July employment figures show modest improvement, which means they were disappointing. And so, for yet another month, the Obama Administration tried to find new ways to express the idea that slow, steady improvement is something to be rewarded -- with another term in office perhaps. But the moment also afforded opponent Romney the opportunity to move the conversation away from his income tax rate and his tax plan, both of which were favorite themes of the Obama campaign this past week. Down in Texas, a new-look Tea Party candidate was unveiled with the victory of Ted Cruz in the GOP Senate run-off. Cruz has Texas hill-country cred along with impressive Ivy League credentials. People are already debating whether Canadian-born Cruz would qualify for a presidential run. And UN Syria peace envoy Kofi Annan says he's out of the peace envoy business as far as Syria goes. That leads to the question of what a good outcome would even look like in that ongoing conflict.
This week, joining Center/moderator Matt Miller is former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, sitting in for Robert Scheer, who's away the next few weeks. On the Right, Joshua Treviño returns, bearing a newly minted job title: he's now writer-at-large at the Texas Monthly.