Today's Times
- Just two weeks ago Mitt Romney's advisers openly discussed trying to win the White House without Ohio, but his campaign is now displaying renewed vigor in its fight for the state's 18 electoral votes, Jeff Zeleny and Jim Rutenberg report. After a nonpartisan poll suggested that the Republican candidate has wiped out the president's lead among voters nationally, Ohio has joined other swing states at the heart of Mr. Romney's strategy.
- A new and potentially potent kind of “super PAC†is taking aim at the House races, picking a handful of Congressional contests in which the airwaves are less cluttered, and transforming them with a barrage of outside money, Nicholas Confessore and Jo Craven McGinty report. The proliferation of smaller super PACs has spurred far more money to be spent far earlier than in the 2010 elections, and is swamping incumbents and challengers alike.
- The House is more polarized than at any time in the last century, and no matter the outcome of November's election, it is about to be even more divided, Jennifer Steinhauer writes. A combination of redistricting, retirements and campaign spending by special interests is pushing out the moderate, consensus-building members of both parties.
Around the Web
- Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana will head the Republican Governors Association in 2013, and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey will lead the organization in 2014, Politico reports.
Happenings in Washington
- Michelle Obama will speak to supporters and attend campaign fund-raisers in Virginia.
- Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, will discuss how the presidential election should influence Democrats' approach to tax policy later this year.
