• Conservatives remain committed to Roberts; final verification will come at confirmation hearings. [WP]

•Brownstein: "[Republican's] legislation that aims squarely at the priorities of conservatives and offers relatively few concessions to other perspectives. . . guarantees antagonism from Democrats and risks discontent among swing voters, who generally prefer the parties to moderate each other." [LAT]

• Mother of soldier killed in Iraq creates conundrum for Bush as she captures the media's attention by camping outside of his Crawford ranch: "I plan on staying here the entire month of August or until he comes out to talk to me." [NYT, USAT]

• Approval of Bush is not boosted by upbeat economic indicators; could be "a spillover of respondents' other worries, such as the war in Iraq and terrorism." [WSJ]

•Roberts said in 2000 that nominees often "go their own way." [WP]

•Bush stays busy in Crawford while aides take vacations; Nicolle Devenish is off to Greece for her wedding. [NYT]

•Hillary tries to defy partisanship, for '06 and '08. [LAT]

•Roberts fought to "limit the rights of criminal defendants." [WSJ]

•Roberts' current views on privacy rights are unknown. [NYT]

• Civil liberties panel established by Congress has never convened; critics blame underfunding and lack of commitment. [WP]

•Mike Allen named White House correspondent for Time magazine after years at The Washington Post. Allen: "An editor at Time told me they aim for intellectual and literary seduction. I was hooked. This is very hard, because walking into The Washington Post newsroom is like stepping onto the grass at Fenway." [NYT]