Mitt Romney’s missteps on his trip abroad “have drawn extensive mockery in Britain and public consternation from both Republicans and Democrats in the United States, and his campaign advisers were at a loss Friday to put a positive spin on the story — other than to look ahead to the next two stops on his tour,” the Washington Post reports.

“Romney arrived in London under a bright spotlight, as expected, but apparently without a strategy for conveying a message to voters back home — such as reminding Americans of his widely lauded stewardship of the 2002 Winter Olympics or promoting his foreign-policy vision.”

“As a result, there is now immense pressure on him to find better footing in Israel and Poland. Romney’s advisers hope his events in Jerusalem on Sunday — when he will lock arms with Israeli leaders — could create a moment of strength that might redefine the candidate’s intensely scrutinized audition as a statesman.”

Daily Beast: Romney alienates England.

Scott Conroy previews the rules of this fall’s presidential debates which will feature six 15-minute topic “pods” focused on a single issue.

“The topics for each pod will be announced in September by the moderators, whom the CPD commissioners will select and reveal in mid-August. [Commission on Presidential Debates co-chairman Frank] Fahrenkopf said that he expects the pods in the first debate — which will focus on domestic policy — to address major topics like unemployment, education, and the deficit.”

Businessweek says Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) — and his dismal 31% approval rating — could be a liability for Republicans as they descend on the state for their national convention.

A new We Ask America poll in Ohio finds President Obama leading Mitt Romney in the key battleground state by eight points, 48% to 40%.

Key finding: “What pops out immediately is the high percentage of self-described Republicans who say they will vote for Barack Obama over Mitt Romney. An outlier? Perhaps. But we went back into the field last night to test it again. The results: almost identical. Hmmm. We going to keep an eye on that.”

The New York Times reports Tampa’s “well-known strip clubs have joined the welcome wagon” for the Republican national convention.

“Angelina Spencer, the executive director of the Association of Club Executives, which serves as a trade association for strip clubs, said an informal survey of convention business in New York and Denver had determined that Republicans dropped more money at clubs, by far.”

Sadi Spencer: “Hands down, it was Republicans. The average was $150 for Republicans and $50 for Democrats.”

“The likelihood that President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney will each net 269 electoral votes in November, instead of the 270 needed to win, is actually not so farfetched — and for close observers of the Electoral College system, a tie would set off a wave of constitutional and political mayhem that would make the 2000 Florida recount seem like a tidy affair,” CNN reports.

“A quick reading of the electoral map shows that the prospect is startlingly real.”

Of course, predictions of an Electoral College tie may be just as elusive as the predictions of a brokered convention earlier this year.

Charlie Cook: “What seems to be holding Romney back are voters’ personal feelings toward him, which are more negative than those faced by any of the past six nonincumbent nominees… In my judgment, Romney’s poor numbers go back to his campaign’s obsession with talking only about the economy and not attempting to define who Romney is as a person, as a way to build trust and strong positive personal feelings toward their candidate. The Romney camp has yet to run what I would call a personal-positive ad, a biographical or values-based commercial portraying him as the kind of person whom people might want to vote for, someone with values that they would want to see in the Oval Office.”

First Read: “But chew on this: Romney has been actively running for the White House for six years now… If you look at the fundamentals of this race, Romney should be ahead. And the fact is, he’s not. Why not? Because he has fumbled his biography.”

First Read: “With tonight’s Olympics opening ceremonies, we’ve now reached essentially halftime in this presidential contest. Keeping with the sports analogy, the two teams are going into the locker room with Obama ahead of Romney — 14-13 if it’s a football game, 49-43 if it’s basketball. In other words, it’s still anyone’s game. Both sides have had their share of smart play and boneheaded mistakes, and now we get a chance to breathe, relax, and prepare for the second half, which kicks off with Romney’s VP and the two conventions.”

“But if it’s now halftime, Team Romney — with what happened in Great Britain yesterday — concluded it by committing a false start, a holding penalty, and then an interception. Yes, yesterday was that bad.”

Ari Shavit of Haaretz had some interesting observations about his interview with Mitt Romney:

“He radiates old-fashioned American warmth. But when the recording device is turned on, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate immediately becomes tense. He is careful not to say anything superfluous. He refrains from making any commitments. Like a diligent student at an oral exam, he carefully weighs every word he is about to utter. But the interviewee is even more focused on what he is not allowed to say than on what he is about to say.”

President Obama will run a very positive, feel-good ad tied to the start of the Olympic Games.

Alex Burns: “The ad is in line with the Obama campaign’s string of positive commercials this week, and is a definite departure in tone from the slashing, negative, anti-Romney ads that have dominated June and July. But then, these are the Olympics, and voters aren’t necessarily going to want to see harsh Romney-bashing spots during the opening ceremonies.”

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Washington Post: “Tens of thousands of civilian employees in the Defense Department could receive warnings about potential layoffs four days before the November election if impending spending cuts aren’t averted, hitting presidential battleground states such as Virginia and Florida hard.”

“The alerts would come in addition to any that major defense contractors might send out at the same time to their workers under an often-overlooked law, a prospect that is unnerving the White House roughly three months before voters go to the polls.”