Verdict is in: Obama levels more personal attacks  —  A crabby, negative campaign that has been more about misleading and marginal controversies than the major challenges facing the country?  Barack Obama and Mitt Romney can both claim parenthood of this ugly child.

Our Clinton Nightmare  —  CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Former President Bill Clinton's stem-winding nomination speech was a fact-checker's nightmare: lots of effort required to run down his many statistics and factual claims, producing little for us to write about.  —  Republicans will find plenty of Clinton's scorching opinions objectionable.

Disillusioned Obama Supporter In Romney Ad Is Actually GOP Staffer  —  Republicans debuted a new ad Thursday in which a frustrated former Obama supporter expresses her disappointment with the president.  The only problem: The woman in the video is actually an RNC staffer.

Romney, GOP Groups Pull Ads From Michigan and Pennsylvania  —  Republicans signaled this week that they might have given up hope in two important swing states.  —  TPM Slideshow: Romney Takes The Stage At The RNC  —  The Romney campaign and conservative groups like Crossroads GPS …

PHOTO: Hillary Clinton watches husband deliver convention speech  —  (CNN) - A photo released by the State Department shows Secretary of State Hillary Clinton watching her husband deliver remarks Wednesday night at the Democratic National Convention.  —  Hillary Clinton didn't watch …

Transcript of Bill Clinton's Speech to the Democratic National Convention  —  The following is the full text of former President Bill Clinton's speech on Wednesday from the Democratic National Convention.  —  PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: Thank you very much.  Thank you.  Thank you.  (Sustained cheers, applause.)

Russia's Putin defiant on Syria, says Romney “mistaken”  —  * Says Obama is honest, Romney could widen missile rift  —  President Vladimir Putin signalled in an interview aired on Thursday that Russia was not ready to shift its stance on Syria, and suggested Western nations were relying …

Tom Brokaw Rushed to Charlotte Hospital  —  NBC News special correspondent Tom Brokaw was taken by ambulance to a Charlotte hospital this morning after an appearance on MSNBC's “Morning Joe.”  —  Brokaw, 72, who stepped down as anchor of “Nightly News” after the 2004 election …

Dems trotting out H'wood beauties to introduce Obama  —  CHARLOTTE, NC — Call them Barack's Angels.  —  Democrats have secretly scheduled an appearance by Hollywood beauties Scarlett Johansson and Kerry Washington tonight at their national convention, in a bid to counter Clint Eastwood's surprise speech …

Steelworker Featured at DNC Didn't Work for Bain  —  The Democratic National Convention on Wednesday featured three speakers billed as “former employees of companies controlled by Bain Capital.”  —  They each told compelling stories about jobs lost, allegedly because of the actions of Bain under Romney's leadership.

Bob Woodward Book: Debt Deal Collapse Led to ‘Pure Fury’ From President Obama  —  An explosive mix of dysfunction, miscommunication, and misunderstandings inside and outside the White House led to the collapse of a historic spending and debt deal that President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner …

A Classified CIA Mea Culpa on Iraq  —  In this exclusive from the National Security Archive, a secret agency report on its WMD failures is published for the first time.  —  This remarkable CIA mea culpa, just declassified this summer and published here for the first time …

Sununu Thinks Obama Camp Lying About Cost Of Michelle Obama's Dress  —  Former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu questioned reports that the Tracey Reese dress Michelle Obama wore for her convention address Tuesday night cost $350 on a conference call with reporters Wednesday.

Bartlett suggests federal student loans are unconstitutional, invokes Holocaust  —  Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) suggested Wednesday federally-issued student loans were unconstitutional.  He also said disregarding the Constitution could lead down a “slippery slope” and cited the Holocaust …

Delivered Into Enemy Hands  —  US-Led Abuse and Rendition of Opponents to Gaddafi's Libya  —  This report is based on interviews conducted in Libya with 14 former detainees, most of whom belonged to an armed Islamist group that had worked to overthrow Gaddafi for 20 years.