Inside the campaign: How Mitt Romney stumbled  —  Stuart Stevens, Mitt Romney's top strategist, knew his candidate's convention speech needed a memorable mix of loft and grace if he was going to bound out of Tampa with an authentic chance to win the presidency.

Middle East Turmoil Closely Followed; Romney's Comments Viewed Negatively  —  OVERVIEW  —  About four-in-ten Americans (43%) have followed news about the attacks on U.S. embassies in the Middle East and the killing of an American ambassador very closely, making it by far the most closely followed foreign news story of the year.

Paul Ryan Exclusive: Explains Why Romney Campaign Won't Reveal Tax Loopholes  —  Below is part of The Brody File exclusive interview with vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan.  The interview was done Friday at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C.  —  Mandatory Courtesy: CBN News/The Brody File

General Motors pushing U.S. to sell stake: report … CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — The Treasury Department is resisting General Motors' push for the government to sell off its stake in the auto maker, The Wall Street Journal reports.  Following a $50 billion bailout in 2009, the U.S. taxpayers now own almost 27% of the company.

Pictures That Change Elections?  —  Remember this infamous photo of the Elian Gonzalez raid in April 2000?  It may well have cost Al Gore the election because of its effect on Cuban voters in Florida:  —  Well, this equally infamous photo ought to cost Obama this election:

Romney Camp Won't Offer Specifics On New Pledge To Provide Specifics  —  Mitt Romney's campaign promised to unveil more specifics on Romney's campaign proposals during a conference call with reporters Monday, pushing back on bipartisan criticism that the Republican has yet to say clearly what he'd actually do in office.

Gretchen Carlson Appears To Get Pranked In Interview With ‘Former Obama Supporter’  —  Fox & Friends host Gretchen Carlson had to contend with a truly awkward moment Monday morning as she attempted to get through an interview with Max Rice, a man described as a recent college grad …

Todd Akin's Wife Compares GOP Abandonment to Rape, Tyranny  —  Rep. Todd Akin's wife, Lulli Akin, says the Republican Party's attempts to push her husband out of the Missouri Senate race — over his false assertion that women who are raped rarely get pregnant — are like rape itself.

Iran increases price on ‘Satanic Verses’ author Salman Rushdie's head by $500K  —  Author Salman Rushdie lived in hiding for a decade in the wake of a fatwa issued in 1989 over his novel “The Satanic Verses.”  His Japanese translator was stabbed to death in 1991 and his Italian translator was injured in a stabbing that same year.

U.S. diplomats in Beirut burning classified material  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut have started to destroy classified material as a security precaution amid anti-American protests in Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa.

Fighter jets in Democratic convention's military montage were Turkish, not American  —  The Democratic Party's national convention in Charlotte, N.C. may have doubled down on insulting the U.S. military community.  —  The Democratic National Committee has already apologized for using a photo …

Viral Video Splices Obama 'You Didn't Build That' With M.C. Hammer  —  A new well-produced, mash-up Internet video marries President Obama's controversial “You didn't build that” statement with M.C. Hammer's “U Can't Touch This.”  —  The result, “U Didn't Build That by MC 'Bama,” …

Joe Scarborough On The Entire Muslim World: ‘They Hate Us Because Of Their Religion’  —  This morning on MSNBC, Joe Scarborough accused every single person in Muslim and Arab world of hating the United States.  According to Scarborough, “if you scratch the surface, and if you gave every street vendor …

CNN RELEASES PHOTO, PERSONAL INFO OF FILMMAKER  —  This morning on CNN, the identity and past of scapegoated filmmaker Nikoula Nikoula was revealed to American audiences despite the private citizen's extraordinary attempts to conceal his identity.  —  During his late night frog march …

No demonstration before attack on US Consulate, source says … An intelligence source on the ground in Libya told Fox News that there was no demonstration outside the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi prior to last week's attack — challenging the Obama administration's claims that the assault grew out of a …

Investor Bankrolls Big Romney Campaign  —  A billionaire investor whose family owns the Chicago Cubs is pressing ahead with a multimillion-dollar pro-Republican political campaign, bucking a political furor that emerged when the effort first become public.  —  Joe Ricketts, the founder …

Morning Jay: How the Media Misrepresents the Race  —  The gap between the way the media characterizes the presidential race and what is actually happening is growing larger by the day.  In particular, we see a systematic emphasis on news items that favor the president and a discounting of evidence that disfavor him.

Exclusive: First Lady Michelle Obama: 5 Things You Don't Know About Me  —  Fried Twinkies?  Kiss-Cam love?  Bo's sleeping arrangements?  —  First Lady Michelle Obama — wife to President Barack Obama, 51, and mom to Sasha, 11, and Malia, 14 — recently shared little-known facts about herself exclusively to Us Weekly.

Ultimatum to US: ‘Criminalise blasphemy or lose consulate’  —  LAHORE:  —  Several Muslim parties and a Christian group held rallies on Sunday to protest against a movie released in America.  —  Around 10,000 people participated in the main rally organised on The Mall by the Tehreek Hurmat-i-Rasool (THR).

13 Powerful Images of Muslim Rage  —  “MUSLIM RAGE,” screams Newsweek's new cover story about last week's violent anti-American protests.  Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the well-known anti-Islam activist, is here to tell “us” (The_West) how to “end it.”  And it's true, isn't it?  All Muslims are constantly raging about everything.

Panel Decides Obama Will Stay On Kansas Ballot Despite Birther Objections  —  A board of three elected Republican officials decided to allow President Barack Obama to remain on the Kansas ballot during a brief meeting on Monday, despite the protest of California lawyer/dentist Orly Taitz, arguably the nation's most infamous “birther.”

Daily Breakdown: The Bounce Persists Into A Critical Week  —  During convention season, the polls temporarily provide a less accurate picture of the race as voters sway back and forth on either side of their eventual preference.  But this week, the polls are becoming more and more predictive …