By Josh Boak

Former President Bill Clinton made a case for Obama’s reelection on Wednesday night as complex as his own tenure in the White House: tightly focused but rambling, folksy yet wonkish, a call for unity that levied a barrage of criticism against Republicans.

At times, it seemed as though the saxophonist – freely improvising – would dissect the entire federal budget by each line item for delegates at the Democratic National Convention. His 50-minute monologue contained mouthfuls of sound bites, so many that it might very well have swallowed his message. 

By Erik Schelzig, Stephen Braun, The Associated Press

 

The Secret Service on Wednesday said it is investigating the reported theft of copies of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's federal tax records during a break-in at an accounting office in Franklin, Tenn. Someone claiming responsibility demanded $1 million not to make them public.

 

An anonymous letter sent to Romney's accounting firm and political offices in Tennessee and published online sought $1 million in hard-to-trace Internet currency to prevent the disclosure of his tax filings, which have emerged as a key focus during the 2012 presidential race. Romney released his 2010 tax returns and a 2011 estimate in January, but he has refused to disclose his returns from earlier years.

 

By Sheelah Kolhatkar

On the final morning of the Republican National Convention, Karl Rove took the stage at the Tampa Club to provide an exclusive breakfast briefing to about 70 of the Republican Party's highest-earning and most powerful donors. During the more than hour-long session, Rove explained to an audience dotted with hedge fund billionaires and investors -- including John Paulson and Wilbur Ross -- how his super PAC, American Crossroads, will persuade undecided voters in crucial swing states to vote against Barack Obama. He also detailed plans for Senate and House races, and joked, "We should sink Todd Akin. If he's found mysteriously murdered, don't look for my whereabouts!"

Then Rove pleaded with his audience for more money -- much more.

 

By Josh Boak

To hear it from Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at the Republican National Convention last week, only the GOP is willing to challenge public employee unions on their generous pensions and benefits.

In his Tampa speech, Walker celebrated surviving a June 5 recall election after taking on public unions to reduce the number of people who are "dependent on the government."
But when it comes to state government pensions, the stereotype that Republicans alone are cracking down on unions is not entirely accurate.

 

By Eric Pianin and Merrill Goozner

In August 2008, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama stood before an adoring crowd of 84,000 supporters in Invesco Field in Denver and promised to unite the country and tackle its economic woes.

"Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less," the Illinois senator told the convention crowd. "More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach. These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush."

 

By Stephen Ohlemacher

 

WASHINGTON (AP) - It didn't take long for the Internet to start buzzing with conspiracy theories after the Social Security Administration posted a notice that it was purchasing 174,000 hollow-point bullets.

 

Why is the agency that provides benefits to retirees, disabled workers, widows and children stockpiling ammunition? Whom are they going to use it on?

 

Rick Newman

By most accounts, the November presidential election will come down to the vote count in perhaps half a dozen swing states. So if you're a voter in Ohio or Florida or Colorado, this election is all about you. 

 

It's also about the economy and whether voters feel like things are getting materially better or staying stuck in the doldrums. President Barack Obama's re-election bid is obviously a tough sell, since no president has won a second term in modern times with the unemployment rate above 8 percent, as it is now. His Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, is promising to create 12 million new jobs if elected.

 

National trends don't necessarily reveal how workers are faring in the swing states, however, so I did some analysis on economic conditions in eight states judged by election expert Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia to be tossups: New Hampshire, Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin, Colorado and Nevada.

 

By Yuval Rosenberg

President Barack Obama took his re-election campaign to Reddit on Wednesday, answering questions on the popular Web community where users post and comment on news, politics, cute animal pictures and oddball videos.

"I am Barack Obama, President of the United States – AMA," the president posted, using the site's initialization for "ask me anything," as part of a regular Reddit series called IAmA, in which celebrities and people in interesting lines of work field questions about their jobs.

Obama is the highest-profile subject of the series, which has previously had comedians Stephen Colbert and Louis CK, "Jeopardy" champion Ken Jennings and CNN anchor Don Lemon, as well as a bus driver, a Starbucks barista and a Red Lobster employee. Obama's session drew enough users to bring the site down briefly.