Sunday Breakfast Menu, Aug. 5

By JADA F. SMITH

The latest unemployment report offered a mixed bag on the economy with stronger than expected job growth combined with a small uptick in the jobless rate. Lawmakers from both parties will stop by the Sunday shows at the beginning of a five-week Congressional vacation to discuss the long list of unresolved issues and what the economic numbers mean for the presidential campaign.

Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, the Democratic National Committee chairwoman, and her counterpart on the Republican National Committee, Reince Priebus, will be on ABC's “This Week” to debate how the modest economic growth will affect President Obama and whether Mitt Romney can convince voters that his fiscal agenda will better serve the country.

To look at how the jobs report will play in the all-important battleground states, CBS's “Face the Nation” will host Gov. Bob McDonnell, Republican of Virginia, former Gov. Te d Strickland, Democrat of Ohio, former Gov. Ed Rendell, Democrat of Pennsylvania, and Representative Mario Diaz-Balart, Republican of Florida, for their insight on voter reactions to the unemployment figures.

Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, will sit down with CNN's “State of the Union” to revisit his party's anti-tax pledge and discuss his views on how a bipartisan effort can help solve the federal debt crisis. Later, Robert Gibbs, a senior adviser to the Obama campaign, will delve into the latest unconfirmed assertions made by Senator Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, about Mitt Romney's alleged failure to pay taxes for 10 years.

The Obama campaign has also deployed David Axelrod, chief strategist to Mr. Obama, to give a status report on the president's ground operation just months away from Election Day on “Fox News Sunday.” Ted Cruz, a Tea Party candidate who snagged the Republican Senate nomination in Texas from the state's lieute nant governor, is considered a rising star in the party and will talk about the latest upset and his plans for campaign season.

C-Span's “Newsmakers” will feature an interview with another Texan, Senator John Cornyn, a Republican, to discuss fiery races within his party and what the party's strategy will be to win a majority this fall in the Senate.

President Obama's deferred action program for undocumented young people will soon take effect. Representative Luis V. Gutierrez, Democrat of Illinois, and Myrna Orozco, field director of United We Dream, will discuss efforts to ensure that all applicants to the program are familiar with the approval process on Univision's “Al Punto.”

Patrick Gaspard, the Democratic National Committee's executive director, will be a guest on Bloomberg TV's “Political Capital.”

NBC's “Meet the Press” has been pre-empted by Olympic coverage.

Obama Turns 51 With a Birthday Round of Golf

By PETER BAKER

President Obama celebrated his birthday on Saturday with a quiet round of golf at Andrews Air Force Base, to be followed by a family getaway to Camp David.

Mr. Obama, who turned 51, is saving the big-time public celebrations for next weekend in his hometown in Chicago, when, this being an election year and him being a politician, his campaign plans to draw in a bunch of donations for the occasion.

Jodi Kantor of the Times explores the public functions next weekend in the form of four fund-raisers, including a party with donors at the Obamas' house in Chicago, an unusual use of a home normally kept quite private. Although she has sent out invitations, the first lady, Michelle Obama, will not actually attend, Ms. Kantor reports.

The Weekend Word: Back to School

By JADA F. SMITH

Today's Times

• Cass R. Sunstein, who wielded enormous power as the White House overseer of federal regulation, announced Friday that he was leaving the administration to return to Harvard Law School, John M. Broder reports. He is departing with a record that left many business interests disappointed and environmental, health and consumer advocates even more unhappy.

• Senator Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, has a long history of making provocative comments about his opponents, but his latest volleys â€" in which he cited an unnamed source who claims Mitt Romney has not paid taxes for a decade â€" have generated more than the usual outrage from Republicans. Michael D. Shear and Richard A. Oppel Jr. report on the testy exchanges and how they grow out of a broader Democratic strategy seeking to disqualify Mr. Romney in the eyes of middle-class voters.

• Mr. Romney is facing a worrisome underc urrent in Iowa â€" a state that is considered up for grabs â€" as the grass-roots voters who animated the caucuses are not fully behind his candidacy, Trip Gabriel reports. There is little doubt that conservatives want to drive President Obama from office, but whether Mr. Romney â€" who once backed universal health care and abortion rights â€" can generate the excitement needed to draw those voters to the polls is a question that worries some Republicans.

• President Obama's 51st birthday party will be held at his Chicago home with strangers who made campaign donations to be there, marking another milestone in the transformation of the president who once tried to limit the role of politics in his personal life, Jodi Kantor writes. The party raises questions about how far the Obamas will go in mortgaging their personal appeal for political gain in the months before the election.

• The “Obamacare” moniker, once a derogatory term for the Afford able Care Act of 2010, has been adopted by an unlikely group: Democrats. After three years on the defensive, they have resigned themselves to the fact that “Obamacare” has become the popular name for the sweeping social program and they are trying to spin it in a different direction, Peter Baker reports.

Weekly Address

• President Obama took off the campaign hat during this week's address to root for his countrymen competing in the Olympics and Paralympics in London. “These games remind us that for all our differences, we're Americans first,” he said. Noting that Michelle Obama led the delegation there and reaffirmed “the special relationship” the country has with Britain, he admitted that he was “a little jealous” that he couldn't join her, but expressed the pride he felt watching Gabby Douglas win the all-around gold in gymnastics and Michael Phelps become the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time. “And I'm just as proud of all o ur athletes in sports that don't always get as much attention,” citing the gold medals Team U.S.A. has won in women's rowing, judo and skeet shooting. “But it's not the medal count alone that inspires us â€" most of our athletes won't claim a medal at all,” he said. “It's the unconquerable spirit â€" that American spirit â€" that says even though we may have very different stories to tell; even though we may not look alike or talk alike or be dealt the same hand in life â€" if we work hard, we can achieve our dreams.”

Around the Web

• The Senate gave unanimous consent to the Architect of the Capitol on Thursday to begin constructing battery-recharging stations for electric cars in Congressional parking areas, The Hill reports.