In Exclusive Interview, Paul Ryan Distances Self From Todd Akin  —  CARNEGIE (KDKA) — In Congressman Paul Ryan's first interview in Pennsylvania, Mitt Romney's vice presidential pick reacted strongly to Congressman Todd Akin's comment than women who are raped rarely get pregnant.

NBC/WSJ poll: Heading into conventions, Obama has four-point lead  —  After Mitt Romney selected his vice presidential running mate, and just days before the political conventions kick off next week, President Barack Obama maintains his advantage in the race for the White House, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

As Isaac churns up reminder of Gustav, GOP planners say they're ready  —  (CNN) - Four years ago Hurricane Gustav brought the first night of the Republican National Convention in land-locked St. Paul, Minnesota to a halt.  —  Today, RNC-goers are bracing for déjà vu all over again.

Prince Harry — Naked Photos of Las Vegas Rager Leaked  —  During Vegas Rager  —  Prince Harry put the crown jewels on display in Vegas this weekend ... getting BARE ASS NAKED during a game of strip billiards with a room full of friends in his VIP suite.  —  It all went down Friday night during …

Costs Seen in Romney's Medicare Savings Plan  —  WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney's promise to restore $716 billion that he says President Obama “robbed” from Medicare has some health care experts puzzled, and not just because his running mate, Representative Paul D. Ryan, included the same savings in his House budgets.

Oklahoma kindergartner banned from wearing Michigan shirt  —  An Oklahoma City kindergartner was forced to turn his University of Michigan shirt inside out last week because it violated a city ban on any apparel not supportive of the state's college teams.  —  Cooper Barton, 5, comes from a family of Michigan fans.

Labor Department spends stimulus funds for ads during Olbermann, Maddow shows  —  Contract shows no new jobs were created  —  The Labor Department paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal stimulus funds to a public relations firm to run more than 100 commercials touting …

Jake Tapper Tells Ingraham ‘Media Helped Tip The Scales’ In 2008  —  In an interview on Tuesday with conservative radio host Laura Ingraham, ABC News' White House correspondent Jake Tapper addressed many of the concerns that Republicans have with the media.  Tapper said that he was concerned …

What the G.O.P. Platform Represents  —  Over the years, the major parties' election-year platforms have been regarded as Kabuki theater scripts for convention week.  The presidential candidates blithely ignored them or openly dismissed the most extreme planks with a knowing wink as merely …

The rise of the ‘Drawbridge Republicans’  —  As Republicans head toward next week's convention something extraordinary has come into view now that their ticket is complete.  —  Mitt Romney came from wealth and went on to build his own quarter-of-a-billion dollar fortune.

Open Mouth, Insert Foot: Going Viral?  —  I had barely finished reading Niall Ferguson's takedown of President Obama when a flood of takedowns of Mr. Ferguson started hitting the web.  This post, then, will not be about his Newsweek piece, but instead about his recent Bloomberg TV interview with Erik Schatzker and Sara Eisen.

Rick Santorum: Here Are the Reasons That Romney Might Lose  —  The former senator is heading to Tampa to speak on behalf of his former rival.  He tells Howard Kurtz what Romney must avoid if he is to beat Obama.  —  Rick Santorum has a simple formulation for how the 2012 election will turn out.

An Update to the Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2012 to 2022  —  For fiscal year 2012 (which ends on September 30), the federal budget deficit will total $1.1 trillion, CBO estimates, marking the fourth year in a row with a deficit of more than $1 trillion.