Daily Briefing: "Like Stepping onto the Grass at Fenway"
•Conservatives remain committed toRoberts; 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 forBushas 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 ofBushis not boosted by upbeat economic indicators; could be "a spillover of respondents' other worries, such as the war in Iraq and terrorism." [ WSJ ]
• Robertssaid in 2000 that nominees often "go their own way." [ WP ]
• Bushstays busy in Crawford while aides take vacations;Nicolle Devenishis off to Greece for her wedding. [ NYT ]
• Hillarytries to defy partisanship, for '06 and '08. [ LAT ]
• Robertsfought 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 Allennamed 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 ]