Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) “hasn’t said whether he will seek the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. But his aggressive groundwork seems to point to no other outcome,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“In recent weeks, the Kentucky Republican announced political hires in quick succession in Iowa, New Hampshire and Michigan– states key to winning his party’s nomination. Staffers mention a future campaign headquarters in Louisville and claim an email list of one million supporters, details most potential presidential hopefuls keep quiet. A super PAC launched by backers shortly before the 2012 election offers a repository for big donors.”

Michelle Cottle looks at why Texas Gov. Rick Perry suddenly started wearing glasses.

“I relay this extraordinarily comprehensive story because, first of all, I figure most everyone in Washington has wondered at some point about Perry’s glasses. But I also share it because, at least in my experience, it’s somewhat unusual for a (potential) presidential candidate to call up and lead a reporter so far into the medical weeds. That Perry did so speaks to a key aspect of his rehab mission: This is a guy seen as having mailed it in the last time he ran for president, stumbling and bumbling his way to disaster. This time around, whether it’s finding the time for an exacting ophthalmological discussion, making repeat visits to Iowa, or offering self-deprecating jokes about his 2012 belly flop, Perry wants everyone to know that he is ready–gung ho, even–for the nitpicking and hoop-jumping and all-around hard work that a serious White House campaign entails.”

Billings Gazette editorial: “Sen. John Walsh’s response to plagiarism has destroyed our faith in him… Having repeatedly said that he wants to do the honorable thing, Walsh should stop campaigning and do his utmost to serve Montanans well in the remainder of his brief Senate appointment. That is the honorable course.”

“”There is a movement afoot… I’d tell him, ‘Governor Romney, people here in Wyoming and around the country would encourage you to take another look at it.'”

— Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead (R), quoted by the Washington Post, urging Mitt Romney to run for president again in 2016.

Miami Herald: “In a nationwide push to fight Republicans who deny the existence of man-made climate change, investor-turned-activist Tom Steyer has founded a Florida political committee, seeded it with $750,000 of his own money, and says he’ll spend far more to help Democrat Charlie Crist defeat Gov. Rick Scott.”

“Florida Democrats are buzzing about Steyer spending $10 million, which he won’t discuss. Republicans say the California Democrat is a phony environmentalist, but they nevertheless worry that his financial commitment could be real in Florida.”

A new NBC/WSJ/Marist poll also shows that Americans “are divided on congressional control for the upcoming midterm elections. By 43% to 41%, voters say they want to see congressional Republicans stay in control of the House. And by an equal 43% to 41% margin, they want to see Republicans in charge of the Senate.”

“President Obama thumped Mitt Romney in the 2012 election, but now their political standings seem reversed. During a summer in which Democratic candidates are keeping their distance from an unpopular president, Romney is emerging as one of the Republican Party’s most in-demand campaign surrogates,” the Washington Post reports.

“Over three days in mid-August, Romney will campaign for GOP Senate and gubernatorial candidates in West Virginia, North Carolina and Arkansas, aides said. In September, he is planning visits to the presidential swing states of Colorado and Virginia. Romney is filling up his October schedule, as well.”

“Alison Lundergan Grimes and Mitch McConnell traded barbs, Agriculture Commissioner James Comer announced he will run for governor and Rand Paul read poetry,” the Lexington Herald Leader reports.

“While Comer stole the show with Republicans at the end of Saturday’s Fancy Farm picnic in front of a record crowd, the U.S. Senate race was the main event as supporters of McConnell and Grimes got rowdy early and stayed that way through the speeches.”

“Despite its reputation, Fancy Farm was not the firehose of vitriol aimed at the candidates that organizers feared and reporters from all over the globe hoped for, and none of the major candidates committed any gaffes that will haunt them from here to November.”

Illinois gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner (R) “has channeled at least part of his fortune into the Cayman Islands, a Caribbean paradise long criticized as a tax haven for American investors,” the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

“A Rauner spokesman insisted that the former private equity investor has met his legal tax obligations and properly disclosed to the federal government information regarding at least five investments by him or his firm in a country that has no income tax and a financial system cloaked in secrecy. Rauner’s campaign has refused so far to release a full set of his most recent tax returns to corroborate that and perhaps show the extent and value of those investments in offshore companies.”