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

9:35 AM ET, July 19, 2012

Top Items:

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: ABCNEWS, The Huffington Post, Politico, Power Line, NPR, ABCNEWS, msnbc.com, No More Mister Nice Blog, NBC Latino, The Caucus, Prairie Weather, American Power, Weekly Standard, The Daily Dish and Latino Decisions

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

Brian Montopoli / CBS News:
Obama, Romney in dead heat in presidential race

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Business Insider and Taegan Goddard's …

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

Discussion: Firedoglake, Politico and Business Insider

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

Abby Huntsman / The Huffington Post:

Mitt Romney Never Thought He'd Have To Release Tax Returns: Bain Sources … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Elections 2012, Mitt Romney, Elections 2012, Video, Mitt Romney Bain Capital, Mitt Romney Tax Returns, Mitt Romney Taxes, Bain Capital, Mitt Romney 2012, Mitt Romney Quit, Politics News

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

CNN:

Why won't Romney release more tax returns? — Editor's note: Edward D. Kleinbard is a professor at Gould School of Law at the University of Southern California. He is the former chief of staff of Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation. Peter C. Canellos, a lawyer, is former chair of the New York State Bar Association Tax Section.

Discussion: Slate, Guardian and Towleroad News #gay

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

Discussion: CNN, Riehl World View and ABCNEWS

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

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 and The Hinterland Gazette

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

Wall Street Journal:
Group Comes to Romney's Defense

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

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 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

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

Edward Rollins / Fox News:
Bachmann's former campaign chief — shame on you, Michele

Discussion: Politico and ThinkProgress

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

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

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, Crooks and Liars, Jammie Wearing Fools and ABCNEWS

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 and Hit & Run

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

BuzzFeed:

Olympics Documents, Intro Described Romney As Bain CEO — Mitt Romney has spent much of the last week arguing that, despite some public records, he was effectively gone from Bain Capital in February 1999. But in February 2000, Romney was introduced as the “founder and CEO of Capital” …

Discussion: msnbc.com, Washington Post, Guardian and Balloon Juice

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

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Mack says Smith not a real journalist — The war between Rep. Connie Mack and Tampa Bay Times political editor Adam Smith continued today when the Republican representative told Smith to his face that he wasn't a real journalist. — As my colleage Charlie Mahtesian has reported …

Discussion: Tampa Bay Times and Naked Politics

Merrill Knox / TVNewser:

Hannity Gets First Interview with George Zimmerman — Sean Hannity has secured the first interview with George Zimmerman, the man accused of killing Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. The hour-long exclusive will air on Hannity's Fox News Channel program tonight at 9pmET.

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

Helene Cooper / New York Times:

Expecting Assad's Fall, Washington Plans for a New Syria — WASHINGTON — With the growing conviction that the Assad family's 42-year grip on power in Syria is coming to an end, Obama administration officials worked on contingency plans Wednesday for a collapse of the Syrian government …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Reuters, Via Meadia and Guardian

Hubble Smith / Las Vegas Review-Journal:

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.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, The Rightnewz, Scared Monkeys, Weasel Zippers, The Heritage Foundation, Business Insider, Las Vegas Sun Blogs, Red Alert Politics and Washington Examiner

Hans Nichols / Bloomberg:

Obama Campaign Detectives Hunt For Foreclosed Florida Voters — By day, Lynnette Acosta, a 34-year- old mother of two, is an information-technology manager in Orlando, Florida. By night, she's a sleuth for President Barack Obama's re-election campaign, scouring for potential voters.

Discussion: Firedoglake and Political Capital