How The Romney Campaign Decided To Take The Gloves Off  —  Surrogates will bring up cocaine, Fast and Furious, and ties to Blagojevich, one aide says.  What Romneyland is thinking.  —  Image by Win McNamee / Getty Images  —  IRWIN, Penn.  — Standing before hundreds of roaring partisans …

Mitt Romney Taxes For 2010 Not Fully Disclosed … REACT:  —  FOLLOW:  —  Elections 2012, Elections 2012, Mitt Romney, Elections 2012, Politics, Taxes , Video, Mitt Romney Tax Returns, Mitt Romney Taxes, Election 2012, Fbar, Mitt Romney 2012, Mitt Romney Taxes 2010, Politics News

New poll: After SB1070 decision Obama widens lead over Romney among Latinos  —  Latino Decisions released new national poll of Latino registered voters showing Barack Obama winning 70% of the Latino vote compared to 22% for Mitt Romney.  The poll, commissioned by the Center …

Anthony Weiner Shares a Family Photo  —  What's next for former New York congressman Anthony Weiner?  Baby's first birthday, of course.  —  “I'm very happy in my present life,” Weiner, 47, tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview.  “The only next dramatic steps I'm planning on are Jordan's first …

7 reported killed in terror attack against Israelis in Bulgaria  —  Haaretz brings you minute-by-minute updates on the deadly attack; Israeli rescue services en route to country; Terror attack occurs on 18th anniversary of attack on Jewish community in Buenos Aires.

CNN's GUT CHECK for July 18, 2012  — n. a pause to assess the state, progress or condition of the political news cycle  —  JUST IN ... TIM PAWLENTY MAKES HIS CASE, SAYS FLASHINESS DOESN'T GAS UP YOUR CAR:  —  Neil Cavuto: How would you defend yourself from that criticism that maybe Mitt Romney needs a flashy running mate?

Blast Kills Core Syrian Security Officials  —  BEIRUT, Lebanon — An explosion that Syria state television called a suicide bomb attack killed at least three top aides to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria on Wednesday including the defense minister and Mr. Assad's powerful brother-in-law.

Police closes UEA investigation  —  Norfolk Constabulary has made the decision to formally close its investigation into the hacking of online data from the Climate Research Centre (CRU) at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich.  —  The decision follows a comprehensive investigation …

Amonix closes North Las Vegas solar plant after 14 months, heavy federal subsidies  —  The Amonix solar manufacturing plant in North Las Vegas, heavily financed under an Obama administration energy initiative, has closed its 214,000-square-foot facility 14 months after it opened.

Nancy Pelosi: Democrats should skip the convention  —  House minority leader Nancy Pelosi says that Democratic members should stay home and campaign in their districts rather than go to the party's national convention in North Carolina.  —  “I'm not encouraging anyone to go to the convention …

The chart that shows just how much reelection trouble Obama is in  —  A daisy chain of political disaster seems to be forming for President Obama, says political analyst Dan Clifton at Strategas Research.  Clifton suggests that “there seems to be a relationship between consumer confidence and whether a president gets reelected.

O'KEEFE RISES: UNION BOSSES OKAY DIGGING UP-THEN FILLING BACK IN-DITCHES ON TAXPAYERS' DIME  —  James O'Keefe's new Project Veritas video (see below) is a stunning exposé of union corruption surrounding so-called “shovel ready” jobs.  In typically irreverent Project Veritas style …

The Challenge of Obtaining Voter Identification  —  PUBLICATIONS  —  Ten states now have unprecedented restrictive voter ID laws.  Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin all require citizens to produce specific types …

4 Pinocchios for an unproven Romney claim of ‘crony capitalism’  —  “I am ashamed to say that we're seeing our President hand out money to the businesses of campaign contributors, when he gave money, $500 million in loans to a company called Fisker that makes high end electric cars, and they make the cars now in Finland.

Likely Voter Polls: Mitt Romney's Hidden Edge? … REACT:  —  FOLLOW:  —  Barack Obama , Barack Obama , Mitt Romney, Barack Obama 2012 , Elections 2012, Video, Mitt Romney Polls, Obama Romney Polls, Likely Voters, Mitt Romney 2012, Polls 2012, Pollster Analysis, Presidential Polls, Politics News

Bernanke to Economy: Drop Dead … - Lithwick: Another Crazy Attempt in Virginia To Prevent Legal Abortions  — Our DNA Proves Just How Often Our Ancestors Took Nonhuman Lovers  — You're Not Making Real Gazpacho Unless You Follow This One Simple Rule  — Why Don't Brits Watch Breaking Bad?

Former Navy SEAL Launches PAC To Fight Obama  —  Ryan Zinke in his Navy days.  (Photo: IraqVetsForCongress.com)  —  Today, Ryan Zinke, an ex-Navy SEAL and Montana State Senator, announced the launch of Special Operations for America, a political action committee dedicated to “the election of Mitt Romney and like-minded candidates.”