A new NPR poll in 12 battleground states — Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin — finds President Obama and Mitt Romney tied at 46% each.
Virginia is Dead Even
A new Quinnipiac poll in Virginia finds Mitt Romney now in a dead heat with President Obama at 44% each.
Obama held an 8 point lead in March and a 5 point lead in June.
Said pollster Peter Brown: “Virginia voters are sharply split along gender and political lines about the presidential race. The two candidates equally hold their own political bases and are splitting the key independent vote down the middle. One small edge that President Obama has is likability. Voters have a slightly more favorable opinion of the president than they do Mitt Romney.”
Majority of D.C. Residents Think Gray Should Resign
A new Washington Post poll finds 57% of District of Columbia residents think Mayor Vincent Gray (D) should resign, revealing “how deeply the continuing campaign corruption scandal has eroded the city’s support for its mayor.”
Gray’s support is dwindling even among his political base, with 48% of African Americans saying he should resign.
Heller Holds Small Lead in Nevada
A new Magellan Strategies poll in Nevada finds Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) with a narrow lead over challenger Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV), 45% to 42%.
Skipping Work to Hang Out at the Horny Toad?
A new ad in Missouri’s race for lieutenant governor makes the presidential race look tame in comparison.
Still Close Nationally
A new Fox News poll finds President Obama leading Mitt Romney nationally by four points, 45% to 41%.
A new CBS/NYT poll finds Romney ahead by one point, 47% to 46%.
A new NPR poll shows Obama leading by two points, 47% to 45%.
More Blame Bush Than Obama for Economic Downturn
A new CBS News/New York Times poll finds that 34% of Americans say President Obama’s policies contributed significantly to the economic downturn, another 30% say they contributed to some degree while 35% say the president’s policies contributed little or not at all to the downturn.
However, more people blame former President George W. Bush.
Nearly half say Bush’s policies played a significant role in creating the nation’s current economic problems. Another 33% say they played some role. Only 18% say Bush’s policies had little to no impact.
Exchange of the Day
Email from a conservative blogger to Putlizer prize winning journalist Connie Shultz on July 9, 2012.
Dear Ms. Shultz,
We are doing an expose on journalists in the elite media who socialize
with elected officials they are assigned to cover. We have found
numerous photos of you with Sen. Sherrod Brown. In one of them, you
appear to be hugging him.
Care to comment?
Response on July 10, 2012:
Dear Mr. [Name Deleted]:
I am surprised you did not find a photo of me kissing U.S. Sen. Sherrod
Brown so hard he passes out from lack of oxygen. He’s really cute.
He’s also my husband.
You know that, right?
Connie Schultz.
Olympics Documents Described Romney as Bain CEO
BuzzFeed: “Mitt Romney has spent much of the last week arguing that, despite some public records, he was effectively gone from Bain Capital in February 1999. But in February 2000, Romney was introduced as the ‘founder and CEO of Capital’ at the National Press Club during an appearance about the Olympics, and Romney’s biography on the Olympic’s website listed him as Bain Capital ‘founder and CEO.'”
Meanwhile, a new Obama video asks people what “retroactively retired” means.
Obama Too Busy for Jobs Council
President Obama “has not met for six months with the CEOs and others on his Jobs Council in part because he’s simply been too busy,” White House press secretary Jay Carney told Politico.
Said Carney: “There’s no specific reason, except the president has obviously got a lot on his plate, but he continues to solicit and receive advice from numerous folks outside the administration about the economy about ideas that he can act on with Congress or administratively to help the economy grow and help create jobs.”
Obama Fades in New Mexico
A new Public Policy Polling survey in New Mexico finds the presidential race tightening with President Obama holding a five point lead, 49% to 44%.
The previous two PPP polls found Obama ahead by 14 and 15 points.
Key finding: “New Mexico still looks like a lean Obama state, but a surprise choice by
Mitt Romney of Susana Martinez as his running mate could make the state
a toss up. With her on the ticket Obama’s lead drops all the way down
to 48-47. That’s a testament to Martinez’s appeal with Democrats.”
Missing from Romney’s 2010 Tax Return
As pressure builds on Mitt Romney to release his tax returns, the Huffington Post reports that the GOP nominee has not even disclosed all of his tax documents for 2010 — the only year for which he has presented any final tax forms.
“Romney released his 2010 tax return in January of this year, a document that first informed voters about the existence of his Swiss bank account and financial activities in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. But people who own foreign bank accounts are required to file a separate document with the IRS that provides additional details on such overseas bank holdings, and Romney has not released that form to the public.”
Obama Campaign Sues Ohio Over Early Voting
President Obama’s reelection campaign filed a federal lawsuit against Ohio’s top elections official “in a dispute over the battleground state’s law that restricts in-person early voting in the three days leading up to Election Day,” the AP reports.
“Obama’s campaign and other Democrats argue that the law unfairly ends in-person early voting for most Ohioans on the Friday evening before the Tuesday election while allowing military and overseas voters to cast ballots in person until Monday. Before the changes to the law, local election boards had the discretion to set their own hours for such voting on the days before the election.”
Why Mitt Romney Won’t Release His Tax Returns
The Week has six theories.
The Signal and the Noise
Nate Silver’s book is now available for pre-order: The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail-but Some Don’t.
Heller Says Campaign is Running Negative Ads, Not Him
Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) insisted to The Hill that he was not running negative ads about his challenger.
Said Heller: “The campaign is. If you have any questions or comments it’d probably be better if you directed those towards the campaign. Just talk to the campaign, they’re the ones dealing specifically with this issue. Right now, I’m just worried about jobs and the economy.”
Do Voters Care Whether Obama’s Campaign is Nasty?
The Week weighs the evidence.
Romney Team Poring Over Veep Tax Returns
New York Times: “Mr. Romney’s possible running mates, who have handed over reams of documents to the campaign, have probably opened themselves to a greater level of scrutiny than the candidate himself, especially on the thorny question of taxes. Mr. Romney has said he will disclose federal tax returns covering two years by Election Day, far fewer than the 23 years’ worth that he handed over to Senator John McCain as a possible vice-presidential pick in 2008.”
