•Bush to declare support of "strong Europe" and desire for political-economic alliance. Bush: "I don't feel bitter, personally, and so it's easy to have a conversation with somebody to overcome bitterness if you don't feel bitter." [NYT, WP, USAT, WT]

• Swift Boat Vet consultants are back, baby! Hired by conservative lobbyist group USA Next to attack those nasty old people at AARP with a $10m ad budget: "They are the boulder in the middle of the highway to personal savings accounts. We will be the dynamite that removes them." [NYT]

• GAO cautions agencies not to cross line with public relations efforts. Too late? [WP]

•Doug Wead on releasing taped conversations with Bush: "If I released all the tapes, it would be an act of betrayal. Most of them have never seen the light of day and never will." Yeah, because just releasings *some* isn't a betrayal at all. [WP, USAT]

• Ambassador to Belgium describes Bush trip: "It's a very big deal. Advance people have been looking and measuring and walking and testing lights and moving chairs for the last two weeks." [NYT]

•Specter fighting conservatives and disease: It's been "the toughest week of my life." [USAT, USAT]

•Edwards has not ruled out '08 run, even if Kerry tries again: "I'll decide what's the right thing to do based on what's going on with my own family." [LAT]

•Brownstein sees civil war over judicial nominations because "neither side sees political gain in compromise." [LAT]

•Kennedy fundraising across country in hopes of running for reelection without an opponent. [BG]

•Voinovich rips government waste. [WP]

• Following the shrimp is more accurate than following the money, writes Birnbaum. [WP]