The Real Romney  —  The purpose of the Republican convention is to introduce America to the real Mitt Romney.  Fortunately, I have spent hours researching this subject.  I can provide you with the definitive biography and a unique look into the Byronic soul of the Republican nominee:

Romney Camp Bets On Welfare Attack  —  Their most powerful weapon, a top aide says.  “We're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers,” says Newhouse.  —  Source: youtube.com  —  Mitt Romney's aides explained with unusual political bluntness today why they are spending heavily …

Chaos On The GOP Convention Floor  —  Shouting match erupts between Ron Paul and Mitt Romney supporters as the convention unceremoniously votes on Rules, Credentials.  —  TAMPA — A shouting match erupted on the floor of the Republican National Convention on Tuesday afternoon …

NYT reporter leaked advance copy of Maureen Dowd column to CIA  —  Newly available CIA records obtained by Judicial Watch, the conservative watchdog group, reveal that New York Times reporter Mark Mazzetti forwarded an advance copy of a Maureen Dowd column to a CIA spokesperson …

Who Is Thursday's Mystery Convention Speaker?  —  TAMPA, Fla. - Republican convention planners appear to have a surprise planned for those tuning in Thursday night.  —  Buried deep in the convention schedule released Monday is a vague reference to a mystery speaker scheduled for the event's final evening.

Court Throws Out Texas Congressional Map  —  In a lengthy, sweeping decision, a federal court in Washington on Tuesday unanimously struck down Texas' new congressional map, ruling that the plan was enacted with “discriminatory purpose” against Hispanics protected under the Voting Rights Act.

Coal miners lost pay when Mitt Romney visited their mine to promote coal jobs  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — When GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney visited an Ohio coal mine this month to promote jobs in the coal industry, workers who appeared with him at the rally lost pay because their mine was shut down.

RNC Primetime Speaker Gave Extensive PowerPoint On How To Build Your Business With Government Money  —  Small business woman Sher Valenzuela, who is running for Lt. Governor in Delaware, is giving a primetime speech tonight at the “We Build It” themed day of the Republican convention.

Republican National Convention: The one graph you need to see before watching  —  On the Republican convention stage tonight, you're going to see a really large clock.  But the clock isn't for keeping time.  The idea isn't to stop speakers from going over their allotted time, or the convention from running late.

Amount  —  $10 $25 $50 $100 $250 $1,000 $2,500 Other $  —  I agree to the Democracy Engine Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.  You will not receive any emails from them, they just deliver your donation to us.  —  Don't publish my donation on the website.

James O'Keefe not allowed to fly to Tampa  —  Conservative filmmaker and activist James O'Keefe won't be in Tampa, but the show he was supposed to headline will go on.  —  O'Keefe will still speak via Skype on “the role of the citizen journalist” and take audience questions …

Methane Making An Appearance In Pa. Water Supplies … Mike and Nancy Leighton's problems began on May 19, just as Mike was settling in to watch the Preakness Stakes.  A neighbor in Leroy Township, Pa., called Mike and told him to check the water well located just outside his front door.

Hooters Welcomes Joe Biden to Tampa  —  Vice President Joe Biden cancelled his scheduled trip to the Republican convention in Tampa because of the threat of bad weather, but that has not stopped a local Hooters restaurant (in nearby Clearwater, Florida) from welcoming him to the area anyway.

PolitiFiction  —  The website PolitiFact is going to be truth-squadding the Republican convention speakers this week, delivering verdicts on which claims are “mostly true” and which deserve a “pants on fire” rating.  Our advice: Pay no attention to those ratings.  PolitiFact can't be trusted to get the story right.

Marco Rubio Heckled During Speech, Takes Swipe at Crist  —  More fun and games at the RNC in Tampa as the Republican Party of Florida's Tuesday breakfast was interrupted by liberal hecklers during Senator Marco Rubio keynote address.  Several hecklers stood up and interrupted Rubio during his remarks …

Obama lead declining in Iowa  —  PPP's newest Iowa poll finds Barack Obama's lead in the state declining all the way to two points.  He's at 47% to 45% for Mitt Romney.  In July we found Obama ahead 48-43 and in May it was 51-41.  —  Iowa makes yet another swing state where voters don't really care for either Obama or Romney.

Barack Obama, Global Has-Been  —  The president would rather be loved than feared.  He is neither.  —  A few days ago there occurred one of those telling little episodes that captures the essence and folly of the Obama administration's approach to foreign policy.

Chinese media slams Romney as convention begins  —  Tampa - China's state-controlled media lashed out at GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney Monday, warning that his policies would poison U.S.-China relations. … “By any standard, the U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's China policy …

Who's watching the conventions?  —  The following is a guest post from Jonathan Ladd, an associate professor at Georgetown University and the author of Why Americans Hate the Media and How it Matters (Princeton University Press, 2012).  —  This week (baring a major disruption from Hurricane Isaac) …