Daily Briefing, Part II: 'A Special Kind of Art Form'

•Rep.Roy Blunt(R-Mo.) claims to have over 100 of the 116 votes necessary to be majority leader. [ WP ]

• Bushvisits the Gulf Coast for the first time in three months: "Four months is not all that long, and a lot's happened in that four-month period. And a lot more is going to happen in the next four months, and then the next four months." [ WP , NYT , W$J ]

•Leadership races "are a special kind of art form"; Reps.John Boehner(R-Ohio) andBlunt"barely waited for the ink to dry onDeLay's farewell letter earlier this month before jumping into the race for the second-ranking job." [ WP ]

•Administration may set standards for domestic intelligence. [ WP ]

•Deficit could top $400b, White House official says. [ WP , NYT ]

• RumsfeldconsideredBremer's request for additional troops. [ WP ]

•200 private school girls rally to encourageBushto improve New Orleans levees. [ NYT ]