When Did Romney Step Back From Bain?  It's Complicated  —  When Mitt Romney was running for governor of Massachusetts a decade ago, Democrats went before a state commission to demand that he be struck from the ballot.  Their argument: After taking over the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City …

July panic for Obama — for good reason  —  Why has the Obama team been publicly wailing about losing out to Mitt Romney in the money race?  Why would the president accuse his opponent of not merely being wrong or unqualified but criminal?  After all, the polls are tied, so why so much worry in Obamaland?

Egyptians pelt Clinton motorcade with tomatoes  —  (Reuters) - Protesters threw tomatoes and shoes at Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's motorcade on Sunday during her first visit to Egypt since the election of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi.  —  A tomato struck an Egyptian official in the face …

Obama wedding registry fund-raising strategy not a hit with brides  —  President Obama's bizarre marriage-theme fund-raising scheme — where he asks couples to request campaign donations from their guests in lieu of wedding gifts — has been a total flop.  —  The desperate initiative …

Pawlenty Looked at as Romney Running Mate  —  EAGAN, Minn. — It was four years ago this summer, when Tim Pawlenty ranked high on the list of John McCain's potential running mates, and Mr. Pawlenty and his wife, Mary, were plowing through a voluminous questionnaire probing deep into their finances …

Treasury probe cites officials for soliciting prostitutes, accepting industry gifts, FOIA docs reveal  —  Treasury Department officials have been cited for soliciting prostitutes, breaking conflict-of-interest rules and accepting gifts from corporate executives, according to the findings of official government investigations.

Richard Posner Bashes Supreme Court's Citizens United Ruling  —  Richard Posner is the most influential conservative judge outside the Supreme Court.  And he thinks its campaign-finance ruling encourages bribery.  James Warren on Posner's latest shot—and Scalia's gun love.

Microsoft and NBC Complete Web Divorce  —  On Sunday night, MSNBC.com did something that successful Web sites almost never do: it renamed itself.  —  The site became NBCNews.com, signifying the end of a relationship between NBC and Microsoft that dates back to the earliest days of the commercial Web.

Latest Word on the Trail?  I Take It Back  —  The quotations come back redacted, stripped of colorful metaphors, colloquial language and anything even mildly provocative.  —  They are sent by e-mail from the Obama headquarters in Chicago to reporters who have interviewed campaign officials under …

John Thune rising: GOP senator on Romney's veepstakes and his future  —  Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) has reemerged as a viable vice presidential candidate who would check many of the boxes Mitt Romney is looking for in a running mate.  —  He's an experienced legislator who has earned respect …

Romney's Palin Problem: Where's Her Convention Invite?  —  Mitt still hasn't invited Sarah to the GOP's nomination assembly in Tampa, and the Tea Party is livid.  Peter J. Boyer on how the snub could sabotage Romney's tenuous ties to the grassroots—and why Palin is keeping the week open, just in case.

Backward or Forward?  —  Thirteen years ago?  Or thirteen years from now?  —  Some perspective on the state of the current presidential campaign: This past week, when the national political debate wasn't focused on the origins of U.S. Olympic uniforms, it was dominated by questions about the date of Mitt Romney's retirement.