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 …

Memo to Dem press secretary: Probably best not to imply GOP billionaire is a pimp  —  When Jesse Ferguson showed up for work yesterday as a Democrat press secretary on Capitol Hill, he found a three-page FedEx letter waiting.  —  It was from someone named Lewis R. Clayton.

Attack Kills Syrian Defense Minister in Damascus  —  BEIRUT, Lebanon — President Bashar al-Assad's brother-in-law and Syria's defense minister were killed on Wednesday when a suicide bomber attacked a crisis group of senior ministers and security chiefs meeting in central Damascus, according to state television and activists.

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 …

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 …

Obama jobs panel lays low  —  President Barack Obama's Jobs Council hasn't met publicly for six months, even as the issue of job creation dominates the 2012 election.  —  At this point, the hiatus — which reached the half-year mark Tuesday — might be less awkward than an official meeting …

Who else, Mr. President? … When President Barack Obama hauled off and slapped American small-business owners in the mouth the other day, I wanted to dream of my father.  —  But I didn't have to close my eyes to see my dad.  I could do it with my eyes open.

Christie keynote tip  —  The word is going out quietly to Republican activists across New Jersey: If you're going to the GOP convention in Tampa next month, be sure to be there by Tuesday night, Aug. 28, because Gov. Chris Christie is going to be giving the keynote speech that night.

Arpaio: Obama birth record ‘definitely fraudulent’  —  PHOENIX (AP) — Investigators for an Arizona sheriff's volunteer posse have declared that President Barack Obama's birth certificate is definitely fraudulent.  —  Members of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's posse said in March …

The Batman Campaign?  —  RUSH: Have you heard this new movie, the Batman movie, what is it, The Dark Knight Lights Up or whatever the name is.  That's right, Dark Knight Rises.  Lights Up, same thing.  Do you know the name of the villain in this movie?  Bane.  The villain in The Dark Knight Rises is named Bane, B-a-n-e.

Possible serial foot-licker in custody after police bust 49-year-old Anthony Parri for inappropriately touching two young girls in upstate NY library  —  ‘I am being set up by the President Barack Obama and the city and the federal government,’ Parri said outside court.

Senate Democrats Propose Letting All Tax Cuts Expire  —  WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats — holding firm against extending tax cuts for the rich — are proposing a novel way to circumvent the Republican pledge not to vote for any tax increase: Allow all the tax cuts to expire Jan. 1 …

Did Mitt Romney Take the 2009 Swiss Bank Account Amnesty … - Lithwick: Another Crazy Attempt in Virginia To Prevent Legal Abortions  — Manjoo: Can Marissa Mayer Save Yahoo?  Can Anyone?