memeorandum: Who else, Mr. President? — When President Barack Obama hauled off … (John Kass/Chicago Tribune)

10:20 AM ET, July 19, 2012

Top Items:

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Poll: Romney tied with Obama in Virginia — A new survey shows Mitt Romney tied with President Barack Obama in the battleground state of Virginia, exciting news for a Republican challenger who has consistently trailed in recent polling of the state. — The survey, released Thursday …

Discussion: CNN, Weekly Standard, 2012 Decoded, Scared Monkeys, Politico and Jammie Wearing Fools

New York Times:

Economic Fears Hurting Obama, Poll Indicates — Declining confidence in the nation's economic prospects appears to be the most powerful force influencing voters as the presidential election gears up, undercutting key areas of support for President Obama and helping give his Republican challenger …

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Wire, ABCNEWS, The Huffington Post, Politico, Power Line, NPR, The Moderate Voice, ABCNEWS, msnbc.com, NBC Latino, americanthinker.com, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Caucus, American Power, Weekly Standard, The Daily Dish and Latino Decisions

Brian Montopoli / CBS News:

Obama, Romney in dead heat in presidential race — CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto. — (CBS News) President Obama and Mitt Romney are effectively tied in the race for the presidency, according to a new CBS News/New York Times survey.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, BuzzFeed, NationalJournal.com, Business Insider, Taegan Goddard's … and The Huffington Post

Wall Street Journal:
Group Comes to Romney's Defense

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Taking Note and The Page

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Obama lead in New Mexico declining

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, Firedoglake, Politico and Business Insider

Edward Rollins / Fox News:

Bachmann's former campaign chief — shame on you, Michele — I have been a practitioner of tough politics for many decades. There is little that amazes me and even less that shocks me. I have to say that Congresswoman Michele Bachmann's outrageous and false charges against a top aide …

Discussion: Politico and ThinkProgress

Lisa Mascaro / Los Angeles Times:

McCain defends Clinton aide accused of Muslim Brotherhood ties — Sen. John McCain takes to the Senate floor to defend Huma Abedin, a top aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton whom GOP lawmakers have accused of having ties to the pan-Arab Muslim Brotherhood. — “These attacks on Huma have no logic, no basis and no merit.

Discussion: The Agonist

Nancy Cordes / CBS News:

Michelle Bachmann refuses to back down on claims about Huma Abedin — (CBS News) WASHINGTON - Former GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann and four other conservative members of Congress are charging that people with ties to Muslim extremists have infiltrated the federal government.

Discussion: Mondoweiss

Jason Linkins / The Huffington Post:
Michele Bachmann Points To Huma Abedin As Muslim Brotherhood Infiltrator

Discussion: Mediaite, Politico, Jihad Watch, Taylor Marsh, ABCNEWS, The Raw Story, The Hill and New York Magazine

Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:
John McCain defends Huma Abedin against accusations she's part of conspiracy

Discussion: CBS New York, Jihad Watch, Israpundit, CNN and Taylor Marsh

Zach Carter / The Huffington Post:

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

Discussion: US Politics, Start Making Sense, Firedoglake, Discourse.net and Daily Kos

Frank Rich / New York Magazine:
Frank Rich on the National Circus: Mitt Can't Wait Out His Tax Storm

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette, Hollywood Reporter and Salon

Abby Huntsman / The Huffington Post:
Mitt Romney Never Thought He'd Have To Release Tax Returns: Bain Sources

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, The Hill, Reuters, Washington Post, Balloon Juice, AEIdeas, ABCNEWS, Daily Kos and Wall Street Journal

CNN:
Why won't Romney release more tax returns?

Discussion: Slate and Guardian

Tarini Partiand Scott Wong / Politico:
Dems look to keep heat on Romney over tax returns

Discussion: CNN, Riehl World View and ABCNEWS

New York Times:

Suicide Bomber Is Blamed in Attack on Israeli Tourist Bus in Bulgaria — BURGAS, Bulgaria — The attack on a tour bus carrying Israeli vacationers outside the airport here was carried out by a suicide bomber using fake American identification, officials said on Thursday.

Discussion: Washington Post, Jammie Wearing Fools, National Review and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Associated Press:
Bulgaria says suicide attacker in baseball cap, sneakers, shorts attacked Israeli tourist bus

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, World and Jihad Watch

Reuters:
Suicide bomber blew up Bulgaria airport bus

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Guardian and Jihad Watch

New York Times:
Explosion on Bulgaria Tour Bus Kills at Least Five Israelis

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller, Mondoweiss and Philly.com

Jonathan Karl / ABCNEWS:

DNC Regrets Offending Ann Romney, No More Horse Videos — It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now the Democratic National Committee is offering an apology of sorts to Ann Romney. — At issue is a DNC video featuring footage of Ann Romney's dancing show horse.

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite, Crooks and Liars, The Raw Story, Jammie Wearing Fools and ABCNEWS

Trymaine Lee / The Huffington Post:

Zimmerman Apology: Trayvon Martin Shooter Tells Parents He's Sorry During ‘Hannity’ Interview … FOLLOW: — Video, Sean Hannity, Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman Apology, George Zimmerman Fox News, Zimmerman Apology, Zimmerman Fox News, Zimmerman Hannity, Zimmerman Trayvon Martin, Black Voices News

Discussion: Firedoglake

Merrill Knox / TVNewser:
Hannity Gets First Interview with George Zimmerman

Discussion: Fox News, theGrio, Scared Monkeys, The Hinterland Gazette, ThinkProgress, The Young Turks … and Colorlines, more at Mediagazer »

Alexander Burns / Politico:

Morgan Freeman gives $1 million to Obama super PAC — Actor Morgan Freeman is the newest seven-figure donor to the Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action, POLITICO has confirmed. — In a statement, Freeman lauded both the president's record and Priorities USA for its role in the 2012 campaign.

Discussion: CNN, Weasel Zippers, Scared Monkeys and The Hinterland Gazette

Bill Mears / CNN:

Scalia: Criticism of Supreme Court's health care ruling ‘offends me’ — (CNN) — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia downplayed reports of personal and ideological rifts stemming from the recent landmark health care reform ruling, telling CNN in an exclusive interview “it offends me” …

Discussion: Business Insider

Dana Blanton / Fox News:

Fox News poll: Voters pick Condi Rice as Romney running mate — Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is the top choice as Mitt Romney's vice presidential running mate among both American voters overall as well as among Republicans. — Thirty percent of voters would like to see Rice …

Discussion: Politico, New York Magazine and Hit & Run

Jason Zengerle / GQ: Wanna Be Veep? Okay, but This Is Going to Hurt

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Waxman has a race on his hands — Henry Waxman hasn't faced a tough campaign since Lyndon B. Johnson was president and the Beatles topped the Billboard charts. — This year, the powerful Los Angeles congressman believes, could be different. — Running in a drastically redrawn district …

Discussion: americanthinker.com and Riehl World View

Boston Herald:

Mr. Smooth: Deval Patrick eyes road fixes for Michelle Obama — Deval Patrick's office personally asked town officials to dispatch road crews this week to fill potholes near his Berkshires mansion to pave the way for a smooth ride for first lady Michelle Obama when she hits the Bay State …

Discussion: Politico, Weasel Zippers and Jammie Wearing Fools

Politico:

Kelly Ayotte's $120K legal headache — A bizarre but little-known lawsuit has caused headaches for freshman Sen. Kelly Ayotte and cost her at least $120,000 in legal fees just as her political stock rises and she's being mentioned as a potential running mate for Mitt Romney.

Discussion: Right Wing News

Ta-Nehisi Coates / The Atlantic Online:

The Paranoid Style of Comic-Book Villainy — The apostle of white populism melts down: … But recovers just in time to tinker around with the tin-foil: … There's so much here happening here at once: delusion, get off my lawn, and narcissism, all wrapped in one.

Discussion: Lippmann's Ghost and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Russ Burlingame / ComicBook.com:
Rush Limbaugh: Bane's Creator Weighs In

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The New Republic, The Hill, Rush Limbaugh, Washington Examiner, The Hinterland Gazette, Guardian and Gawker

Mike Rosenberg / Mercury News:

Governor Brown signs California high-speed rail bill, calls critics ‘NIMBYs,’ ‘fearful men’ — SAN FRANCISCO — With his most public cheerleading yet for California's bullet train, Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday signed the $8 billion bill to kick off high-speed rail construction and showed …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler and Hit & Run

John Kass / Chicago Tribune:

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.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice