Other races

TOP STORY: Waiting for Wednesday

President Obama and Mitt Romney were in debate prep on Tuesday, but their surrogates provided plenty of news.

Vice President Biden said at a campaign rally that the middle class has been “buried” for the last four years.

He made the remark while arguing Republicans will raise taxes on the middle class.

“This is deadly earnest, man. This is deadly earnest,” Biden said. “How they can justify, how they can justify raising taxes on the middle class that has been buried the last four years — how in Lord's name can they justify raising their taxes with these tax cuts.”

Republicans quickly seized on the comments.

Paul Ryan said Republicans "agree" that the middle class had been "buried" by the struggling economy.

"That means we need to stop digging by electing Mitt Romney the next president of the United States. Of course the middle class is being buried ... they're being buried by the Obama administration's economic failures," Ryan said.
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TOP STORY: Waiting for Wednesday

President Obama and Mitt Romney are deep in debate prep ahead of their first showdown in Denver on Wednesday night.

Both candidates are laying low Tuesday while their surrogates hit the campaign trail (see schedule below).

The Hill’s Amie Parnes and Justin Sink look at how neither Romney nor Obama likes to be challenged. And at their first debate on Wednesday — when tens of millions of voters will tune in to see the candidates clash — each of them will have to do their best to keep calm despite the other’s best efforts.
 
For the front-running Obama, that means not being thrown off balance by what GOP aides promise will be a vigorous and enthusiastic attack by Romney on the president’s economic and foreign policy record, and keeping his cool while under attack by a candidate he is said to disdain.
 
For Romney, it means delivering a strong debate performance that will shift the momentum of the race. Romney generally performed well during this year’s 20 GOP primary debates, but he sometimes struggled when he felt he was being targeted unfairly.

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Democrats in agriculture-heavy states are using the stalled farm bill to hammer their Republican opponents

TOP STORY: Same time, same state

For the second day in a row President Obama and Mitt Romney were campaigning in the same state: this time it was Virginia.

Obama slammed Romney in his remarks, saying the Republican nominee is trying to “reboot” his presidential campaign “every few days.”

In a speech in Hampton Roads, Va., Obama continued to accuse Romney of proposing economic plans that don't “add up” and running a sputtering presidential campaign.

“Every few days he keeps on saying he’s going to reboot this campaign or they’re going to start explaining very specifically how this plan’s going to work, and then they don’t,” Obama said before a crowd of about 7,000 people.

Romney, meanwhile, hit Obama over proposed defense cuts that would occur because of sequestration, calling the legislative deal a "strange proposal" and warning the proposed Pentagon cuts were a "kind of a gun-to-your-head opportunity."

"It's a strange proposal in the first place, it's even stranger that it's put in place," Romney said while speaking to military veterans at an American Legion post in Springfield, Va. "136,000 jobs will be lost in Virginia because of the move."

Sequestration is a particularly potent issue in Virginia, an important battleground state. Major defense contractors and the Pentagon are based in the state's Washington-area suburbs, while the Norfolk-Virginia Beach economy is largely based on federal spending. Nearly a fourth of the nation's active-duty military personnel are stationed in the state.

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TOP STORY: Cracking the door

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has opened the door to getting back in the Missouri Senate race after weeks of insisting it was finished with Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.).

Tuesday was the deadline for Akin to exit the race, which GOP leaders strongly pushed for, but with the embattled lawmaker staying in, the party seems willing to reconsider.

In a statement on Wednesday, NRSC executive director Rob Jesmer didn’t rule it out.

“There is no question that for Missourians who believe we need to stop the reckless Washington spending, rein-in the role of government in people’s lives, and finally focus on growing jobs in this country that Todd Akin is a far more preferable candidate than liberal Senator Claire McCaskill.  As with every Republican Senate candidate, we hope Todd Akin wins in November and we will continue to monitor this race closely in the days ahead," he said.

Jesmer’s statement follows several conservatives deciding to back Akin.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a Tea Party leader, endorsed Akin on Wednesday. Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, who had earlier called for Akin to exit the race, issued a statement late Tuesday night supporting the lawmaker.

The endorsements come amid concerns about the GOP's chances of winning control of the Senate. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) was considered one of the most vulnerable senators running for reelection until Akin made his controversial comment about "legitimate rape." Polls have shown her leading in the race since then.
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TOP STORY: Dueling speeches

President Obama and Mitt Romney made separate appearances at the Clinton Global Initiative Conference in New York City.

Both men were introduced by Bill Clinton, who’s played a prominent role in Obama’s reelection effort.

In his remarks, Romney unveiled his plan for a public-private partnership on foreign aid aimed at fostering free enterprise in developing countries.

“The aim of a much larger share of our aid must be the promotion of work and the fostering of free enterprise,” Romney said. "Nothing we can do as a nation will change lives and nations more effectively and permanently than sharing the insight that lies at the foundation of America’s own economy — free people pursuing happiness in their own ways build a strong and prosperous nation."

In his speech, Obama highlighted new efforts by his administration to fight human trafficking, which he called “modern slavery.”

Obama told the audience he does not use that word "slavery" lightly because it conjures “one of the most painful chapters of our nation’s history.” But he called the practice of human trafficking “barbaric” and “evil,” and he said it has “no place in a civilized world.”

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TOP STORY: Romney intensifies campaign schedule, attacks on Obama

Mitt Romney pounced on President Obama's remark that “you can’t change Washington from the inside," saying the president had "thrown the white flag of surrender."

"I couldn't believe it when the president of the United States said he couldn't get change from the inside," Romney said, adding that Obama's "slogan was 'Yes we can.' Now it’s 'No I can’t.' "

Romney riffed repeatedly on the line during the speech in Sarasota, Fla., often using Obama's own campaign slogans to drive home the criticism.

"He went from the president of change to the president who can't get change," Romney said.

The new lines to his stump speech come as his campaign schedule intensifies.

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TOP STORY: GOP leaders mum on Romney remark

Senate Republican leaders escaped answering questions in front of TV cameras on Mitt Romney's controversial "47 percent" remarks on Wednesday afternoon.

Senate Republicans did not address with members of the press — or collectively behind closed doors — the elephant in the ornate room where the party holds its weekly caucus luncheon, its first group meeting since the GOP presidential nominee's comments were leaked earlier this week.

TOP STORY: Republicans sounding the alarm

Mitt Romney's comments at a private fundraiser, revealed Monday night when Mother Jones magazine released a secret video of the event, are alarming a number of Republican strategists, some of whom are worried that the fallout could deal a body blow to the GOP nominee's already struggling campaign.

“It's a kidney shot because it reveals a very cynical view,” Mark McKinnon, who served as a top strategist to former President George W. Bush, told The Hill. “He's pushing independent voters out the door.”

Several GOP political strategists were as harsh in their criticism of Romney as McKinnon, though they asked that their names be withheld to speak candidly about their party's nominee.

These strategists said the video reinforced perceptions that Romney was an uncaring, out-of-touch millionaire. They also worried the fallout would cost him a crucial week of messaging as he struggles to close a narrow gap in the polls with President Obama.

"Couldn't come at a worse time," one Republican strategist told The Hill Monday night. "I hope the [Romney campaign communications] team in Boston doesn't have any sharp objects nearby."

Obama, taping an appearance on "Late Show with David Letterman" to air later Tuesday, made his first public comments about Romney's remarks.

"One of the things I learned as president is you represent the entire country," he said, according to a White House pool report. "If you want to be president, you have to work for everyone.''

He added: "What people want to know, though, is you're not writing off a big chunk of the country because the way our democracy works."
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TOP STORY: 50 days and counting

It’s 50 days until the election and President Obama has a small, but clear, lead over Mitt Romney.

And, with the countdown on, Romney’s message of the day is being overshadowed by an undercover video gone viral of some candid remarks the Republican nominee made at a GOP fundraising dinner.

"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what," Romney is shown saying. "All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to healthcare, to food, to housing, to you name it."

Romney goes on to say his "job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

The video, uncovered by Mother Jones, is from a fundraising dinner earlier this summer. The magazine has said it is withholding the date and location of the fundraiser for the source who provided the video. The magazine posted only small, individual clips, and not Romney's remarks in their entirety.

Romney campaign communication director Gail Gitcho put out a statement on the video: "Mitt Romney wants to help all Americans struggling in the Obama economy. As the governor has made clear all year, he is concerned about the growing number of people who are dependent on the federal government, including the record number of people who are on food stamps, nearly one in six Americans in poverty, and the 23 million Americans who are struggling to find work. Mitt Romney's plan creates 12 million new jobs in four years, grows the economy and moves Americans off of government dependency and into jobs."

Amid worries about Obama’s lead, the Romney campaign said that it would get more specific about the candidate's legislative priorities — a nod to criticism from fellow Republicans that their nominee needs to release more policy details.

Aides refused to describe the action as a pivot or change in direction, instead calling it the "natural progression" following a convention that focused on Romney's personal side.

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