Majority Leader Harry Reid told reporters today that he does not support forcing health care reform through Congress before the August recess.

“It's better to get a product that's based on quality and thoughtfulness than on trying to just get something through,” Reid said.

However spun, it's a blow to Barack Obama and Democrats. The punt on health care reform comes so soon before the August recess because completing the legislative push was beginning to prove impossible before the recess.

It's one more sign this White House will face a crammed schedule when legislators return in September. Delays on health care reform will inevitably delay other legislation. Meanwhile, the clock on the health care debate will only tick louder heading toward winter. Whether Democrats wish to admit it or not, their window is narrowing.

Gallup reports this morning that eight in ten Americans still blame George W. Bush for the “economic problems currently facing the United States,” including 43 percent who blame Bush a “great deal.”

Only 32 percent of Americans blame Barack Obama, by comparison, for the recession. And a mere 14 percent blame Obama a “great deal.”

Thinking about the economic problems currently facing the United States, how much do you blame – [RANDOM ORDER] for these – a great deal, a moderate amount, not much, or not at all?

A. George W. Bush

B. Barack Obama

He's playing a leading role in the health care negotiations. But if the election was held today, Chris Dodd would be looking for work. A new Quinnipiac poll shows the Connecticut senator and former presidential candidate trailing former Rep. Rob Simmons, the likely Republican nominee, in his bid for a sixth term.

General Election Matchups
Simmons 48 (+5 from May)
Dodd 39 (unch)
Don't Know 10 (-5)

Dodd 42 (+1)
Caligiuri 40 (+1)
Don't Know 15 (-2)

Dodd 42 (+7)
Foley 42 (-1)
Don't Know 14 (-2)

Dodd 43
Schiff 38
Don't Know 16

Several of his potential rivals have low name ID at this point. In a potential Republican primary, Simmons is clearly ahead, at 42 percent, with Foley and Caligiuri at 5 percent each.

Favorability Ratings
Dodd 40 / 50
Simmons 39 / 12
Caligiuri 12 / 4
Alpert 3 / 1
Foley 17 / 5
Schiff 7 / 3

Dodd's job approval rating is at 42 percent, up four points from May. Asked if Dodd is honest and trustworthy, only 35 percent of voters said yes, compared to 55 percent who say no. But asked if he's a strong leader, 62 percent say yes.

As President Obama has showered Dodd with praise, the Quinnipiac poll shows that 71 percent of voters say that their vote won't be swayed even if he campaigns actively on Dodd's behalf. The president's job approval stands at 57 percent, down 5 points from March.

The survey of 1,499 registered voters was conducted from July 16 - 20, with a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percent.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) announced on the Senate floor today that he will vote to support Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation to the Supreme Court.

"I choose to vote for Judge Sotomayor because I believe she is well-qualified," Graham said.

I wrote last week about the likelihood of Graham voting for the nominee and his reasons for doing so. From the floor, Graham railed against -- in his calm voice -- the filibusters Democrats placed on President Bush's judicial nominees. He hopes Democrats will offer future conservative nominees and presidents the same deference that he's showing.

"What am I trying to do today? I'm trying to start over," Graham said today. "I hope we can get back to a more traditional sense of what the Senate is all about."

Graham becomes the fifth GOP senator to announce his support for Sotomayor.

A new Strategic Vision (R), conducted after President Obama's event with Gov. Jon Corzine (D), shows the incumbent falling only further behind.

General Election Matchup
Christie 53 (+2)
Corzine 38 (-1)
Daggett 5
Undecided 4 (-4)

Daggett, an independent candidate and former state EPA administrator, was not included in the June survey. Christie's lead in the RCP Average is now 10.5 points.

Corzine's job approval has basically held steady, but President Obama's score has slipped six points.

Job Approval Rating
Corzine: 35/55
Menendez: 51/38
Lautenberg: 48/42
Obama: 50/40

The survey also found that only 24 percent of voters say the state is on the right track, a dip of four points since the last survey.

The telephone survey of 800 likely voters was conducted June 17-19, and had a margin of error of +/- 3 points.

With President Obama set for a primetime news conference tonight on health care, Congressional Republican leaders have announced their own news conference for mid-afternoon.

In a rare joint appearance, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader John Boehner will meet the press at 3:30 p.m. in the Capitol "to discuss the need for health care reform," according to a press release.

The move comes a day after Obama blasted Republicans who "openly declare their intention to block reform."

"These opponents of reform would rather score political points than offer relief to Americans who've seen premiums double and costs grow three times faster than wages," he said.

At the daily briefing, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs followed up Obama's point that Republicans are politicizing the debate. "I think there are some Republicans that have decided that this isn't about health care, it's about politics and it's about scoring political points and it's about perpetuating the political games that have dominated Washington for far longer than even the debates on health care reform," Gibbs said.

McConnell took to the Senate floor this morning, previewing what he may say later.

"All of us recognize the need for reform," he said. "That's not in question. And that's why day after day, I have come to the floor of the Senate and proposed concrete, common-sense reforms that all of us can agree on, reforms that would increase access, decrease costs, and guarantee that no one in this country would be forced to give up the care they currently have."

While the president and Congress go back and forth on the details of a health care reform bill, Gallup reported today that 16 percent of American adults do not have health insurance.

Sen. Arlen Specter's (D-Pa.) sizeable lead over GOP challenger Pat Toomey has been erased and a plurality of voters now say he does not deserve to be re-elected, a new Quinnipiac survey finds (July 14-19, 1173 RV, MoE +/- 2.9%).

Specter's 20-point lead in early May and 9-point lead in late May has dwindled to 1 point, as he leads the former congressman 45%-44%. Voters are split on his approval rating, with 47% approving and 46% disapproving -- his highest disapproval rating ever. Voters also split 45%-44% on whether they have a favorable opinion of him.

Specter now leads Toomey by 7.0 points in the RCP Pennsylvania Senate Average.

"Voters see Sen. Specter much less favorably than they once did and are net negative about giving him a sixth term in the U.S. Senate," said Peter A. Brown, Quinnipiac's assistant director. Independent voters have shifted narrowly to Toomey 46 - 42 percent and say 53 - 35 percent that Specter does not deserve reelection."

Good news for Specter, though, is that he crushes his Democratic primary opponent, Joe Sestak, a second-term congressman from Philadelphia. Specter leads 55%-23%, with 19% undecided. However, 69% of voters said they haven't heard enough about Sestak to form an opinion of him.

Toomey appears to have no trouble in the Republican primary, as he leads Peg Luksik 47%-6%. In other potential general election matchups, Specter leads Luksik 47%-40%, and Toomey tops Sestak 39%-35%.

Democrat Dan Seals announces his third bid for Congress in Illinois 10 - only this time he won't have to run against Mark Kirk.

Right after Campbell Brown asserts CNN is the only cable channel "still doing journalism" comes this intrepid piece from Jeanne Moos on Obama's "mom jeans":

A new report by the National Conference of State Legislatures gives the gruesome details of the budget crises facing the states. Thirty-three states provided information on their fiscal year 2009 shortfalls and projections for the coming year. The results are not pretty:

The worsening revenue situation produced gaping budget holes. Lawmakers closed a cumulative shortfall that reached $113.2 billion for FY 2009. But as bad as that situation was, the circumstances for FY 2010 already are worse. As lawmakers assembled their FY 2010 budgets, they faced a staggering gap of more than $142.6 billion. That is the total shortfall states had to close as they enacted their new budgets. It does not include any new gaps that may open after the fiscal year begins.

California gets a special mention, given that its projected FY 2010 budget deficit is a whopping $38.9 billion and vastly bigger than any other state.