Biden campaign puts VP team in place ahead of announcement  —  WILMINGTON, Del. — With Joe Biden's long-awaited decision on a running mate set to be revealed this week, his campaign has assembled a veteran roster of strategists to help navigate the crucible of a fall campaign.

The Revolt of the Republican Strategists  —  What the Trump era has revealed about the people who used to run Republican campaigns.  —  Last week I found myself reading “It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump,” the new book by Stuart Stevens, the longtime Republican operative …

Exclusive: Facebook cracks down on political content disguised as local news  —  Facebook is rolling out a new policy that will prevent U.S. news publishers with “direct, meaningful ties” to political groups from claiming the news exemption within its political ads authorization process, executives tell Axios.

I (still) believe the president, and in the president  —  I believe the president Made America Great Again.  I believe we need him reelected to Make America Great Again Again.  —  I believe Joe Biden is “Sleepy” and “weak.”  I believe Biden could “hurt God” and the Bible.

An economic crisis in Kentucky has workers, businesses furious with McConnell  —  Joblessness is high, benefits are running out and local leaders say they need the kind of aid that the Senate's most powerful figure has yet to endorse  —  The parade of cars honked incessantly as they crawled past …

Russia clears virus vaccine despite scientific skepticism  —  MOSCOW (AP) — Russia on Tuesday became the first country to clear a coronavirus vaccine and declare it ready for use, despite international skepticism.  President Vladimir Putin said that one of his daughters has already been inoculated.

Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best announces resignation  —  Best's resignation comes after the Seattle City Council voted to cut spending for the Seattle Police Department on Monday.  —  SEATTLE — Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best has announced that she will be resigning next month.

New York's true nursing home death toll cloaked in secrecy  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Riverdale Nursing Home in the Bronx appears, on paper, to have escaped the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, with an official state count of just four deaths in its 146-bed facility.

How to Foil Trump's Election Night Strategy  —  To keep the president from claiming victory on Nov. 3, Biden supporters who can vote in person may well have to.  —  There's no mystery about what President Trump intends to do if he holds a lead on election night in November.  He's practically broadcasting it.

Kanye West's campaign says he belongs on the ballot even if nomination papers were 14 seconds late  —  Kanye West's presidential campaign in Wisconsin may be coming down to a matter of crucial seconds.  —  West's campaign is arguing he belongs on the presidential ballot in Wisconsin …

Ilhan Omar's career on the line in tough Tuesday primary  —  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez survived her primary.  Rashida Tlaib did, too.  Now it's Ilhan Omar's turn on Tuesday — and the Minnesota congresswoman faces the stiffest challenge of any member of the Squad.

Is Lindsey Graham Actually in Trouble in South Carolina?  —  Michael Quattlebaum was just 10 years old when he attended a high-dollar Republican fundraising dinner in South Carolina's state Capitol.  His father was active in his local chapter of the GOP and eager to pass on the tradition.

Dems Say Sexist Attacks Are Wrong.  Someone Tell Sarah Palin!  —  Liberals are busy pre-butting expected sexist attacks on Biden's vice-presidential choice.  Gee, I remember a different time...  BEAST INSIDE  —  Joe Biden's campaign, in conjunction with influential women's groups …

Employers Cast Wary Eye on Trump Payroll-Tax Deferral  —  Details from the IRS will shape employers' willingness to stop withholding Social Security taxes from paychecks  —  WASHINGTON—Employers considering President Trump's plan to allow deferred payment of payroll taxes face a series of costs, uncertainties and headaches.

‘Somebody Needs to Go to Jail for This’  —  New evidence the FBI misled the Senate Intelligence committee about the Steele dossier.  —  On Sunday Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) presented new evidence suggesting that in 2018 the FBI lied to the Senate Intelligence Committee about the bureau's investigation of the 2016 Trump campaign.

Why Democrats Have Started To Cave On Reopening Schools  —  The pressure to reopen schools is on everywhere now that New York is doing it.  This means something else big: Their hard opposition to school reopenings is politically devastating for Democrats.  —  Prominent Democrat politicians …

Coronavirus testing in Texas plummets as schools prepare to reopen  —  Texas' low number of tests and large percentage of positive results suggest inadequacies in the state's public health surveillance effort at a time when school reopenings are certain to increase viral spread, health experts said.

Untangling the Media Myths of Covid-19  —  They're countless.  States that reporters shamed have done the best, and the U.S. is average among its peers.  —  Has there been in recent history a more tendentious, hysterical, data-denying and frankly disreputable exercise in misdirection …

Analysis: Trump has a go-to solution, and it's more Trump  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has a ready solution for almost any crisis: more Donald Trump.  —  In a template forged in his 2016 convention speech when he declared that “I alone can fix it,” the president …

Philly and the suburbs want to set up extra election offices for a new kind of early voting  —  Voters in the Philadelphia region will soon have a new way to cast their ballots.  —  Some of Pennsylvania's largest counties are planning to create satellite election offices …

Voter registration surged during BLM protests, study finds  —  Voter registrations fell sharply amid the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, but shot up in June amid nationwide protests over the killing of George Floyd, according to a new analysis.  —  TargetSmart, a Democratic political …

In the Wake of Covid-19 Lockdowns, a Troubling Surge in Homicides  —  “People have gotten to the point where they just don't give a damn,” said a minister in Kansas City, which is on pace for a record number of killings.  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It started with an afternoon stop at a gas station.

Present at the Disruption  —  How Trump Unmade U.S. Foreign Policy  —  Present at the Creation is an 800-page memoir written by Dean Acheson, U.S. President Harry Truman's secretary of state.  The title, with its biblical echo, was immodest, but in Acheson's defense, it was deserved.

Trump on the NBA: “The way they bowed to China is a disgrace”  —  President Trump criticized the NBA's ties to China during a Fox Sports Radio interview on Tuesday, saying, “The way they catered to China, the way they bowed to China, is a disgrace.”  —  Why it matters: China …

Trump Teases a Gettysburg Convention Speech.  Experts Say It's an Ethics Breach.  —  If he accepts his nomination at the Civil War battlefield, the president will be conducting partisan business on federal property.  —  After repeatedly throwing a wrench into plans for the Republican National Convention …

Swarm of Salton Sea earthquakes sparks worry about the San Andreas fault  —  A swarm of small earthquakes in California, close to the Mexican border, is being closely monitored as to whether it might raise the chance of a much larger event on the San Andreas fault.

Wisconsin's primaries are setup for the real battle in November  —  It's a key state for Trump's chances, and Republicans hope to win a supermajority in the state legislature.  —  The main event in Wisconsin's general election this fall will be the presidential contest …

Amy McGrath Habitually Failed to Pay Property Taxes  —  Local authorities fined Kentucky Dem for back taxes six times in five years  —  Kentucky Democratic Senate nominee Amy McGrath was penalized for delinquent property tax payments on her Virginia home six times in five years, local real estate records show.

Trump: Executive order on pre-existing conditions is ‘a signal’  —  President Donald Trump on Monday acknowledged a prospective executive order he's considering to make insurers cover pre-existing conditions amounted to political messaging — and that Obamacare already offered such protections.

President Trump Discusses the Return of Pro Sports, His Hopes for College With Clay  —  Where does President Donald Trump go to talk sports?  Why, Outkick of course.  —  The President joined Clay Travis on Tuesday morning to discuss the return of the NFL, the NBA ratings and China …

U.S. Contractor Knew of Explosive Material in Beirut Since at Least 2016  —  An American contractor spotted and reported the potential danger at least four years ago, but U.S. officials denied they were aware of the findings until last week, after the blast.