memeorandum: Hezbollah smuggles high-grade explosives into Israel (Yaakov Katz/Jerusalem Post)

12:50 PM ET, August 8, 2012

Top Items:

Polls See Sharp Divide in 3 Swing States — For all of the Democratic attacks painting Mitt Romney as an out-of-touch elitist who will help the rich at the expense of the middle class, he is maintaining the traditional — and sizable — Republican advantage among a politically vital constituency …

Discussion: The Caucus, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, New York Magazine, Taylor Marsh, USA Today and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

Deborah Charles / Reuters:

Obama's lead over Romney grows despite voters' pessimism — (Reuters) - Americans are increasingly pessimistic about the future but voters do not seem to be holding it against Democratic President Barack Obama, who slightly expanded his lead over Republican rival Mitt Romney this month, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll says.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Business Insider and Taegan Goddard's …

Quinnipiac University:

Wisconsin, Virginia, Colorado White House Races Close, Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS News Swing State Poll Finds — Watch Video: Assistant Director Tim Malloy discusses poll results — Clip Information and Download: — FLV File -For Website (1920x1080/225MB) Original .MP4 File -For Broadcast (1920x1080/289MB)

Discussion: Firedoglake, GOP 12, Guardian, Business Insider, nation.foxnews.com, Hotline On Call, First Read, USA Today and Public Policy Polling

The 1600 Report:

Ad linking Romney to death of the wife of a laid off steelworker not accurate — CNN White House Correspondent Brianna Keilar — A new attack ad by a Super PAC backing President Obama appears to blame Mitt Romney for a woman's death from cancer after his company, Bain Capital …

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
Gibbs won't condemn ad linking Romney to woman's death

Discussion: Politico and nation.foxnews.com

Washington Post:
Mitt Romney's poll numbers at standstill, Washington Post-ABC News poll finds

Discussion: Hot Air and The Moderate Voice

Greg Holyk / ABCNEWS:
Romney's Popularity Stays Low, Obama's is Better, but with Challenges

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Maddow Blog and Mother Jones

Washington Post:
Romney's favorability ratings stall

Discussion: Ballot Box and Outside the Beltway

Virginia / CNN:
New state polls: Voters divided in race for White House

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Mediaite, Politico, Reuters, The 1600 Report and This Just In

Reuters:

Paul Ryan veep prospects split GOP — As Mitt Romney's vice presidential selection nears and buzz about Rep. Paul Ryan's prospects builds, a split is emerging among Republicans about whether the choice of the House Budget chairman and architect of the party's controversial tax and spending plan …

Discussion: Politico, ABCNEWS, Los Angeles Times, Althouse, Hot Air, The Daily Beast, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Wire and The Huffington Post

Maggie Haberman / Politico:

Bill Clinton slams Romney ‘misleading’ welfare ad — Bill Clinton, after steering clear of the flap over Mitt Romney using him in an ad in which he accused President Obama of trying to “gut” the 1996 welfare reform act, responds tonight with a statement rapping the Republican:

Discussion: Washington Monthly, CNN, The New Republic, Mitt Romney for President …, Taylor Marsh, Washington Examiner, The Hill and ThinkProgress

Amanda Terkel / The Huffington Post:
Ron Haskins, GOP Welfare Reform Architect, Blasts Mitt Romney Ad

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Daily Kos and The Heritage Foundation

First Read:
Paul Ryan set to take vacation amid VP fervor

Discussion: National Review, 2012 Decoded, Hot Air, Washington Post and The Other McCain

Steve Benen / msnbc.com:
The scandal behind Romney's new attack ad

Politifact.com Truth-O-Meter rulings from National:
Mitt Romney: “Under Obama's plan (for welfare) …

Discussion: Washington Post, CBS Miami, Salon, Jack & Jill Politics, CNN, Washington Monthly, ABCNEWS and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*

Michael Falcone / ABCNEWS:

New Poll Puts Mitt Romney In The Deep End (The Note) — By MICHAEL FALCONE (@michaelpfalcone) and AMY WALTER (@amyewalter) — NOTABLES: — BEARING IT ALL: THE POLITICAL STRIPTEASE OF CHOOSING A VEEP. The vice presidential search is more than a guessing game or a waiting game …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Raw Story and Business Insider

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:

Republicans in Missouri pick Todd Akin to face Sen. Claire McCaskill in November — Republicans on Tuesday pinned their hopes of winning back a Senate seat in Missouri — and perhaps control of the chamber — on Todd Akin, picking the conservative congressman to take on endangered Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill in November.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Associated Press, americanthinker.com, Ballot Box and Taylor Marsh

First Read:
From left, Sen. Rob Portman, Rep. Paul Ryan & Former Minn. Gov. Tim Pawlenty

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, AEIdeas and Washington Post

Julie Sobel / Hotline On Call:
In Upset, Akin to Face McCaskill

Discussion: Influence Alley, LifeNews.com, The Maddow Blog and Outside the Beltway

Matthew Jaffe / ABCNEWS:

Alleged Wisconsin Gunman Wade Michael Page's Ex-Girlfriend Arrested — Police say they have arrested the former girlfriend of Wade Michael Page, the man who allegedly shot and killed six people in a Sikh temple, after authorities say they found a gun in her Milwaukee home.

Discussion: The Jawa Report, JSOnline, The Other McCain, The Hinterland Gazette, New York Magazine and Newsy

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:

Why the Reaction Is Different When the Terrorist Is White — Atrocities like the attack on the Sikh congregation in Wisconsin introduce terrifying dissonance into America's post-9/11 mindset. — Members of the Sikh congregation mourn their dead. / Reuters

Discussion: The Awl, Wired and Mother Jones

New York Post:

Jewish gal shows up IOC with a gold salute to Munich 11 — It wasn't a gloved-fist salute from the medal stand, but Jewish-American gymnast Aly Raisman made quite a statement yesterday by winning a gold medal and invoking the memory of the Israeli athletes killed 40 years ago in Munich.

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Swampland, Taylor Marsh and Althouse

Matthew Yglesias / Slate:

Papa John's Founder Warns That Obamacare Will Lead to Imperceptably Small Increase in Pizza Prices … - Pat Robertson's Slam of Atheists for the Sikh Shootings Is Actually a Sign of Progress - Why Do Olympic Track Cyclists Have Such Weird Wheels on Their Bikes?

Discussion: The Maddow Blog, New York Magazine and Politico

Harry Bradford / The Huffington Post:
Papa John's Pizza To Raise Prices Because Of Obamacare, CEO John Schnatter Says

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Indecision Forever, Firedoglake, Addicting Info and Daily Kos

Matthew Yglesias / Slate:
America's Sluggish Recovery

Discussion: Brad DeLong and Jared Bernstein

Anita Li / Mashable!:

New York Police Subpoena Twitter to Identify Potential Aurora Shooting Copycat — The New York Police Department subpoenaed Twitter Tuesday to identify a user who threatened to “shoot up” a Broadway theater in an Aurora-style attack. — The user, who tweets under the now-defunct handle @ObamasMistress …

Discussion: New York Times, The Latest Word, Guardian, The Raw Story and New York Magazine

Christina Ng / ABCNEWS:
NYPD Battles Twitter for Identity of User Promising Violence ‘Just Like in Aurora’

Discussion: BBC, New York Post, Poynter, Gawker and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

Romney confuses ‘Sikh’ with ‘sheik’ — WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Mitt Romney mistakenly confused the words “Sikh” and “sheik” at a fundraiser here Tuesday night when he offered his condolences to the victims of last weekend's shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin.

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette, CNN, New York Magazine and Daily Kos

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

How Romney's Pick of a Running Mate Could Sway the Outcome — We haven't had that much to say about Mitt Romney's choice of a vice-presidential nominee — mostly because it just isn't something that lends itself to rigorous analysis. — But let's focus on the part of the problem where our tools …

Discussion: Swampland and Booman Tribune

Tom Bevan / Real Clear Politics:

Bachmann and Reid: A Troubling Double Standard — Conservatives often complain of two sets of standards in politics: one for Democrats and another for Republicans. Sometime that double standard is imaginary. Often, it's quite real. Consider the events of the last three weeks:

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Maddow Blog, alicublog, BuzzFeed, Capital New York and Addicting Info, more at Mediagazer »

David Dayen / Firedoglake:

The End of the 99ers: Extended Benefits Tier for Unemployment Expires — The 99ers are no more. There are still plenty of people who have been out of work for 99 weeks or more, to be sure. But the 99 weeks of unemployment secured by one tier of extended benefits have ended.

Discussion: Off the Charts Blog

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

CNN: Wife of steelworker in new Obama Super PAC ad still had job and health insurance after he lost his — I wonder if Bill Burton and crew knew about this and greenlit the smear anyway or if they didn't care enough to even find out. Why would they? The point of calling Romney a murderer …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, americanthinker.com, National Review, Patterico's Pontifications, Betsy's Page, Ed Driscoll, The Lonely Conservative, CNN and Politico

Allan Turner / Houston Chronicle:

Texas executes man despite concerns over IQ — Marvin Wilson, the two-time armed robber who fatally beat and shot a Beaumont police informer he thought responsible for his arrest on a drug charge, was executed Tuesday at the state's Huntsville death house. — Wilson's case …