Linda Lingle seems not to have learned from an embarrassing RNC episode earlier this month.

Several of the “Democrats for Lingle” enlisted to tout the Republican Senate candidate’s bipartisan bona fides in a new ad posted on Lingle’s website are actually Republicans.

TAMPA, Fla. — Is Ann Romney a “modern feminist” or a traditional, doting housewife? Even her own daughters-in-law couldn’t decide as they introduced her at a “Women for Mitt” event here Wednesday morning, painting her as both a new-school crusader for women, and an old-school instructor of household upkeep and pie-baking.

Their conflicting accounts reflect a broader struggle within the party to define the would-be first lady — they want to make Ann Romney all things to all women, whether that means she’s an ambassador to working women with whom she has little in common, or the “conservative ideal of a woman whose strength lies in running her home.” Read More 

Mitt Romney seemed to indicate Monday to CBS News that presidents are essentially powerless when it comes to abortion policy. Abortion rights advocates beg to differ.

Mitt Romney’s campaign acknowledged that it deviated from standard operating procedure in declaring abortion and Todd Akin off-limits in a recent interview.

“This is not how we operate,” a campaign official told TPM. “The matter is being addressed.”

Rep. Steve King gave a tepid defense of Todd Akin Monday, while every other Republican in the universe was pushing him toward the exit. King also may have stirred up a controversy of his own: “I just haven’t heard of that being a circumstance that’s been brought to me in any personal way,” he told an Iowa reporter who asked about pregnancies as a result of statutory rape or incest.

Evan McMorris-Santoro has the story.

Rep. Todd Akin is not a doctor. His own congressional bio says he worked as an engineer and a steel plant manager before running for office.

But he’s heard from doctors that rape victims’ bodies spring into action to prevent a resulting pregnancy. Why Akin needs to assert junk science is unclear, since he doesn’t believe women who do get pregnant as a result of rape should be allowed to seek an abortion, either.

Negative $716 billion in Medicare from President Obama’s plan, plus $716 billion Mitt Romney has promised to restore … equals zero answers so far from the Romney-Ryan ticket on budget specifics.

Ayn Rand devotees aren’t wholeheartedly celebrating Paul Ryan, though he has said the novelist “triggered my interest in economics.”

Why the tepid embrace? Ryan presents a double-edged sword: He’ll help draw attention to Rand’s views, but his disavowal of her social libertarian streak means that if elected, Ryan won’t “embody all parts of Ayn Rand’s vision.”