Wisconsin recall: Democrats prepare for recall recount  —  Brace yourself: Wisconsin Democrats say they are preparing for the event that the hotly contested recall race could drag on for weeks, or even longer.  —  Floating the prospect of a recount is, of course, a message that bolsters …

Fear factors: What worries Romney backers  —  Mitt Romney has done the unthinkable: silenced the legions of conservatives who saw him as too starched, too ideologically wobbly and too Richie Rich to win a few months ago.  —  Now comes the hard part: getting those same conservatives …

Paycheck Fairness Act is defeated in Senate  —  Democratic legislation meant to fight gender discrimination in the workplace failed in the Democrat-controlled Senate Tuesday on a procedural vote.  —  In a 52 to 47 tally the Senate defeated the Paycheck Fairness Act.

The 2012 Long-Term Budget Outlook  —  Over the past few years, the federal government has been recording budget deficits that are the largest as a share of the economy since 1945.  Consequently, the amount of federal debt held by the public has surged.  By the end of this year …

Breaking with Romney, Murkowski warns against ‘knee-jerk’ reaction to Solyndra  —  Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is breaking with Mitt Romney and some Capitol Hill Republicans by expressing support for federal green-energy programs, including the one that provided loan help to the now-bankrupt Solyndra.

Proposition 8: Appeals court won't reconsider ruling that gay-marriage ban is unconstitutional  —  A federal appeals court said Tuesday that it would not reconsider a ruling that struck down California's Proposition 8 amendment banning same-sex marriage, another sign that the issue will soon move to the Supreme Court.

Michelle Obama ‘applauds’ NYC Mayor Bloomberg's proposed ban  —  First lady Michelle Obama “applauds” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg for a controversial proposed ban of sugary drinks sold in quantities over 16 ounces in restaurants and public venues within the city.

How Romney Pushed State Health Bill  —  Emails Show Governor Defending Insurance Mandate for Massachusetts Residents  —  When Mitt Romney left office as Massachusetts governor, his aides removed all emails from a server computer in the governor's office, and purchased and carted off hard drives …

Obama's awkward embrace of the devil... who wears Prada  —  As Americans grapple with disastrous unemployment numbers, the Obama campaign releases a video starring blatantly elitist Vogue editor Anna Wintour  —  In last week's column, I wrote that the Obama campaign woes in May were mainly the result of circumstance.

Bill Clinton is out of control  —  Bill Clinton has to be the smartest guy in the room even when he's not in the room.  —  Clinton is not on Barack Obama's campaign staff, is not a trusted adviser, does not set Obama's strategy.  —  But Bill Clinton is pretty good at sabotaging Obama's strategy.

Obama up in Florida  —  PPP's newest Florida poll finds little change in the state compared to mid-April.  At that time Barack Obama led Mitt Romney 50-45 there, and now his advantage is 50-46.  Voters in the state narrowly approve of Obama, 49/46, and continue to dislike Romney, giving him a 39/53 favorability rating.

Issa: Officials had information about ‘reckless tactics’ in ‘Fast and Furious’  —  The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Tuesday said new documents show that senior Justice Department officials in Washington, despite their previous denials, were given …

Obama Emails For Barrett Obama uses campaign list to encourage supporters to support Barrett in Wisconsin recall election.  —  President Barack Obama followed up his tweet in support of Mayor Tom Barrett's efforts to unseat Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker today with a blast email …

Ali Akbar Says, ‘World War Three’  —  Ali Akbar with Tea Party candidate Doug Hoffman, October 2009  —  Monday afternoon I was off the grid when Ali Akbar called to tell me that “Breitbart Unmasked” had published a photo and the address of his mother's home in Texas in a viciously mendacious attack on the National Bloggers Club.

Newsweek hires Atlantic's Megan McArdle  —  Megan McArdle, the Atlantic's libertarian economics blogger, is joining Newsweek & The Daily Beast, POLITICO has learned.  —  McArdle, who is currently on book leave, has blogged about business and economics for the Atlantic since 2007.

NASA Gets Two New Hubble Telescopes — Absolutely Free  —  It hardly bears mentioning that the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope is one of the most extraordinarily successful scientific instruments of all time.  Since 1993, when the telescope's flawed mirror was set right by a set …

Romney Campaign Makes Third Spelling Gaffe in a Week: It's ‘Offical’  —  If you were running a major presidential campaign that just got slammed for misspelling America as “Amercia,” you might ask your staff to go through your campaign literature with a fine-tooth comb.