- The economy added 117,000 jobs in July while the unemployment rate dipped to 9.1%. Those are modest but relieving numbers after several bad months and very low expectations. Public sector losses are still dragging the number down.
- “Double-dip” was being thrown around after yesterday’s global market rout. (TIME considered bringing back its scared trader gallery.)
- Congress’s disapproval skyrockets to 82% in the NYT/CBS News poll. Republicans appear to have came out of the debt debate more damaged politically, but austerity as a policy has retained support: More people disapproved of congressional Republicans than Obama or Democrats and, and disapproval of Speaker Boehner has climbed by 16 points; meanwhile 44% said the cuts were insufficient, compared to 15% who said they went too far.
- Ron Brownstein on alienation and 2012.
- Nancy Pelosi’s argument for why this Congress isn’t so bad: “They used to cane each other and have duels.”
- $30 million airdropped onto Wisconsin for recall elections.
- The disappearing firm that gave Mitt Romney $1 million.
- And Obama turned 50 despite Republican opposition.
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Obama’s Persuasive Powers on Gay Marriage Manifest in Maryland
When President Obama endorsed gay marriage earlier this month, the media grappled with two basic political questions: Was his personal “evolution” a case of a politician transparently following a national trend toward accepting same-sex unions (accelerated, perhaps, by his chatty No. 2), and would it hurt his re-election chances by alienating socially conservative voters like black churchgoers? Sure, there was a recognition that it marked a gratifying moment for gay-marriage advocates — as well as some grumbling about the President’s view that it remains a state issue, not a federal one. But by and large, there were few suggestions that one man, even the President, would shift public opinion on the issue or affect public policy. Based on a new Public Policy Polling survey out of Maryland, it seems this possibility was underestimated.
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