Exclusive: Obama to include Republicans in hard-hitting convention  —  Advisers to President Barack Obama are scripting a Democratic National Convention featuring several Republicans in a prime-time appeal to independents — and planning a blistering portrayal of Mitt Romney as a heartless aristocrat who …

Romney Campaign Contests Polling Numbers  —  “You've got to have something precipitate that sort of sea change, and we haven't,” said a top adviser.  Dumbfounded by three bad polls.  —  Image by Mario Tama / Getty Images  —  BOSTON — Mitt Romney's presidential campaign is at a loss …

Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano favored women pals for jobs: lawsuit  —  A veteran US law-enforcement official has filed a blockbuster discrimination lawsuit against Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, charging she pushed him aside to make way for a less-qualified woman who's …

It's Jon Huntsman Sr, right Harry?  —  Harry Reid's source.  Probably.  —  Harry Reid has a Republican source who has told him that Mitt Romney didn't pay taxes in 10 years.  Who could he possibly known that would have that information?  Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman's dad sounds like the likely source.

Obama Is Ahead, but Is He Winning?  —  The polls put the incumbent in the lead, but there are plenty of reasons for Republicans to be optimistic — and Democrats to be jittery.  —  Reuters  —  Three months remain until election day, and President Obama narrowly leads in nearly every national poll.

Fareed Zakaria's Take on Gun Control Strikingly Similar to The New Yorker's  —  Fareed Zakaria reads The New Yorker.  We can only assume that because his latest column for Time on gun control, reads a lot like Jill Lepore's lengthy New Yorker article on the NRA from April.

Noonan: A Nation That Believes Nothing  —  Romney doesn't need to talk about America becoming like Europe—he needs to warn us about America becoming like California.  —  It's been a week marked by mistakes, some new and some continuing.  —  The pro-Obama Super PAC ad that essentially blames Mitt Romney …

The Killing  —  The Massachusetts multimillionaire who won his party's nomination largely on perceptions of “electability” had become the target of a ferocious blitz of negative advertising.  Partisans and media decried many of the attacks as misleading or false.

Zimmerman Prosecutors In Huge Screw-Up  —  Photo of dead Trayvon Martin, college docs mistakenly released  —  In an embarrassing screw-up, Florida prosecutors today accidentally distributed a post-mortem photo of Trayvon Martin as well as copies of George Zimmerman's college records …

Catholic Nuns Send Letter To Romney Challenging His ‘Woeful Lack Of Knowledge’ About The Poor  —  The group of Catholic nuns who launched the Nuns On A Bus tour to shed light on the effects the House Republican budget would have on the poor turned its attention to the GOP's presidential candidate this week …

Republican Party Chairman: Americans Who Want Romney To Release More Tax Returns Are The New Birthers  —  RNC Chairman Reince Priebus compared the overwhelming majority of Americans — including a growing number of Republicans — calling on Mitt Romney to release his tax returns to birthers …

Axelrod's Veep Bet?  Tim Pawlenty  —  Obama's team is focused on a Romney-Pawlenty ticket.  —  Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, left, introduces Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and his wife Ann, during a campaign stop in Milford, N.H., Friday, June 15, 2012.

US defense firms could push forward with sending layoff notices  —  Despite administration warnings that notices related to sequestration were unnecessary, Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney are continuing their preparations.  —  Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney are going forward …

Romney's Strategy Isn't Working  —  The line from Romney headquarters last month was “every day we're not talking about the economy is a day we lose.”  This line, which came from the highest reaches of the campaign, was proffered to explain the unwillingness to provide substantive details on a host of policies besides the economy.

Romney's Side Course of Culture  —  When Mitt Romney asserted last week that “culture does matter,” he settled into a pose that was more triumphalist than anthropologist.  Romney had begun by asserting that culture explained the difference in G.D.P. between Israel and the Palestinian Authority …

The Great VP Fake-Out  —  This week saw media scrutiny of Mitt Romney ratchet up as reporters were allowed to follow him outside his scheduled public events.  Everyone wants to know who will be his pick for running mate, and he's not saying much.  —  The people who are talking are consultants …