“Though more Americans see the economy in bad shape than did at the beginning of the summer, their views of whether to re-elect President Barack Obama have barely changed - and a majority blame George Bush for the problems, a new [AP/GFK] poll says,” Politico writes.

“Despite the perception of a weakening recovery, there has been no significant change in the number of people who say he deserves re-election: 47 percent as opposed to 48 percent two months ago. That's a statistical dead heat with those who favor a change in the White House,” AP writes. “And more Americans still blame former President George W. Bush rather than Obama for the economic distress. Some 31 percent put the bulk of the blame on Obama, while 51 percent point to his Republican predecessor. … Obama also fares better than Congress in the blame department. Some 44 percent put "a lot" or "most" of the blame on Republicans while 36 percent point to congressional Democrats.”

More: “More than 6 in 10 — 63 percent — disapprove of Obama's handling of the economy. Nearly half, or 48 percent, "strongly" disapproved. Approval of his economic performance now stands at just 36 percent, his worst approval rating on the issue in AP-GfK polling.”

“When President Obama took his first trip to Martha’s Vineyard after taking office, the excitement among locals here was palpable, from the signs of support strung across shop windows and front porches to a full-page newspaper ad taken out by 125 Vineyard grandmothers in support of his health care plan,” the Boston Globe reports. “This week, with the jobless rate stuck above 9 percent and the president’s nationwide approval rating at its lowest level, the Vineyard’s broad allegiance shows cracks, leaving some islanders with a more textured, even tormented feeling about the president.”

“Following days of intense criticism from conservatives, Vice President Joe Biden is backing down from what was interpreted as a strange, if unintended, defense of China's one-child policy,” the New York Daily News reports. “The White House issued a clarification late Tuesday, insisting Biden believes such practices are ‘repugnant.’ Biden spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff told AFP in a statement that, ‘The Obama administration strongly opposes all aspects of China's coercive birth-limitation policies, including forced abortion and sterilization,’ adding Biden ‘pointed out, in China, that the policy is, as a practical matter, unsustainable. He was arguing against the one-child policy to a Chinese audience.’”

BACHMANN: “All presidential candidates try to control their image,” the New York Times says. “But the campaign of Mrs. Bachmann, the winner of the Iowa straw poll this month who is now battling to be seen as a national front-runner, is more controlling than most, carefully stage-managing her contacts with the news media and the public.”

Forbes magazine ranks Bachmann ahead of Sarah Palin on their most power women in the world list. And Palin’s ranked in the “celebrity/lifestyle” category. Bachmann’s in politics, per GOP 12.

PALIN: “On Fox News last night, Karl Rove called out Sarah Palin for her belligerent response to speculation that she's planning to jump into the race,” GOP 12 writes. He said he was “mystified” and that she has an “enormous, thin skin.” Rove said: “[I]f we speculate about her, she gets upset, and I suspect if we didn't speculate about her, she'd be upset and trying to find a way to get us to speculate about it.... it's weird, very odd."

PERRY: Politico: “Rick Perry vies for front-runner title.”

The Hill: “Perry eclipses Romney as front-runner in newest Gallup poll.”

Conservative Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe - a leading climate change skeptic - is backing Perry over Romney, whom he called "mushy" on environmental issues.

Politico looks at Perry's efforts at fundraising in DC and New York power centers. "In a sense, the debate over fundraising reflects a central question facing Perry’s candidacy: whether he should stick to the themes and support base that propelled him to success in Texas or seek to broaden his appeal to a wider range of Republicans and independents."

Perry won the endorsement yesterday of Florida House Speaker Dean Cannon.

The Texas governor's RGA fundraising is under the spotlight, from the Houston Chronicle: "Although state law prohibits Texas elected officials from accepting campaign contributions during the legislative session, Gov. Rick Perry this year raised a record $22 million for the Republican Governors Association - a nonprofit political powerhouse that has been Perry's own top benefactor during his decade as governor."

He signed the SBA List anti-abortion pledge.

ROMNEY: The Boston Globe: “Mitt Romney is the Republican front-runner no longer.” Maybe that accounts for his backtracks and shifts yesterday on global warming and Dodd-Frank.

In June, Romney said at a town hall in Manchester, N.H., on global warming: "I believe the world is getting warmer, and I believe that humans have contributed to that.”

But yesterday, he said: "Do I think the world's getting hotter? Yeah, I don't know that but I think that it is. I don't know if it's mostly caused by humans."

And then there was this: “I’d like to repeal Dodd Frank, recognizing that some revisions make sense,” he said.

Yet, in July, the Boston Globe notes, “Romney was unable to name specific parts of the bill that he liked or disliked. When asked, he said only, ‘It’s 2,000 pages. I’m sure there’s something in there that’s good…I’d be happy to take a look at it perhaps line by line at some point and lay out the provisions that I think are unfortunate.’”

In a feisty town hall here along the Vermont state line, Mitt Romney declared "No harm, No Foul" on the mysterious W Spann LLC donation a few weeks back, and delivered some harsh criticism of the President, NBC’s Garrett Haake reports.  That answer came in one of several spirited exchanges at a senior center. Romney was asked about the effects of money in politics and added he'd like people to be able to make contributions to campaigns, but also that we know who made each contribution.  He added that he believed Ed Conard, the man who set up the dummy corporation, intended to give to multiple candidates, but then changed his mind, which is why he disbanded W Spann. In the same answer he placed blame on the president for not accepting limits or matching funds last cycle for raising the monetary stakes.

The New York Times: “At his evening town meeting in Lebanon,  Mr. Romney faced a fiery crowd — a mix of independents, Republicans, Democrats and staunch supporters of President Obama — but he parried with them and sought to turn the focus back to the president. ‘You know, there’s leading, and then there’s blaming other people and campaigning and golfing,’ Mr. Romney said. ‘He’s good at the last three.’”

“For nearly a month, Democratic Senate candidate Alan Khazei has been mocked by a ‘CrazyKhazei’ Twitter account that pretends to represent his thinking and offers sometimes-nasty statements about the news of the day,” the Boston Globe writes. “Now the author has been unmasked. Eric Fehrnstrom, a senior campaign adviser to US Senator Scott Brown, the Republican who Khazei hopes to challenge in next year’s election, sent out a “CrazyKhazei”-type tweet last night from his personal Twitter account.” Fehrnstrom is also a senior adviser to Mitt Romney and was a 2008 spokesman.

AP

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) tours earthquake damage with Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) in Mineral, VA.

“House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Wednesday that he intends to look for offsets if federal aid is needed to help areas of his Virginia district that were damaged in an earthquake Tuesday,” Roll Call writes. But he said thinks any aid should be offset by spending cuts elsewhere.

And Cantor said this: “All of us know that the federal government is busy spending money it doesn’t have,” Cantor said in Culpeper, where the quake damaged some buildings along a busy shopping thoroughfare.

(In the immediate aftermath of an emergency is this the kind of thing people want to hear?)

“House Republican lawmakers worry the sputtering economy will be a problem not only for President Obama but could sweep them out of office next year as well,” The Hill writes.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), the co-chairs of the newly formed "supercommittee" on deficit reduction, issued their first joint statement yesterday afternoon, NBC’s Libby Leist reports. Murray and Hensarling have been working together through the Congressional recess to stand up the committee basically from scratch. They're working on rules that will govern the committee, staffing decisions and meeting schedules, the statement says. In addition, the 12 committee members have their homework of reading through past deficit reduction proposals.  One Republican aide tells NBC members are looking at the Bowles-Simpson commission report, the Domenici-Rivlin plan, the so-called "Biden talks" and the Gang of six work among others. A Democratic aide says that previous commission work will play "a significant role and will inform thinking heavily" as the members get started.

Former Sen. Bill Frist predicted that the health-care law would not be repealed. "It's going to survive. It's not going to be repealed,” he told the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, per Political Wire.

Mitt Romney's $12 million La Jolla, CA, home, which he plans to bulldoze and quadruple its size.

It's all about the children.

Mitt Romney needs to quadruple the size of his $12 million beach house in La Jolla, CA, in San Diego, because of his granchildren, he said today at a press conference in Claremont, N.H.

AP

Romney home on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee in Wolfeboro, N.H.

"You know, I got 16 grandkids and counting," he said, "and we're going to have enough accommodation to meet the needs of the grandkids."

This was the first time Romney has addressed the home expansion since the news broke Saturday. He was asked if he's "concerned that the planned expansion of [his] La Jolla home sends the wrong message to struggling Americans?"

In addition to the La Jolla home, Romney also has "an 11-acre estate valued at more than $10 million on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee" in New Hampshire, AP wrote in 2007.

KEENE, N.H., and WASHINGTON -- There are two views of how Mitt Romney handled himself at the Des Moines Register Soap Box event. From the Romney camp's perspective, it showed strength. From Democrats' perspective, he was out of touch, defending corporations.

Today at a town hall here, he defended the remark once again.

"When you say, 'Tax corporations,' the steel and the vinyl and the concrete, those things don't pay taxes, only people do," Romney maintained. "So high taxes on corporations is high taxes on people, and people are going to go places where taxes are not too high, so we have to be competitive with other nations."

KEENE, N.H., and WASHINGTON -- In 2007, Mitt Romney ran a radio ad hitting New York (when former Mayor Rudy Giuliani was running), Newark, NJ, and San Franscisco for being “sanctuary cities” for illegal immigrants.

At an event in Keene, NH, Romney was asked about “sanctuary cities” and what he would do about them if president.

It’s an issue he could try to use against Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Pew found that Texas has the second-highest number of illegal immigrants in the country -- 1.7 million, second only to California

“As you know, I opposed sanctuary cities as the governor of my state,” Romney said. “And the idea that a city would determine that it's not going to follow the U.S. law is unacceptable and immigration law is federal law.

“Immigration laws are the responsibility of the federal government. The fact that you're seeing states come up with various programs to try and secure their border is simply an indication that the federal government has failed in doing its job. And I need some lawyers to tell me how to go about doing it, but I would end sanctuary cities, if it's legally possible.”

In at least 2005, however, Boston was identified as a “sanctuary city” for illegal immigrants by a former lawyer for the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service. And the Giuliani campaign criticized Romney in 2007 for not doing anything about Cambridge, Somerville and Orleans -- three cities in Massachusetts, “which to varying degrees had declared themselves sanctuaries for illegal immigrants,” the Globe wrote.

"Why should the American people believe Governor Romney has the right kind of executive experience for America when he claims he was powerless to take action against the three sanctuary cities in Massachusetts who refused to enforce illegal immigration laws?” a Giuliani campaign statement read at the time. “If there were 'statutes' or 'formulas' standing in Romney's way, then why didn't he take action to change them?"

The Romney campaign in 2007 pointed to an agreement Romney signed “with the federal government to deputize state troopers to enforce immigration laws in Massachusetts….”

But the Globe noted: "As governor, Romney never directly addressed the issue of sanctuary cities. His strongest stand on illegal immigration resulted in a successful veto of tuition discounts at state colleges for illegal immigrants.”

And: “That state trooper initiative, signed by Romney three weeks before leaving office, was largely ridiculed as grandstanding by critics who said he was burnishing his conservative credentials for a presidential run.”

Video shot by NBC's Garrett Haake; Edited by Natalie Cucchiara

The early makings of George Pataki’s presidential website were accidentally made public this morning before media reports surfaced of the site’s existence and the prototype was scrubbed of any mention of the former New York governor.

As first revealed by the news site PolitickerNY.com, a "George Pataki President" logo sat in the upper left corner of the site with tabs below labeled “Debt Crisis Plan” and a link to his biography. Another tab titled "The Pataki Record" highlighted nine issues ranging from the budget and taxes to education. Immigration and social issues, like gay rights, were not highlighted.

Pataki spokesman David Catalfamo told CapitalTonight.com: "Can’t run a campaign without a website -- the hosting company apparently made a mistake and has prematurely made it searchable. The site is still in development and will only be launched if the Governor decides to get in the race."

The site was created by NetBoots, the same company that created a website for Pataki's organization "No American Debt," which favors reducing the federal debt. According to the NetBoots website, the company was "launched to ensure all conservative candidates, organizations, and grassroots movements have access to powerful, professional websites."

Both the Pataki site and "No American Debt" site have the same image of an American flag and Statue of Liberty in the banner.

NetBoots has created sites for Mike Lee's 2010 Senate run and Jane Corwin, a Republican who lost in a special Congressional election in New York this May.

The mistake has only increased speculation that Pataki will announce his presidential candidacy soon. Pataki will be attending the Polk County Picnic in Iowa on Saturday, along with other Republican presidential hopefuls Rick Perry and Ron Paul. 

Darrell Kearney, finance director and events chairman for the Polk County Republican Party, told NBC News he expects a “major announcement” from Pataki at the event.

*** UPDATE *** Catalfamo tells NBC News: "Governor Pataki was one of, if not the first, candidate to take an online donation, and if we launch I would expect to have a very aggressive online campaign."

A check of GoDaddy.com shows Georgepataki.com is registered to Campaign Solutions in Alexandria, VA.  They describe themselves as "a full-service online consulting firm specializing in fundraising, advertising, mobile, social media, and web development. We've raised more money online than any other political consulting or public affairs firm in history."

It has done work with Michele Bachmann's presidential campaign and McCain-Palin in '08.

Also, GeorgePataki.com does not expire until July 2013

White House

The White House's latest released photo from President Obama's vacation on Martha's Vineyard shows the president getting a briefing from Brian Deese, deputy director of the National Economic Council. (It looks a little like a camper getting a talking to by a counselor.)

Vice President Joe Biden received attention -- and plenty of GOP criticism -- when he said on his recent trip to China that he's "not second-guessing" that nation's one-child policy.

“You have no safety net. Your policy has been one which I fully understand -- I'm not second-guessing -- of one child per family,” Biden said in remarks discussing China's social-safety net. “The result being that you’re in a position where one wage earner will be taking care of four retired people. Not sustainable.”

But there was one major point missing from the debate over Biden's controversial remarks: The Chinese government, it turns out, has quietly been "second-guessing" its one-child policy for quite some time, given its aging population and millions of grooms without brides on the horizon.

For one thing, the massive Chinese population is getting older, which means a shrinking workforce. Indeed, the most recent national census in April revealed that the proportion of mainland Chinese people aged 14 or younger was 16.6%, down by more than 6 percentage points from a decade ago.

So some local governments are encouraging parents to think about adding more to the family. Two years ago, for instance, the Shanghai city government started actively encouraging eligible couples to have more than one child.

“We advocate eligible couples to have two kids, because it can help reduce the proportion of the aging people and alleviate a work force shortage in the future,” Xie Lingli, director of the Shanghai Population and Family Planning Commission, said in a July 2009 edition of the China Daily, the country’s largest state-run English-language newspaper.

Second, China also has a looming groom problem on its hands.

Approximately 24 million Chinese men of marrying age are projected to find themselves wife-less in 2020 -- partly because the one-child policy has led to sex-selective abortion of female fetuses, according to a study by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the government's premier think tank.

In fact, in a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday, Deputy Health Minister Liu Qian unveiled even more census figures showing an increasingly imbalanced sex ratio at birth on the Chinese mainland. The China Daily cited "the abuse of medical technology such as illegal sex-selective abortion" among the culprits.

Although Liu did not discuss a loosening of the one-child policy, one thing is clear from all this: At the very least, whispers of change are circulating among government officials on the subject of punishing "ineligible" couples who do elect to have a second child.

It is also worthwhile to note that there are several loopholes and exceptions to China's one-child rule -- first established in 1979 -- that already exist. Some rural residents can have a second child if their first is a girl, because of the ongoing stigmatization of female births. Also, if both parents are single children, they can have two kids. And ethnic minorities are allowed to have more than one child.

AP

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) now leads the GOP field in a national poll for the first time.

Less than two weeks after getting into the Republican presidential primary, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is now leading the field, according to the latest Gallup poll.

Here’s how the numbers break down:

29% Perry
17  Romney
13  Paul
10  Bachmann
  4  Cain
  4  Gingrich
  3  Santorum
  1  Huntsman
17  No preference

Perry jumped 11 points from July -- before he had gotten into the race -- vaulting past Mitt Romney, who dropped 6 points.

Ron Paul, who finished a close second at the Ames Straw Poll, ticked up 3 points, while Michele Bachmann, who won Ames, dropped 3.

It's a line that Gov. Rick Perry often delivers late in his presidential pitch, shortly before the crescendo that leads into "God bless you, and God bless America."

"One of the first thing's I'll do as president of the United States is sign an executive order to wipe out as much of 'ObamaCare' as I can," he tells primary-state voters.

That promise unsurprisingly prompts cheers from conservative audiences -- and it, on its face, is more immediately realistic than an outright promise to repeal the law wholesale, which would require congressional approval. 

But can he actually change the law in a meaningful way with just an executive order? 

Yes and no, legal experts say.

A president cannot use an executive order to dismantle or nullify a law that has been passed by Congress, experts point out, but he or she could tinker with the execution of the law. 

"What Perry is doing is saying he will use whatever authority is available to him to interfere with the law's Implementation," says Professor Kenneth Mayer of the University of Wisconsin, an expert on executive orders. "There are bits and pieces he could do but as far as nullifying a law, that wouldn't be within his authority." 

The "bits and pieces" include the granting of waivers to entities that might have been affected by the legislation (something the Obama administration has already done), or the delay of issuing rules for states' insurance exchanges, Mayer says. 

Professor Stephen Vladeck of American University says that a president could theoretically direct federal agencies to be "lackadaisical" in their enforcement of the law's regulations. Perry could order the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Health and Human Services to "focus their efforts elsewhere," he added, although a president cannot directly instruct agencies to completely drop execution of a law.

But even those actions could face constitutional questioning. 

"It falls into a really gray area of constitutional law about the president's discretion to NOT enforce a law," says  Vladeck. 

Assuming that the court has not already weighed in on the constitutionality of the legislation, a private citizen could sue the federal government for failing to enforce the health law. And it remains an open question whether a president has the constitutional authority to undermine an existing law from the White House alone.

"There's actually not a ton of case law on where the line is between the president's power NOT to enforce and the president's obligation to enforce," Vladeck says.

The question may be mute If the Supreme Court has ruled on the pending challenges to the law's individual mandate by the time (and, of course, if) a new Republican president is elected.

That's an outcome Perry wouldn't mind. 

"Now hopefully, Lord willing, the 11th Court of Appeals has already found that that individual mandate is unconstitutional, and hopefully that will be gone to the Supreme Court," Perry said in South Carolina last week. "And I won't have to deal with that."

Romney’s up-and-down summer… Vin Weber signs on with Romney… Romney makes three stops in New Hampshire, while wife Ann stumps in Nevada… Report: Bachmann to unveil health-care plan soon… Rubio in the spotlight last night and says: “I’m not going to be the vice-presidential nominee”… But his speech gets overshadowed a bit by Nancy Reagan’s fall (she’s fine)… And DuPree wins gubernatorial run-off in Mississippi, making history (but he’s the underdog in the general election).

*** Romney’s up-and-down summer: Just like the Dow over the past couple of weeks, perceptions about Mitt Romney’s strength as the GOP front-runner have gone up and down this summer. At times (his fundraising, his performance so far at the debates, and his laser-like focus on the economy), Romney looks like he’s the nominee-in-waiting. But at other times, he appears vulnerable. In fact, that vulnerability has surfaced in the past two weeks. For starters, despite an overall strong performance at the Des Moines Register’s soap box, he let this line slip: “Corporations are people, my friend.” Next, he criticized President Obama’s Martha’s Vineyard vacation when it turns out he’s raising money in the Vineyard too -- as well as in the Hamptons. And then earlier this week came the news that he’s quadrupling the size of his $12 million beachfront home in La Jolla, CA. Isolated, none of these stories is big enough to bruise Romney. But taken together, they can solidify a narrative that his GOP rivals -- and Team Obama -- could exploit: that he might not be able to relate to the Americans who’ve been hurt most by the economy.

AP

Mitt Romney speaking at the Iowa State Fair.

*** But is it a surprise that Romney is rich? Yet a source close to Romney World doubts these stories -- especially the one about the La Jolla home -- will have an impact. “The fact that he has been very successful in the private sector has already been well-established. I'd be surprised anyone was surprised by that,” the source tells First Read. “Given the current state of economic exasperation, the voters who are most persuadable right now are much more inclined to judge candidates based on their vision or plan to put America back to work. They're asking: 'What can you do to fix the economy so I have a job tomorrow?'”

*** Vin Weber signs on with Romney: The Romney campaign released some good news this morning: Vin Weber, the ex-Minnesota congressman who had served as the co-chair of Pawlenty’s campaign, has joined Team Romney as a senior adviser. Weber was policy chair of Romney’s ’08 campaign. “Vin will be a trusted adviser, and I look forward to working with him to help get our country moving in the right direction again,” Romney said in a statement.

*** On the 2012 trail: Romney is the only major GOP candidate who’s campaigning today. He’s in New Hampshire, where he holds a town hall in Keene (at noon ET), a business roundtable at The Common Man in Claremont (at 3:00 pm), and another town hall in Lebanon (at 5:30 pm)… Romney’s wife, Ann, makes two campaign stops in Nevada… And Thaddeus McCotter addresses Drake University College Republicans in Des Moines, IA.

*** The (Bach)Mann with the Plan: Meanwhile, the Washington Examiner reports that Bachmann plans to release her health-care plan soon. “‘We plan to unveil a formal health care plan in the coming weeks,’ Bachmann spokeswoman Alice Stewart wrote in an email.” More from the Examiner: “Releasing her own plan is an opportunity to lay out how she would ‘replace’ the health care law if it's successfully repealed.”

*** Rubio in the spotlight: With all the GOP presidential candidates off the campaign trail yesterday, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R) grabbed the political spotlight with his speech at the Reagan Library last night. His message: criticizing a government that spends too much money. “Americans in the 20th Century built here, we built here, the richest, most prosperous nation in the history of the world, and yet today we have built for ourselves a government that not even the richest and most prosperous nation in the face of the earth can fund or afford to pay for,” he said, per NBC’s Morgan Parmet. Rubio added, “I know that it's popular in my party to blame the president, the current president. But the truth is the only thing this president has done is accelerate policies that were already in place and doomed to fail.”

AP

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

*** “I’m not going to be the vice-presidential nominee”: Asked if he’d serve as VP, Rubio responded, “It's a great honor to be thought of in that way… I love being in the United States Senate at this time in our history... So reality of it is I'm not going to be the vice-presidential nominee, but I look forward to working with, for whoever our nominee is.”

*** Nancy Reagan falls, but is fine: But what overshadowed Rubio was Nancy Reagan’s fall before the speech. NBC’s John Boxley notes that the former first lady stumbled as Rubio was escorting her to her seat. Luckily, Boxley adds, Rubio and others nearby caught her before she hit the floor. The room was quiet for several seconds. Finally, once it was clear that Mrs. Reagan was fine, the relieved crowd clapped as she sat down. Officials at the Library explained that it was a sold-out event and they had added more chairs in the room to accommodate people, which meant narrower aisles.  Also they added "stanchions" for crowd control. Mrs. Reagan tripped on one of these stanchions, but quickly recovered and took her seat. 

AP/Hattiesburg American.

Democratic Mississippi gubernatorial candidate Johnny Dupree giving his victory speech Tuesday night.

*** You, me, and DuPree: In Mississippi yesterday, Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree won the Democratic gubernatorial run-off, becoming “the first African American in modern history to win a major-party nomination for Mississippi governor,” the Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports. “DuPree, 57, who led in the Aug. 2 primary, defeated Clarksdale lawyer and businessman Bill Luckett, 63, in the Democratic runoff Tuesday, snagging 55 percent of the vote.” But DuPree will be a significant underdog in the Nov. 8 general election against GOP nominee Phil Bryant, the state’s lieutenant governor.

*** Wednesday’s “The Daily Rundown” line-up (with guest host Chris Cillizza): NBC’s Richard Engel and former Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), president of the Woodrow Wilson Center, on the latest in Libya… one of us (!!!) with political headlines… NBC’s Tom Costello live from the East Coast earthquake’s epicenter in Mineral, Virginia… Dueling executive directors -- NRSC’s Rob Jesmer and DSCC’s Guy Cecil -- on the 2012 Senate outlook… And more 2012 with AP’s Kasie Hunt, PBS NewsHour’s David Chalian and Democratic strategist Karen Finney.

*** Wednesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews Gen. Barry McCaffrey, Hisham Melham, Michael Singh, and Mark Mazzetti on Libya; John Sununu and Jeanne Cummings on politics; and North Carolina Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton on Hurricane Irene.

Countdown to NBC-Politico debate at Reagan Library: 14 days
Countdown to NV-2 and NY-9 special elections: 20 days
Countdown to Election Day 2011: 76 days
Countdown to the Iowa caucuses: 166 days
* Note: When the IA caucuses take place depends on whether other states move up

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“Muammar Qaddafi vowed ‘martyrdom’ or victory a day after Libyan rebels seized control of his Bab Al Aziziya compound in Tripoli,” Bloomberg reports. “Qaddafi, 69, called on his supporters to ‘cleanse’ Tripoli of ‘rats,’ al-Arabiya TV reported, citing a recording of comments broadcast early today by a local radio station. Fighting against his loyalists flared elsewhere, rebel officials said, including around the southern city of Sabha, a Qaddafi stronghold and home to a major military base.”

Obama’s Gallup approval hit an all-time low yesterday at 38%.

“The unpopular debt-ceiling deal has significantly hampered President Obama’s effort to win over independent voters,” The Hill writes. Ross Baker at Rutgers said, “He lost his hero status with liberals if he hadn't previously with the extension of Bush tax cuts. His willingness not to press for revenues did not help him with persuadable GOP leaners and he is just anathema to conservatives and would have been irrespective of the outcome.”

“In an effort aimed at saving billions of dollars for small businesses, the White House Tuesday unveiled final plans to cut or scale back hundreds of federal regulations following a government-wide review of rules launched earlier this year,” the Wall Street Journal writes.

Sunstein wrote in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal: “[A]gencies are releasing their final plans, including hundreds of initiatives that will reduce costs, simplify the system, and eliminate redundancy and inconsistency.” And: “Many of the reforms focus on small business. For example, the Department of Defense recently issued a new rule to accelerate payments on contracts to as many as 60,000 small businesses, thus improving their cash flow in an economically difficult time. The Small Business Administration is adopting a single electronic application to reduce the paperwork burden now imposed on certain lenders, which in turn will benefit borrowers who seek relatively small amounts of capital to grow and succeed.”

The Boston Globe adds “The White House released final plans yesterday to streamline federal bureaucracy by eliminating 500 regulatory requirements across two dozen US agencies, an overhaul that could make it easier for travelers to obtain a visa and military contractors to get paid.”

When something’s never good enough… “The White House said on Tuesday that federal regulatory cuts would save Washington more than $10 billion over five years, but business groups warned that companies could face more costs from new rules in the pipeline,” Reuters writes, noting that groups like the Chamber of Commerce complained that “the Obama administration was also pushing for potentially costly measures related to the ozone layer, air quality, injury prevention and other areas that could quickly undercut the savings announced on Tuesday.”

“President Obama's effort to roll back costly regulations that are not needed could save more than $10 billion over five years, but critics say that's a drop in the bucket,” USA Today writes, noting the biggest complaints from the chamber and other groups are regulations from “the health care and financial overhauls of 2010 and a pending change in ozone standards sought by the Environmental Protection Agency.”

“Vice President Joe Biden said he ‘didn’t come to explain a damn thing’ on his visit to China, adding that the country’s economy had become the world’s second biggest due to the stabilizing presence of U.S. troops in Asia,” Bloomberg reports. “Some media had suggested the purpose of his trip to China was to ‘explain our economic situation,’ Biden told U.S. troops at Yokota airbase in Japan today. ‘I didn’t come to explain a damn thing.’"

GOP 12 looks at how Biden has gotten slammed from the left and right for his China “one-child” comments.

Politico takes a look at the cool reception leading GOP candidates have received among the GOP intelligentsia.  Bill Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, tells Politico, “It just does seem to be a little crazy in a year when you have a chance to win the presidency that a lot of leading lights aren’t putting themselves forward.”  Kristol had been outspoken in calls for Paul Ryan to run.  (Ryan, a Republican congressman from Wisconsin and the chairman of the House Budget Committee, announced Monday he would not run.)  Ross Douthat, a conservative columnist at the New York Times, ties dissatisfaction with the GOP field to a void left early on in the race, by another would-be candidate: “All this comes back to the failure of Mitch Daniels to get into the race,” Douthat tells Politico. Daniels, the governor of Indiana, announced in late May he wouldn’t run for president.

(Honest question, though, does anyone really think Ryan or Daniels would have the enthusiasm behind their runs to win a GOP primary?)

BACHMANN: Bachmann’s Thursday appearance at a town hall in North Charleston, S.C., remains on the schedule despite a forecast for high winds and heavy rain in the Mid-Atlantic region late this week when Hurricane Irene is expected to arrive, per NBC’s Jamie Novogrod.  NBC’s Ali Weinberg reports organizers will review plans Wednesday, and determine whether to postpone the event.

The Washington Examiner reports Bachmann will unveil a health-care plan in the coming weeks. 

HUNTSMAN: According to a Salt Lake Tribune blog post… At a fundraiser in Utah this week Jon Huntsman described his GOP opponents, "You stand up on stage in the debate like we did the other night and look around and say, 'Whoa, where'd these folks come from? What an interesting assortment of characters!'" Huntsman also played off August as a "dead month" and expects things to move faster soon. "The drama of today is temporary, it's emphemeral and it passes," the paper’s Robert Gehrke quoted Huntsman saying.

PERRY: The Hill: “The campaign of Texas governor and GOP presidential hopeful Rick Perry is being hounded by statements made by Rick Perry.” In his book, “Fed Up! he argued, “Perry argues that the federal government should repeal the 16th amendment - which grants Congress wide leeway to levy income taxes - and institute instead a ‘flat tax’ that would tax all Americans at the same rate, regardless of income. But a Perry spokesman conceded Monday that dramatic income tax reform was likely a non-starter, according to the Washington Post.” 

Reuters writes that, despite Perry's hard opening push in New Hampshire, "the tough-talking Texan will struggle to win support in this early-voting state."

The Texas Tribune sees few fundraising hurdles for Perry, despite the additional regulations placed on federal candidates that the Texas governor has not faced before.

Jeb Bush yesterday pushed back on the narrative that his family and Perry's don't get along. "I’ve never heard anyone in my family say anything but good things about Rick Perry," he said. "Not with my brother, my dad, not with me at all. I admire him and I think Texas has got a great story and he can legitimately talk about that story as a candidate for president."

Perry is wooing Iowa supporters of NJ Gov. Chris Christie, writes RealClearPolitics.

The Washington Post: "In his nearly 11 years as the state’s chief executive, Perry, now running for the Republican presidential nomination, has overseen more executions than any governor in modern history: 234 and counting."

ROMNEY: The Boston Globe writes of his September jobs plan release: “Romney, who has kept a low profile and not offered specific proposals, is attempting to seize control of what has been the central tenet of his presidential campaign: his message to Republican primary voters that his business background is what gives him the edge against Obama. The candidacy of Texas Governor Rick Perry threatens to steal that message, as he boasts that his state has created about 4 out of every 10 jobs in America over the past two years. Like Romney, Perry has tried to focus tightly on job creation as he outlines his campaign, with a mantra that Romney is also adopting: ‘Get America working again.’” More: “Romney has kept to a fairly low-key strategy, but his advisers have been promising that his approach would shift after Labor Day, when they suggest more voters will begin paying attention.”

“Ten days after Tim Pawlenty’s presidential campaign ended in Ames, one of the former governor’s top strategists, Minnesota GOP heavyweight Vin Weber, is rejoining forces with Pawlenty rival Mitt Romney,” the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. “Weber, the former Minnesota congressman, Washington lobbyist, and consigliere to former President George W. Bush, served as policy chairman to Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign.” The Romney campaign this morning announced the news.

Romney has three events today, per NBC’s Garrett Haake, starting in Southwest New Hampshire and working his way north.

SANTORUM: The AP reports that Rick Santorum will visit South Carolina on Thursday and Friday, making stops in the Upstate areas of Lake Wylie, Greenville and Spartanburg. NBC’s Ali Weinberg notes that Santorum returns to the state just two days after Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) excluded the former senator from participating in his Palmetto Freedom Forum event on Labor Day, because Santorum had not reached 5 percent in an average of national opinion polls.

FLORIDA: “The Florida Republican Party is likely to include all of the top GOP presidential contenders on its Sept. 24 straw poll ballot, regardless of whether they have agreed to participate in the contest, party spokesman Brian Hughes said Tuesday,” Roll Call writes.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: “New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Jack Kimball said today that the Republican Governors Association agreed to donate money to the state GOP – if Kimball resigns his seat,” the Boston Globe writes. “The association denied the charge. The conservative blog GraniteGrok first reported that the RGA agreed to donate $100,000 to the New Hampshire Republican Party to help with state races, if Kimball resigns.”

In a new report, conservative anti-tax organization Club for Growth gives Gov. Rick Perry high marks for his pro-growth policies but warns that the Texas leader has exhibited an "interventionist streak" during his tenure in the governor's mansion.

The research document points out that Perry has generally advocated for spending cuts and low taxes, although it points to several "blemishes" on his record of advocacy for free-market principles.

The club, for example, takes issue with Perry's use of the Texas Enterprise Fund and the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, development programs that offer capital for entrepreneurs with the goal of luring job-rich businesses to the state.

"These gimmicky subsidies are a form of corporate welfare, and they’re similar in effect to the tax credits decried by Perry in his 2010 book," the report reads. "This suggests that Governor Perry is more pro-business than he is pro-free markets."

The group also writes that Perry's positions on alternative energy subsidies are contradictory. While the governor has previously instituted production mandates on the wind energy industry in Texas, he opposes any such requirements for ethanol production.

The Club for Growth report does laud Perry's championing of tort reform and a favorable tax climate in his home state, but it concludes by warning that Perry's "semi-apology" for the "big government interventions of President Bush" could indicate that - in a more hostile national political and economic climate - his record might not be so pristine.

"Almost any movement in the direction of the Texas approach would be welcomed.  However, given some actions in his record, it is questionable whether Perry will maintain his steadfast fiscal approach when faced with a less favorably inclined legislature than he is accustomed to."

Republicans (especially Romney and Huntsman) backtrack on their Libya criticism of Obama… Highlighting the GOP field’s lack of foreign-policy experience (outside of Huntsman)… Did “leading from behind” work?... But the conflict in Libya still isn’t over… Romney once again to bracket Obama… Pataki’s “major announcement”?... Huntsman and Romney -- no love lost?... Rubio to deliver speech at Reagan Library… And Hatch isn’t out of the woods just yet.

*** Republicans backtrack on Libya: Running for president against a sitting incumbent can sometimes be easy, especially when there is so much chaos in the world. You get to wind up and hurl any criticism you want -- and chances are that you’ll land some strikes. But you have to be sure that your criticism doesn’t backfire, which appears to be the case with Libya. Since the U.S. and NATO operations began there back in March, the GOP presidential candidates have had a field day. Romney ridiculed President Obama for “leading from behind” on Libya. Yet in an interview yesterday, he told FOX’s Neil Cavuto that “the world celebrates the idea of getting rid of Khaddafy.” Huntsman criticized the entire intervention, saying it wasn’t core to U.S. national security interests. But yesterday, he said that Khaddafy’s defeat “is a step toward openness, democracy, and human rights for a people who greatly deserve it.” And Bachmann took this shot at the GOP debate in June: “The president was wrong. All we have to know is the president deferred leadership in Libya to France. That's all we need to know.”

*** Lacking foreign-policy experience: While the 2012 race, as we wrote yesterday, will still likely hinge on the state of the U.S. economy, the GOP criticism -- and then reversals by Romney and Huntsman -- on Libya highlights the field’s lack of foreign policy and national security credentials. Outside of Huntsman, there isn’t a candidate in the field with substantial foreign-policy experience. Yes, when Obama entered office, he didn’t have a resume that would confuse him with Dwight Eisenhower or even George H.W. Bush. But he did serve on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a credential the current GOP crop lacks. In a time of such conflict and change in the world, the eventual Republican presidential nominee is going to need to prove he/she can manage those conflicts and changes.

AP

Tripoli, Libya.

*** Just a little patience: As Politico's Ben Smith notes, the Obama administration's "leading from behind" in Libya -- having NATO lead the military operations, getting the cooperation from the Arab League, and letting the Libyan opposition have the main stake in the outcome -- seems to have been a success. But it hasn’t been an easy five months for the White House. In fact, it emphasizes how difficult managing a war, even one being waged “from behind,” can be in this 24-7 media environment. Consider: The American Revolutionary War, with an assist from France, lasted some eight years; the U.S. Civil War lasted four years; and World War II lasted about that same amount of time. There is little patience when the news cycle changes every hour. The one ironic exception, of course: the Afghanistan war, which has lasted nearly 10 years…

*** But the conflict there still isn’t over: Still, the conflict in Libya isn’t over. NBC’s Richard Engel reported on “TODAY” that heavy battles are occurring in Tripoli and that rebel forces are trying to storm Khaddafy’s compound. Moreover, as the Washington Post writes, “The dramatic appearance Monday night of Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam at the Rixos hotel, where the Tripoli-based press corps remains trapped, contradicted the rebels’ assertion the day before that they had captured him and cast into doubt their claim of controlling 80 percent of the capital.”

AP

Mitt Romney speaking to steel workers in New Hampshire.

*** Romney once again to bracket Obama: Turning to domestic 2012 news… Romney yesterday announced he will unveil his jobs plan on Sept. 6 in Nevada, per NBC’s Garrett Haake. That’s the same week that Obama will unveil his plan -- and maybe even the same day. This appears to be another example of Romney bracketing the president. As Haake noted, “In June, Romney criticized President Obama at a shuttered steel plant in Allentown, PA, soaking up news coverage, on the same day the president attended a pair of fundraisers in Philadelphia. The Romney campaign also released a series of Web videos timed to the president's fundraising and travel schedules, including one highlighting Chicago's economic struggles under the current administration during President Obama's birthday visit to his home city. Last week, the campaign released a pair of videos hitting President Obama on the economy, set in stops along his Midwest bus tour route.”

*** Pataki’s “major announcement”? While Paul Ryan took himself out of the GOP presidential race yesterday, could we see another Republican get in? And we’re not talking about Sarah Palin. According to NBC’s Anthony Terrell, the Polk County (IA) Republican Party confirmed that George Pataki will be attending its picnic on Saturday -- and that he’ll have a “major announcement” there. What kind of announcement? A Pataki spokesman told NBC’s Andrew Rafferty, "At this point, I can only confirm he will be in attendance."

AP

Huntsman and Romney in New Hampshire.

*** Huntsman, Romney -- no love lost? If Huntsman wanted to dispel the notion that there’s animosity between he and Mitt Romney, then he didn’t help that cause last night on with CNN’s Piers Morgan. Almost any time he’s asked about serving as President Obama’s China ambassador, he says, when asked to serve your country, you do so. But serving with Mitt Romney? That goes too far. When asked if he could imagine running on the same ticket as Romney, he said, "There would be too many jokes about that,” presumably because they are both Mormon. “No, I can't imagine it at all." But when Morgan immediately followed up and asked if he’d serve as VP to a “tea partier,” like Michele Bachmann -- someone who he is not as closely aligned ideologically -- he said, "You know, if you love this country you serve this country.” The Huntsman campaign says he was joking, and that, “Of course,” he would serve in a Romney administration. “He’s served in four of the last five administrations.”

*** On the 2012 trail: For the first time in quite a while, not a single GOP presidential candidate is active on the campaign trail today.

*** Rubio delivers speech at Reagan Library: In fact, the biggest political event of the day is at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, CA, where Marco Rubio delivers a speech at 9:00 pm ET. By the way, the Reagan Presidential Library is the site of the upcoming Sept. 7 NBC/Politico presidential debate.

AP

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) at a town hall in Utah.

*** Hatch isn’t out of the woods just yet: On the Senate front yesterday, GOP Rep. Jason Chaffetz shocked the political world when he announced that he wouldn’t challenge incumbent Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch (R). Chaffetz’s decision not to run is a HUGE break for Hatch, who has been spending the past year trying not to meet the same fate that took down Sen. Bob Bennett last year. But Hatch isn’t completely out of the woods. Politico: “Even with Chaffetz on the sidelines, Hatch will likely face a convention challenge. Utah GOP insiders agree it could come from state Sen. Dan Liljenquist, a 37-year-old father of six first elected in 2008... Even Chaffetz himself signaled he wasn’t going to board the Hatch bandwagon.”

*** Tuesday’s “The Daily Rundown” line-up (with guest host Chris Cillizza): Libya latest with NBC’s Richard Engel on the ground, more on President Obama’s reaction from NBC’s Kristen Welker, more on the U.S. political reaction with one of us (!!!), and what’s next with Washington Institute’s Michael Singh and Center for American Progress’ Sarah Margon… CNBC’s Melissa Francis with a market preview… NBC News political analyst Charlie Cook breaks down what 2008 teaches us about 2012 for GOPers in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina… plus more 2012 with AP’s Liz Sidoti, syndicated columnist Bob Franken, and GOP strategist Ron Christie, who’s about to be a fall fellow at Harvard’s IOP (congrats Ron!).

*** Thursday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews UN Ambassador Susan Rice, former State Department adviser Vali Nasr, the New York Times’ Charles Blow and Jeff Zeleny, and Dem Congressman John Larson.

Countdown to NBC-Politico debate at Reagan Library: 15 days
Countdown to NV-2 and NY-9 special elections: 21 days
Countdown to Election Day 2011: 77 days
Countdown to the Iowa caucuses: 167 days
* Note: When the IA caucuses take place depends on whether other states move up

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The United States is a "friend and partner" to the new Libya, President Obama said in a statement he released yesterday. "The Khaddafy regime is coming to an end," Obama said. "The future of Libya is in the hands of its people." Khaddafy's "reign," he added, "has unraveled."

“President Obama said yesterday the United States is prepared to aid Libyan rebel forces in a peaceful transition to democracy, and he urged opposition forces to refrain from reprisals that could undermine the rapid advances that drove strongman Moammar Khadafy into hiding,” the Boston Globe adds. “Obama’s declaration came after a five-month NATO air bombardment - which Obama backed, despite critics who warned of involvement in an Arab quagmire - that helped the rebels move toward wresting control from the North African leader.”

Politico: “The fall of Tripoli is a foreign policy triumph for which President Barack Obama won’t hold a ticker-tape parade: no flight suit, no chest-thumping, no ‘Mission Accomplished’ banner. But the low-profile, inexpensive ouster of Col. Muammar Qadhafi marks an important milestone for the administration, foreign policy analysts say — perhaps the most concrete evidence that the more modest American foreign policy approach that has become Obama’s hallmark and perhaps his biggest area of contrast with his more interventionist predecessor might actually work.” 

"President Obama was a reluctant warrior in Libya, drawn into the rebel uprising over the warnings of his Pentagon chief and his own qualms about getting the United States entangled in yet another war in the Muslim world," the New York Times says. "Now that the rebels have seized most of Tripoli and driven Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi into hiding, Mr. Obama claimed a victory for his much-doubted strategy. But that victory is tinged by the same uncertainties that made the president so wary of getting involved in the first place."

You’re just not cool if you don’t have a super PAC… “The AFL-CIO hopes to boost its clout by launching a political action committee that could raise unlimited amounts of money, part of the federation’s goal of building a year-round political organizing structure,” AP reports. “Forming a ‘super labor PAC’ would allow the federation to raise money from sympathetic donors both inside and outside union membership and mobilize support beyond its traditional base, instead of ramping up political activities each election cycle.”

President Obama will speak in Detroit on Labor Day, Sept. 5.

“U.S. Vice President Joe Biden tried his hand at archery, watched a wrestling match and named a horse during a brief visit Monday in Mongolia, which he called a shining example of democratic development,” the Washington Post writes.

Here are some photo essay roundups of Vice President Biden in Asia, including him holding a bow and arrow, mock wrestling, and shooting hoops, from the BBC, the Washington Post, and msnbc.com.

HUNTSMAN: Asked if he would he serve as Michele Bachmann’s vice president. if asked. "You know if you love this country you serve this country,” he said on CNN, per NBC’s Jo Ling Kent. “Everytime I've been asked to serve over different administrations from Reagan to the two Bushes to President Obama, I have the same answer. And that is if you love this country, you serve her.” Yet asked if he’d serve as Romney’s VP, Huntsman said, "There would be too many jokes about that. No, I can't imagine it at all."

He had plenty of criticism for his rivals. On Romney, he hit him for Massachusetts being 47^th in job creation, for health care: "Creating Obamacare before Obama, the most despised and reviled health care legislation in the history of this country, doesn't cut it….” On Rick Perry: "I don't think - you can call the head of the Fed treasonous and expect to be taken seriously.”

The DNC goes up with a Web video using Jon Huntsman’s comments to hit the GOP field. “Don’t take it from us,” it’s called. The Huntsman team in response goes up with their own, called “Take it from me,” with a compilation of the former Utah governor criticizing President Obama.

PATAKI: NBC campaign embeds Andrew Rafferty, Jo Ling Kent, and Anthony Terrell report that former New York Gov. George Pataki's team confirms that he will attend the Polk County GOP picnic on Saturday. The local GOP says there may be a "major" announcement. However, Pataki spokesman David Catalfamo says regarding any major announcement, "At this point, I can only confirm he will be in attendance."

PERRY: Roll Call declares, “Texas Gov. Rick Perry has grabbed frontrunner status in South Carolina, ending several months of what had been a muddled race in this key Republican presidential primary state.”

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad on Perry's debut in the state, per the Des Moines Register: "I thought he was as relaxed and confident and at home at the Iowa State Fair as anybody I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen a lot of them. He comes from a farm background, he’s a former agriculture commissioner, he’s a graduate of Texas A&M."

Perry will attend Sen. Jim DeMint's Labor Day forum.

A longtime Texas reporter sets the record straight that Perry, while he did back then-candidate Al Gore in 1988, didn't have a pronounced role as Gore's state campaign chairman.

ROMNEY: Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said yesterday he would unveil his jobs plan Sept. 6th, the same week as President Obama unveils his plan, NBC’s Garrett Haake reports.

The New York Times: “During remarks in New Hampshire in last month, Mitt Romney accused President Obama of ‘mission muddle’ for expanding United States operations in Libya beyond enforcing a no-fly zone to a wider goal of preventing Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi from attacking his own people. ‘Now the president is saying we have to remove Qaddafi,’ Mr. Romney said at the time, adding, ‘Who’s going to own Libya if we get rid of the government there?’”

“But on Monday evening, as the rebels surged through Tripoli, Mr. Romney told Neil Cavuto of Fox Business Network that “the world celebrates the idea of getting rid of Qaddafi.” And instead of assessing Mr. Obama’s actions, he called on a new Libyan government to extradite the man convicted in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.”

RYAN: Paul Ryan’s still not running for president.

CONNECTICUT: “Former Republican Congressman Chris Shays said Monday he will officially declare his candidacy for U.S. Senate on Oct. 3, after completing his work with a government commission examining wartime contracts,” the Hartford Courant reports, adding, “Only one other Republican, Hartford attorney Brian K. Hill, has formally entered the Senate race so far. Linda McMahon, the party's 2010 nominee, is widely expected to declare her candidacy in coming weeks.” More: Shays, who earned a reputation as a centrist during his time in Congress, has already weathered an onslaught of attacks from Democrats. They cite his move to Maryland after losing to Himes as evidence that he is a political carpetbagger.”

MASSACHUSETTS: “Elizabeth Warren’s combative history with Wall Street could create a fundraising dilemma for her burgeoning Senate campaign,” The Hill writes.

NEVADA: “With three weeks to go before the Sept. 13 special election in Nevada's 2nd district, both parties are taking a fresh look at the race and re-evaluating their strategies for the stretch run. But even though the race isn't over, Republicans are starting to believe that they've avoided yet another special election loss,” Nathan Gonzales writes.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Tea Party members in Charleston hosted Sen. Lindsey Graham at a town hall meeting yesterday, where he was received much better than when he visited last year and had to ask the news media to leave the room, the Charleston Post and Courier writes. Graham attributed the more relaxed mood to his support for a debt ceiling resolution that included the “Cut, Cap and Balance” plan. “This whole debt-ceiling debate, the size and scope of government, has shown unity between me and tea party folks,” Graham said.

UTAH: Rep. Jason Chaffetz decided against challenging incumbent Sen. Orrin Hatch. “In bowing out of a U.S. Senate clash with Orrin Hatch on Monday, Jason Chaffetz avoided what he said would be a ‘multimillion-dollar bloodbath,’ but predicts Hatch is not in the clear,” the Salt Lake Tribune writes. “‘I think he’s vulnerable,’ Chaffetz said. ‘He’s got a major task ahead of him in convincing Utahns he’s still the right guy for that job. I think he’s got a serious threat of [Democratic Rep.] Jim Matheson running against him, a serious campaign, and another insurgent campaign on the Republican side.’”

Roll Call calls it “a surprising decision that follows months of preparation to challenge the six-term incumbent.” So why didn’t he run? “The Hatch campaign, led by former state party Chairman Dave Hansen, started its counterattack early. Chaffetz would have started the race well behind both organizationally and financially, even with likely assistance from conservative advocacy groups such as the Club for Growth and FreedomWorks, both of which disapprove of Hatch’s voting record. By the end of June, Hatch reported more than $3.4 million in the bank, compared with Chaffetz’s $227,000. The Hatch campaign has also been working to build up support among party activists seeking to become delegates, who will be chosen at 1,850 local caucus elections March 15.”

Circle one more big political news day in the first week of September.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said today he will unveil his jobs plan on Sept. 6th, the same week as President Obama unveils his plan -- possibly even the same day. It's also one day before the NBC/Politico debate at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, CA. On Sept. 5th, South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint is hosting a candidates forum in Columbia, SC.

"If it's a continuation of what we've seen in the past, we know it will fail," Romney said to Fox News Channel's Neil Cavuto of the president's plan. "I'm also in Nevada on Sept. 6th, and I will be coming out with my jobs plan, and it will be very different from his. And if we follow my jobs plan we'll get America working again."

The Romney campaign has said in the past they would begin rolling out more detailed policy positions in September.

The timing of presenting a jobs plan, in particular, also allows them to bracket President Obama once again.

In June, Romney criticized President Obama at a shuttered steel plant in Allentown, PA, soaking up news coverage, on the same day the president attended a pair of fundraisers in Philadelphia. The Romney campaign also released a series of Web videos timed to the president's fundraising and travel schedules, including one highlighting Chicago's economic struggles under the current administration during President Obama's birthday visit to his home city. Last week, the campaign released a pair of videos hitting President Obama on the economy, set in stops along his Midwest bus tour route.

South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint today announced that eight Republican candidates received invitations to his Labor Day presidential forum in Columbia, SC.

All invitees had to meet the minimum threshold of receiving five percent or more in the Real Clear Politics average of Republican primary polls by 1pm this afternoon. DeMint said in a statement that four have RSVP’d so far to the Palmetto Freedom Forum: Rep. Michele Bachmann, businessman Herman Cain, Rep. Ron Paul and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney were also invited.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman were not invited, as they have not cleared the five percent minimum.

Today, Romney led the pack with 20.2 percent, followed by Perry with 18.4 and Palin with 10 percent. Bachmann, Paul, Cain and Gingrich are all in single digits, with Cain and Gingrich right at five percent.

Invitees have until Wednesday, August 24^th at 5 pm to confirm their attendance at the forum, according to the statement, posted on the Palmetto Freedom Forum’s Facebook page.

AP

Incumbent Sen. Orrin Hatch (left), Jason Chaffetz (right)

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) has been making lots of noise about challenging longtime incumbent Sen. Orrin Hatch. And conventional wisdom was that Hatch, like Sen. Bob Bennett, would be in serious jeopardy.

“You don’t have to have 36 years of seniority to get things done in Washington,” Chaffetz said of Hatch two weeks ago. “Seniority doesn’t matter if you don’t vote right.”

Apparently amid poll numbers showing Hatch leading, Chaffetz, a former BYU place kicker, couldn't back up the tough talk and punted.

He will announce at 6:00 pm ET that he will not run for the U.S. Senate in 2012, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.

Rep. Paul Ryan will not be running for president.

"While humbled by the encouragement," the Wisconsin congressman said in a statement, "I have not changed my mind, and therefore I am not seeking our party's nomination for President." 

Because of dissatisfaction with the Republican field from the establishment wing of the party, there have been continued rumblings of a Ryan or Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) candidacy.

Ryan has been a hero of conservatives for his budget plan that cut and restructured entitlements. But, because of his budget, he has also been a lightning rod, attracting criticism from the left for proposing partially privatizing Medicare.

Full statement below, posted on Ryan for Congress:

"I sincerely appreciate the support from those eager to chart a brighter future for the next generation.  While humbled by the encouragement, I have not changed my mind, and therefore I am not seeking our party's nomination for President. I remain hopeful that our party will nominate a candidate committed to a pro-growth agenda of reform that restores the promise and prosperity of our exceptional nation. I remain grateful to those I serve in Southern Wisconsin for the unique opportunity to advance this effort in Congress."

The United States is a "friend and partner" to the new Libya, President Obama said in a statement today aimed, in part, at an American audience, and, in part, to Libyans.

"The Khaddafy regime is coming to an end," Obama said. "The future of Libya is in the hands of its people." Khaddafy's "reign," he added, "has unraveled."

Obama said the United States will work closely with allies and the Transitional National Council, or TNC, which he called a "credible representative" of the Libyan people.

The only specific U.S. action item Obama mentioned was calling on the United Nations' secretary general to "support" this "important transition."

Obama lauded the efforts of the international community. "In the face of this aggression, the international community took action," Obama said. He touted the efforts of partnerships not only with traditional European partners, but also Arab nations.

He also called for an "inclusive transition that moves toward a democratic Libya." He said, speaking to Libyans: "Your revolution is your own. Now the Libya that you deserve is within your reach." Obama acknowledged there are "huge challenges ahead," but what's happened proves that "fear can give way to hope."