Deb Fischer pulls off upset victory in Neb. Senate primary  —  State Sen. Deb Fischer (R) pulled off an upset victory Tuesday in Nebraska's GOP Senate primary, dealing a blow to both the Republican establishment and the Tea Party.  —  Fischer, a rural rancher who has never held statewide office …

Autopsy results show Trayvon Martin had injuries to his knuckles  —  SANFORD, Fla. —  WFTV has confirmed that autopsy results show 17-year-old Trayvon Martin had injuries to his knuckles when he died.  —  The information could support George Zimmerman's claim that Martin beat him up before Zimmerman shot and killed him.

Bias a Drink  —  It's Obama vs. the New York Times!  —  It's not the first time the New York Times has been accused of bias, but it may be the funniest.  Charlie Spiering of the Washington Examiner reports that the charge was leveled this morning by the Obama campaign.

Karl Rove Super PAC Matches Obama Campaign Ad Spending  —  Crossroads GPS, the Super PAC backed by Karl Rove, is spending $25 million on television ads this month — the same amount as the Obama campaign.  New ad attacks Obama for broken promises.  —  Source: youtube.com

A 30,000-Foot View on the Presidential Race  —  We are beginning to see more national surveys now, including this week's New York Times/CBS News poll, which show Mitt Romney with a slight lead over Barack Obama in the general election matchup.  To be sure, there are also a number of polls that put Mr. Obama slightly ahead.

As Bank Withdrawals Surge, Athens Relies More on ECB  —  Greek depositors withdrew €700 million ($898 million) from the country's banks on Monday, fueling fears of a bank run amid the growing political disarray.  —  With deposits falling, Greek banks become even more dependent …

Romney-Christie ticket a loser in N.J., poll finds  —  Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) would not be able to deliver the Garden State if he were chosen as Mitt Romney's vice presidential pick, a new survey shows.  —  Without running mates, Romney gets 39 percent to the president's 49 percent in New Jersey …

Biden wields Bain against Romney in Ohio  —  In just-released excerpts of Joe Biden's planned speech today in Youngstown, Ohio, the vice president takes aim at Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital and goes into rather more detail about the company's involvement in GST Steel than you can fit in a 30-second (or even 2-minute) ad:

Obama lunches with congressional leaders, Romney campaigns in Florida, plus more to watch for Wednesday in politics  —  President Barack Obama is focusing Wednesday on efforts to get Congress to act on his “To Do List,” which he says would aid the economic recovery.

Syrian rebels get influx of arms with gulf neighbors' money, U.S. coordination  —  Syrian rebels battling the regime of President Bashar al-Assad have begun receiving significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, an effort paid for by Persian Gulf nations and coordinated in part by the United States …

Peter Peterson Spent Nearly Half A Billion In Washington Targeting Social Security, Medicare … REACT:  —  FOLLOW:  —  Bill Clinton, John Boehner, Social Security, Health Care, Paul Ryan, Taxes , Video, David Walker, Pete Peterson, Peter G. Peterson Foundation, Peter Peterson …

Bigotry blocks a gay Virginian from the bench  —  IF ANYTHING, Tracy Thorne-Begland, a top state prosecutor in Richmond with a decade of courtroom experience, is overqualified for a judgeship on the General District Court.  Mr. Thorne-Begland, who has prosecuted dozens of homicides and other major felonies …

States Diverting Mortgage Settlement Money to Other Uses  —  Hundreds of millions of dollars meant to provide a little relief to the nation's struggling homeowners is being diverted to plug state budget gaps.  —  In a budget proposed this week, California joined more than a dozen states …

Fordham piece called Warren Harvard Law's ‘first woman of color’  —  Elizabeth Warren has pushed back hard on questions about a Harvard Crimson piece in 1996 that described her as Native American, saying she had no idea the school where she taught law was billing her that way and saying …

GM to Stop Advertising on Facebook  —  General Motors Co. plans to stop advertising on Facebook after the auto maker's executives determined their paid ads had little impact on consumers' car purchases, people familiar with the matter said.  —  The largest U.S. auto maker by sales will continue …

How to Act Human: Advice for Mitt Romney From Inside the Actors Studio  —  A special imaginary edition of Inside the Actors Studio.  —  A few months ago, Brian McFadden's weekly comic strip in the Sunday Times offered ways for Mitt Romney to improve his image.

Threat Prompts D.C. Evacuations: Los Angeles Police convey bomb threat to “national gay rights organizations”  —  News:  —  Following a reported bomb threat, the Human Rights Campaign and other LGBT organizations in Washington evacuated their offices today.

Mitt Romney Calls President Obama Out On ‘Beef’ With Clintons  —  Speaking at a campaign stop in Iowa on Tuesday, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney took aim at President Obama for abandoning the “Clinton Doctrine.”  He went on to suggest that there is some level …

Sen. McCain huddles with Dems on campaign finance reform  —  Sen. John McCain is talking with Democrats about a joint effort to require outside groups that have spent millions of dollars on this year's elections to disclose their donors.  —  McCain (R-Ariz.), once Congress's leading champion …

Ron Paul's Sneaky Maneuver: Why He's Scaling Back His Campaign  —  How can the libertarian gadfly build power ahead of the Republican convention without taking blame for poor primary results—or making his son Rand look bad?  Ben Jacobs says by ‘no longer spending resources,’ Paul may do just that.

Sen. Tom Coburn, part one: Defusing the debt bomb  —  Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) served on the Simpson-Bowles commission, is a member of the Gang of Six, and just published “The Debt Bomb: A Bold Plan to Stop Washington from Bankrupting America.”  We spoke last week in his office.

Americans See Obama as Solid Favorite to Win Election  —  Fifty-six percent think Obama will win; 36% think Romney will  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Fifty-six percent of Americans think Barack Obama will win the 2012 presidential election, compared with 36% who think Mitt Romney will win.