CBS POLL: Fiorina 47, Boxer 42.

CAR LUST: The limited pleasures of the Dodge Mirada. “Like those other other flabby would-be performance cars, the Mirada had star potential that didn’t quite translate into reality.” I don’t even remember that one. Maybe this is why: “The Mirada’s biggest engine, the classic Mopar 5.9-liter V-8, produced a measly 185 horsepower and was only offered for one year. The mid-range engine, the 5.2-liter V-8, made only 120-130 horsepower, and the standard slant six put out only 90 horses. That’s a dismal level of output in virtually any context, but for a big, bulky faux-muscle car it was a travesty. ” I suppose with CAFE requirements going up, we should get used to it again . . . .

INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE: Free The Monks, Free The Enterprise.

RECOVERY SUMMER! Youth Unemployment Hits Record High. But it’s a global problem.

WIRELESS CAR SENSORS vulnerable to hackers.

KENDRICK MEEK’S $977 a month taxpayer-leased car.

On the other hand, he hasn’t wrecked any coral reefs with his yacht like Jeff Greene. So, you know, he’s got that going for him.

A RARE LONG-FORM ESSAY FROM ACE: The “Neutral Story Line” and How The Media Uses It To Justify Its Perpetual Game of “Guess That Party!”

“SO EMBARRASSING.”

Related: Bozo The Progressive Proves Robert Gibbs Was Right. “I guess the Coffee Party astroturf didn’t achieve its goal.”

CHRISTINA HOFF SOMMERS: Take Back The Sports Page?

COVERING THE REALLY IMPORTANT STORIES, at Power Line.

HMM: GPS Tracking and a ‘Mosaic Theory’ of Government Searches.

MEETING PEAK ELECTRIC DEMANDS by storing power as liquid oxygen.

MATT WELCH: “Recovery Summer?” Or Endless Bummer? “Bipartisan Washington these days seems to think that the mere existence of economic unpleasantness (the unemployment, the collapse of some asset prices, the credit unwind) qualifies as medicine, just because it tastes bad going down.”

RESVERATROL: A mixed blessing on cancer?

HMM: Report: Only Cost-Effective Hybrid Is Mercedes-Benz.

BACK TO SCHOOL: Gallup: Spending slumps lower than 2009 levels in Recovery Summer. “The advance retail numbers for July will come out tomorrow from the Commerce Department, but Gallup’s survey of consumer spending gives a pretty good indication that the report won’t boost the notion of Recovery Summer. In fact, it may be more like Flashback Summer, except that last year’s numbers look better than Gallup’s survey shows now.”

IN THE MAIL: Norman Podhoretz: A Biography.

UNEXPECTEDLY! Jobs picture darkens as new unemployment claims rise to 484K, highest level since February.

THE HILL: Public favors Tea Party over top Dems.

FROM TIM CAVANAUGH, more on California’s economic problems.

JON STEWART: The Race Card Is Maxed Out. Your charges of racism have been declined! Spending to the limit is a hallmark of our current political class. . . . .

THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER’S MOST-READ EDITORIAL EVER: Time To Admit Obamanomics Has Failed.

PETER SUDERMAN: HHS Is Altering Its Deal. Pray It Does Not Alter It Any Further. “Need further proof that ObamaCare’s temporary network of high-risk pools was little more than an afterthought? Just look at the department of Health and Human Service’s most recent rule making, which gives the agency the power to make the program a lot less appealing than the way it was pitched.”

THE TREASURY’S MORTGAGE MODIFICATION PROGRAM: It’s worse than we thought. And it’s not like we thought it was good.

AT AMAZON, end-of-summer markdowns on patio, lawn, and garden stuff.