Top Items:
Manu Raju / Politico:
McCain: Palin was ‘better candidate’ than Romney — Mitt Romney's tax returns had nothing to do with Sen. John McCain's decision to choose Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008, according to the Arizona Republican, saying he chose the former Alaska governor because she was a “better candidate.”
Discussion:
Mediaite, Rumproast, The Raw Story, Taegan Goddard's …, Guardian, Conservatives4Palin, The Hinterland Gazette and Wonkette
RELATED:
Robert Costa / National Review:
Romney on Tax Returns: 'I'm Simply Not Enthusiastic about Giving Them Hundreds or Thousands of More Pages to Pick Through, Distort, and Lie About' — Earlier today, Mitt Romney spoke with National Review Online about life on the trail, his meeting with Dick Cheney,and his upcoming trip to Europe.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Politico, The Hill, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Booman Tribune and Business Insider
Mj Lee / Politico:
Ron Paul to Mitt Romney: Release tax returns — Texas Rep. Ron Paul said Tuesday that Mitt Romney should release more of his tax returns, adding to the pressure on the GOP nominee to share personal financial information with the public. — “Politically, I think that would help him,” …
Discussion:
Washington Wire, CNN, ABCNEWS, Taegan Goddard's … and The Hinterland Gazette
Callum Borchers / Boston Globe:
John Kerry's office blasts Mitt Romney over inaccurate claims about tax returns — Senator John Kerry has been working on his Mitt Romney impersonation since being cast as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee in mock debates with President Obama, but lately it has been Romney likening himself …
Joshua Green / Business Week:
What's Romney Hiding in His Tax Returns? — As George Will and many others have noted, there must be something truly damaging in Romney's pre-2010 tax returns for him to willingly endure the criticism and scrutiny that has accompanied his refusal to release them — a refusal he reiterated on Friday …
Discussion:
Business Insider, ABCNEWS, Daily Kos, Livewire and Liberal Info
Andrea Stone / The Huffington Post:
Romney's Wealth, But Not His Tax Returns, Was Factor In McCain's VP Decision, Says Steve Schmidt
Romney's Wealth, But Not His Tax Returns, Was Factor In McCain's VP Decision, Says Steve Schmidt
Discussion:
Politico, Daily Kos, Washington Post, The Hinterland Gazette, Indecision Forever and The Hill
Michael Tomasky / The Daily Beast:
Michael Tomasky on Romney's Veep and Convention-Speaker Trap
Michael Tomasky on Romney's Veep and Convention-Speaker Trap
Discussion:
American Prospect, Jezebel, CNN, Washington Monthly and National Review
CNN:
Obama ad continues to hammer Romney over taxes
Obama ad continues to hammer Romney over taxes
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Politicker, msnbc.com, American Power, Scared Monkeys, Washington Wire and Towleroad News #gay
BuzzFeed:
Why George Romney Released His Tax Returns
Why George Romney Released His Tax Returns
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Impolitic, The Daily Dish and CNN
msnbc.com:
Romney surrogate Sununu: ‘I wish this president would learn how to be an American’ — By NBC's Garrett Haake and Michael O'Brien — Follow @GarrettNBCNews Follow @mpoindc — The Romney campaign ratcheted up its language on Tuesday in a conference call on which former New Hampshire governor …
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BuzzFeed:
Romney Backer Wishes Obama “Would Learn How To Be An American” — Sununu grabs the third rail. The Romney campaign lets the dogs out. — Source: youtube.com — In a brutal campaign conference call Tuesday organized by Mitt Romney's campaign, several of the candidate's surrogates went …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice and BuzzFeed
Benjy Sarlin / 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPM2012 — Sununu Unleashed: Obama Needs To ‘Learn How To Be An American’
TPM2012 — Sununu Unleashed: Obama Needs To ‘Learn How To Be An American’
Discussion:
The Maddow Blog and Mediaite
Justin Sink / The Hill:
Romney surrogate: Obama should ‘learn how to be an American’
Romney surrogate: Obama should ‘learn how to be an American’
Discussion:
Politico
Kevin Robillard / Politico:
Mitt Romney ad pulled from YouTube
Mitt Romney ad pulled from YouTube
Discussion:
CNN, Ars Technica, Althouse, The New Republic and Indecision Forever
Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Romney Campaign: Obama Can't Create Jobs ‘Because He Spent His Early Years In Hawaii Smoking Something’
Romney Campaign: Obama Can't Create Jobs ‘Because He Spent His Early Years In Hawaii Smoking Something’
Sarah Huisenga / CBS News:
Romney says waiters at fundraiser “aren't having a good year”
Romney says waiters at fundraiser “aren't having a good year”
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, The Hinterland Gazette and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Romney surrogate: Obama spent youth ‘in Hawaii smoking something’
Romney surrogate: Obama spent youth ‘in Hawaii smoking something’
Discussion:
Politico
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Obama leads in Iowa — PPP continues to find Barack Obama as the favorite in Iowa, although the race in the state is a good deal closer than it was in both 2008 and on our last poll in early May. Obama leads by 5 points, 48-43, after previously holding a 10 point advantage at 51-41.
Discussion:
Ballot Box and Taegan Goddard's …
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Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:
Raising Taxes on Rich Seen as Good for Economy, Fairness — OVERVIEW — By two-to-one (44% to 22%), the public says that raising taxes on incomes above $250,00o would help the economy rather than hurt it, while 24% say this would not make a difference. Moreover, an identical percentage …
Discussion:
American Prospect, Firedoglake, Reuters, The Hill, New York Magazine, Business Insider and Jammie Wearing Fools
Amie Parnes / The Hill:
Obama switches off his teleprompter — President Obama is weaning himself off his teleprompter. — At recent campaign events in Pennsylvania, Virginia and again Monday in Ohio, Obama spoke to crowds in high school gymnasiums and at crowded outdoor events without his teleprompter, instead using written notes.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, The PJ Tatler, The Daily Caller, Jammie Wearing Fools and americanthinker.com
David Brooks / New York Times:
The Capitalism Debate — Let's say you are president in a time of a sustained economic slowdown. You initiated a series of big policies that you thought were going to turn the economy around, but they didn't work — either because they were insufficient or ineffective.
Maggie Haberman / Politico:
Welcome to ‘Panthers Stadium’ — National Democrats have repeatedly touted their stand against taking corporate money for their convention in September, and so it was striking to see two emails from the DNC host committee referring to the Charlotte venue where President Obama will speak as “Panthers Stadium.”
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Is Romney Overreacting to Bain Attacks? — Mitt Romney's campaign has begun to push back against the notion that President Obama's critiques on his tenure at Bain Capital have damaged him. A memo released by Mr. Romney's pollster, Neil Newhouse, suggests that the margin between Mr. Romney …
Discussion:
American Prospect, Taylor Marsh, Mediaite, The Daily Dish and The Caucus
Steve Holland / Reuters:
Romney appears in final stages of running-mate decision — (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney appears to be in the final stages of deciding who to pick as his vice presidential running mate, with speculation growing that he has narrowed his choice down to a short-list of three.
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, theGrio, Business Week, Swampland, ABCNEWS, Washington Post, LifeNews.com, FT Alphaville, Shakesville, Boston Globe and msnbc.com
Alex Seitz-Wald / Salon:
Bachmann defends her witch hunt — The Minnesota representative offers “evidence” of Islamic infiltration of the U.S. government in a 16-page letter — Rep. Michele Bachmann defended her attempt to root out “deep penetration” by the Muslim Brotherhood into the U.S. government Friday …
Discussion:
Rumproast, Jezebel and The Maddow Blog
James Pethokoukis / AEIdeas:
Paul Ryan rips Obama's comment that 'if you've got a business — you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen' — It was Rep. Paul Ryan's wife, Janna, who first saw — via Twitter — President Obama's recent comments about American entrepreneurs, that “if you've got a business — you didn't build that.
Discussion:
Hit & Run, The Maddow Blog, Publius Forum, The PJ Tatler, Ricochet Conversations Feed and Betsy's Page
Matt Bai / New York Times:
How Much Has Citizens United Changed the Political Game? — “A hundred million dollars is nothing,” the venture capitalist Andy Rappaport told me back in the summer of 2004. This was at a moment when wealthy liberals like George Soros and Peter Lewis were looking to influence national politics …
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Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
The Super PAC That Aims to End Super PACs
The Super PAC That Aims to End Super PACs
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon
Patrick Gavin / Politico:
The Elton John-Rush Limbaugh bond — To the shock of many (given the gap in their political ideologies), Elton John performed at Rush Limbaugh's wedding in 2010 and, in a new interview with USA Today, the performer opened up about his friendship with the conservative talk show host.
Discussion:
USA Today and Towleroad News #gay
Sarah Kliff / Washington Post:
Could one word take down Obamacare? — Section 1401 of the Affordable Care Act is, on the surface, just as exciting as it sounds. It outlines in excruciating detail the eligibility requirements for an American to receive a tax subsidy to assist in purchasing health insurance.
Discussion:
SSRN, National Review and The Incidental Economist