Bin Laden death now part of Obama's re-elect message  —  President Obama speaks at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in Austin, Tex. Tuesday.  (Jim Young/Reuters)  —  Reporting from Austin, Tex.— Osama bin Laden, mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, is now an applause line in a presidential campaign speech.

Galleon's Rajaratnam Found Guilty  —  Updated  —  Raj Rajaratnam, the billionaire investor who once ran one of the world's largest hedge funds, was found guilty of fraud and conspiracy on Wednesday by a federal jury in Manhattan.  He is the most prominent figure convicted in the government's crackdown …

And the award for the most ridiculous poll sampling goes to ...  Move over, CBS.  Hang up the kid-leather gloves, WaPo/ABC.  There's a new sample-skewing sheriff in town, and it's the Associated Press.  In a new definition of “outlier,” the AP reported that its latest poll …

Kerry to visit Pakistan to get relationship on ‘right track’  —  Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) will visit Pakistan early next week to try to ease rising tensions in the aftermath of the killing in a covert U.S. operation of Osama bin Laden.

Huntsman's 2012 Buzz Caused Friction With Obama Team  —  THE DAILY BEAST ON:  —  With Jon Huntsman gearing up for a 2012 campaign, sources in Beijing tell McKay Coppins exclusively that the ambassador's presidential buzz led to clashes with the White House—and the Chinese government.

President to Renew Muslim Outreach  —  WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama is preparing a fresh outreach to the Muslim world in coming days, senior U.S. officials say, one that will ask those in the Middle East and beyond to reject Islamic militancy in the wake of Osama bin Laden's death and embrace a new era of relations with the U.S.

Obama hits Fox News  —  Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama used an immigration speech Tuesday to take a jab at News Corporation CEO, Rupert Murdoch, who owns Fox News Channel.  —  Obama quoted the CEO, an Australian native, who said “Immigrants have made America great as the world leader in business …

Same-sex marriage and the '16 nomination  —  It's basically self-parody here at POLITICO to write about the 2016 presidential campaign, and I don't plan to do it much.  But I thought it was worth passing on a point Bob Shrum made to me yesterday about one of the three or four Democrats already operating …

Ryan: GOP faces messaging challenge in selling 2012 budget  —  Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Wednesday that Republicans are running into a “communications challenge” in selling their 2012 budget proposal to Americans.  —  Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee who authored the 2012 budget …

How Perpetual War Became U.S. Ideology  —  Since the last realist president, George H.W. Bush, left office, two groups— neoconservatives and liberal interventionists—have overtaken American foreign policy  —  The United States has found itself in a seemingly endless series of wars over the past two decades.

Boeing Is Pro-Growth, Not Anti-Union  —  Washington's actions have assaulted the capitalist principles that have sustained America's competitiveness since it became the world's largest economy nearly 140 years ago.  —  Deep into the recent recession, Boeing decided to invest more than $1 billion in a new factory in South Carolina.

Donald Trump Lets His Hair Down  —  A conversation with the host of The Celebrity Apprentice  —  Like you, we've always wondered what's inside Donald Trump's wallet.  So, on a recent visit to his office at the top of Trump Tower in Manhattan, the epicenter of his vast real estate empire …

Obi-Wan Kenobi Is Dead, Vader Says  —  CORUSCANT — Obi-Wan Kenobi, the mastermind of some of the most devastating attacks on the Galactic Empire and the most hunted man in the galaxy, was killed in a firefight with Imperial forces near Alderaan, Darth Vader announced on Sunday.

White House backs down after subpoena threat from Rep. Issa  —  The Obama administration will send an official to testify at a House Oversight Committee hearing after Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) threatened to issue a subpoena.  —  The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) …

NJ State Police “Outraged” Over Rapper Invite to White House  —  Common at the 2011 Common Ground Foundation gala fundraiser at the Intercontinental Hotel in Chicago last month.  —  The invitation of rapper Common to the White House this week is drawing the ire of the union representing New Jersey state police.

Irish Bombshell: Government Raids PRIVATE Pensions To Pay For Spending  —  The Irish government plans to institute a tax on private pensions to drive jobs growth, according to its jobs program strategy, delivered today.  —  Without the ability sell debt due to soaring interest rates …

Peace Corps Volunteers Speak Out on Rape  —  WASHINGTON — Jess Smochek arrived in Bangladesh in 2004 as a 23-year-old Peace Corps volunteer with dreams of teaching English and “helping the world.”  She left six weeks later a rape victim after being brutalized in an alley by a knife-wielding gang.

Palin and the Curse of a Thin Skin  —  In the June Atlantic, Joshua Green has a terrific piece called “The Tragedy of Sarah Palin” that gets at the maddening aspect of Palin's gifts and strengths as a politician better than any single article has with the exception of Yuval Levin's COMMENTARY piece two years ago.

Trump Stumped: No Big Announcement on Celebrity Apprentice Finale  —  Reset your DVRs!  You can make that Sunday night dinner with mom after all: Contrary to his own personally advanced hype, Donald Trump will not be making any kind of announcement about his presidential plans on the Celebrity Apprentice season finale.

Palin and Trump: It's complicated  —  Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and businessman Donald Trump have formed a political bond, one united by their populist ideology and contempt for the mainstream media.  —  Their kinship grew during the height of the birther controversy.

Ends don't justify the means  —  Bin Laden's death does not warrant the use of torture  —  Demonstrator Maboud Ebrahimzadeh is held down during a simulation of waterboarding outside the Justice Department in Washington.  (Reuters)  —  WHEN US Representative Steve King learned …