POLITICO-GW Battleground Poll: Tied up  —  The race for the White House remained in a dead heat just before Mitt Romney announced Paul Ryan as his running mate, a new POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground poll finds.  —  The poll, conducted in the days leading up to the Ryan announcement …

Michelle Obama: Barack's not a ‘superhero’  —  “He's not a superhero; he's a human.  So he needs your help,” the First Lady said.  AP Photo  —  Close  —  First Lady Michelle Obama says her husband isn't a “superhero” and that President Barack Obama will need all the help he can get in order to be reelected.

Presidential debate moderators announced  —  The Commission on Presidential Debates has decided on the moderators for this year's debates, sources confirm to POLITICO.  —  PBS's Jim Lehrer will host the first presidential debate on October 3 in Denver, Colo. CNN's Candy Crowley will host the second …

Darrell Issa to Sue Eric Holder Monday  —  House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa plans to sue Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday for refusing to provide documents related to the “Fast and Furious” gun-smuggling operation.  —  “The committee expects to file …

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The Ryan Role  —  Mark Kleiman points us to a lamentable but revealing column by William Saletan, which illustrates perfectly how the essentially ludicrous Paul Ryan has gotten so far - namely, by playing to the gullibility of self-proclaimed centrists, who want to show their “balance” by finding a conservative to praise.

Spanish commercial property on the brink  —  The Spanish and Italian commercial property markets have all but collapsed with the number of transactions in both countries falling more than 90 per cent in the three months to July as investors worry about the future of the eurozone.

Video: Erskine Bowles says Ryan budget “sensible ... honest, serious”  —  Why is this important?  Erskine Bowles has a long pedigree as a Democratic budget thinker — and presidential adviser.  When Barack Obama needed to pick the co-chair for his deficit committee, which he roundly ignored in the end …

GOP Rep. Joe Walsh: Muslims Are ‘Trying To Kill Americans Every Week’  —  On Friday night, there were two pellet-gun shots on a mosque in the Chicago suburb Morton Grove.  No one was injured, and 51-year-old David Conrad has been charged for shooting on the outer wall of the building as people prayed inside.

Problems Riddle Moves to Collect Credit Card Debt  —  The same problems that plagued the foreclosure process — and prompted a multibillion-dollar settlement with big banks — are now emerging in the debt collection practices of credit card companies.  —  As they work through a glut of bad loans …