Radford business owner declines request from Joe Biden's entourage to stop in store  —  The owner of Crumb and Get It says he doesn't agree with the Obama administration's policies.  —  Vice President Joe Biden visits Danville, Floyd, Wytheville  —  Republicans seize on Biden's ‘put you back in chains’ comment

TPMMuckraker  —  Brewer's Immigration Blast At Obama Looks Like A Dud  —  At first blush, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer seemed to be defying the federal government once again on Wednesday night.  —  The Republican governor signed an executive order saying Arizona had no plans to give government benefits …

Cops: LGBT volunteer shoots conservative group's guard  —  (AP) WASHINGTON - A man suspected of shooting and wounding a security guard in the lobby of a Christian lobbying group had been volunteering at a community center for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

ANALYSIS: Paul Ryan's First Week  —  ANALYSIS:If Mitt Romney's decision to announce his vice presidential pick earlier than most other presidential candidates in modern political history was supposed to turn the campaign away from the personal (his record at Bain, his refusal to release …

Give 'em hell, Mitt!  —  On Medicare, the Romney campaign is borrowing the strategic logic of a long-ago military legend.  —  Taking command of the French 9th army in 1914 as it retreated before the Germans, Marshal Ferdinand Foch uttered his immortals words: “Hard pressed on my right.

No Criminal Case Is Likely in Loss at MF Global  —  A criminal investigation into the collapse of the brokerage firm MF Global and the disappearance of about $1 billion in customer money is now heading into its final stage without charges expected against any top executives.

Americans Continue to Give Obama Low Marks on the Economy  —  Low rating on the economy may be more problematic than even lower deficit rating  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Three months before the election, President Barack Obama gets good marks from Americans for his handling of terrorism …

Red & Black student staffers walk out  —  The student editorial staff of the University of Georgia's The Red & Black newspaper walked out Wednesday evening after a non-student was named editorial director with final say on all editorial content.  —  The Red & Black's student editor-in-chief …

Ecuador Grants Asylum to Assange, Defying Britain  —  CARACAS, Venezuela — Ecuador said on Thursday that it had decided to grant political asylum to Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks.  Mr. Assange has been holed up for two months in the Ecuadorean embassy in London …

Artur Davis, who backed Obama in 2008, to speak at GOP convention  —  Former congressman Artur Davis, who officially seconded President Obama's nomination at the 2008 Democratic convention, said Wednesday that he will cap a remarkable political metamorphosis by addressing the Republican convention …

Look Who the Press Is Blaming for the Ugly Campaign  —  Media Bias: What a surprise.  Mitt Romney finally throws a counterpunch to a series of outrageous Obama campaign lies, and the press accuses Romney of going negative.  The media's pro-Obama bias is a wonder to behold.

What to Do with Political Lies  —  Fact-checkers are no longer enough: If lies are going to be repeated, the truth needs to be, too.  —  Shutterstock  —  My former Washington Post colleague Alec MacGillis has a thought-provoking piece in The New Republic today about “The Welfare Card …

Swing state poll: After picking Ryan, Romney now leads in Ohio, Virginia — and Florida  —  Via Guy Benson, no self-respecting eeyore would leave a headline as rosy as the above unchecked, so here's me checking it right off the bat.  According to Gallup's tracker, Romney's gotten almost no bounce from the Ryan pick — yet.

Marriage advocate pleads for civility  —  Yesterday's shooting at the conservative Family Research Council in downtown Washington, D.C., is symptomatic of a broader lack of civility in political discourse, the head of an organization promoting traditional marriage said Thursday.