kyl, Carl Levin, Richard Lugar, John McCain, Olympia Snowe, and Arlen Specter as the nation’s best; Sens. Daniel Akaka, Wayne Allard, Jim Bunning, Conrad Burns, and Mark Dayton considered the worst. [Time]
• Immigration rallies “have also energized those who support a crackdown on illegal immigration.” [NYT]
• Can Rep. Tom DeLay be a lobbyist next? [WP]
• Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) brings sadness to Washington state in an effort to take down Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.). [WP]
• Supreme Court justices spark laughter just from speaking funny. [USAT]

READ MORE: 2006, Andy Card, Daniel Akaka, Jim Bunning, Maria Cantwell, Mark Dayton, Olympia Snowe, SCOTUS, White House, abrotion, arlen specter, carl levin, conrad burns, dick durbin, donald rumsfeld, george w. bush, immigration, iraq, john mccain, jon kyl, josh bolten, kent conrad, richard lugar, ted kennedy, ted stevens, thad cochran, time magazine, tom delay, wayne allard