The drumbeat for Mitt Romney to release additional years of tax returns is growing louder -- not just from President Obama's campaign, but also from conservatives who seem to worry about the political toll of the presumptive GOP nominee's refusal to do so.

The Associated Press reported that Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) called on Romney on Tuesday to release more of his tax returns beyond the 2010 forms he has already made public, and the 2011 returns Romney has pledged to release.

Perry had been among the conservatives to attack Romney over his personal finances and record at Bain Capital during the Republican presidential primary earlier this year. Another of Romney's former primary opponents, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, also told Politico on Tuesday that Romney should release additional returns.

The former Massachusetts governor has resisted releasing additional years of tax data, arguing that it would provide the Obama campaign with fodder to mine for political attacks.

"In the political environment that exists today, the opposition research of the Obama campaign is looking for anything they can use to distract from the failure of the president to reignite our economy. And I’m simply not enthusiastic about giving them hundreds or thousands of more pages to pick through, distort, and lie about," Romneytold National Review Online in an interview today.

But the editors of the conservative magazine joined the chorus demanding Romney release more returns.

"Romney argues that whatever he releases will not be enough to satisfy the Obama campaign and its factota in the media, who are, once again, proving their bias and double standards. Romney is right, but he should release the returns anyway. Let them go fish," the magazine said in an unsigned editorial.

Romney has given no indication that he would reverse his decision and provide additional tax data. In the meanwhile, the Obama campaign released a new television ad on Tuesday speculating that there might have been a year in which Romney paid no taxes at all.

Although the presidential campaign rhetoric in recent days has been dominated by “sending jobs overseas,” more than 5 million Americans do live and work overseas and some of them vote and contribute to candidates. Highlighting their importance, Mitt Romney will be appearing at fundraising events when he visits London and Jerusalem at the end of July.

Related: Romney planning to visit Israel over summer

As with candidate Barack Obama’s speech in Berlin during the 2008 campaign, Romney’s foreign tour is a reminder that Americans living abroad are no longer forgotten citizens in election years. They’re a source not only of votes, but of campaign funds: one of Romney’s London events is a dinner with a minimum contribution of $25,000 and his event in Jerusalem asks $50,000 per couple (unless you've raised $100,000 for the Republican's campaign).

Jae C. Hong / AP

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., waves as he arrives at the Victory Column in Berlin July 24, 2008.

Susan Dzieduszycka-Suinatat, president of the Overseas Vote Foundation said, “Too many Americans abroad still think they need to be maintaining a U.S. residence or mailing address to vote -- that is totally untrue. Some think their ballots aren't counted -- another myth!”

If it’s a close election this November, the outcome might come down to a few thousand votes in swing states such as Florida, Virginia and Ohio. And some of those last few thousand swing-state voters may be residing not in Miami, Charlottesville or Cincinnati, but in Tel Aviv, Shanghai and Berlin. The votes of Americans overseas are counted in the state in which they last resided: the Virginian residing in China has his or her vote counted in Virginia.

According to the federal Election Assistance Commission, in the 2008 election those three states had almost 150,000 overseas votes counted:

• 26,300 in Ohio
• 28,000 in Virginia
• 95,000 in Florida

Matt Brooks, the executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition -- who just returned from a voter-mobilization trip to Israel with Ari Fleischer, former press secretary for President George W. Bush -- said about 150,000 Americans living in Israel are eligible to vote.

“We wanted to go over there to help raise awareness of the critical issues facing Israel and facing the Jewish community in the 2012 election and encourage those folks who are eligible to register and to vote in November,” Brooks said.

“We believe this is going to be a very close election and if we’re able to mobilize a significant number of U.S. citizens living abroad who are eligible to vote, especially in the battleground states -- Florida was decided in 2000 by a little over 500 votes -- we’re going to leave no stone unturned,” Brooks said.

He contended that “President Obama has a problem with the Jewish vote and the Jewish community” partly due to his “failed policies” in the Middle East.

David Harris, the president of the National Jewish Democratic Council, the Democrats’ counterpart to the RJC, said, “We hope to travel there or get Democratic surrogates -- including elected officials -- to Israel,” to make the case for Obama to American voters there.

Of the RJC, Harris said, “We have a much easier sale than they do,” since Jewish voters have long preferred Democratic candidates by about a three-to-one ratio.

Another group working on facilitating voting by Americans living in Israel is iVoteIsrael, formed last year.

National Director Elie Pieprz said, “By creating a streamlined process, sort of a voting concierge, iVoteIsrael seeks to overcome the largest obstacle to voter participation,” which is overseas residents receiving their ballots too late from their state or county elections official in the United States, or sending them back too late for the vote to be counted.

“The goal of the campaign is to maximize the absentee vote from Israel,” Pieprz said. “We are not endorsing any candidate or party, and our message is targeted at both sides of the aisle.”

But the Federal Voting Assistance Program, the agency in charge of helping overseas Americans vote, recently stirred a furor by changing the form used to register to vote or request a ballot.

On the revised federal post card application, the would-be voter is asked to check whether they “intend” or “do not intend” to return to the United States.

Roland Crim, a spokesman on voting issues for American Citizens Abroad, said in a statement that if overseas Americans declared an intent not to return they would “risk having state election officials improperly disqualify their votes in federal elections.” He said, “The language of the new form acted as a form of voting repellent, particularly for voters uncertain as to what the future might portend.”

“No voter should be asked to check that box,” Dzieduszycka-Suinatat said, partly because state and local election officials might not send the ballot to the voter if they think he’s never coming back to the United States.

According to Defense Department Spokesperson Cmdr. Leslie Hull-Ryde, the FVAP, which is part of the Defense Department, changed the language on the 2011 form "to assist voters in complying with voter eligibility laws in most states." She said 40 states and the District of Columbia have statutory language regarding the intent of an absent voter to return to the state or district.

Now on the FVAP website, both the older post card application -- which does not ask about intent to return to the United States -- and the 2011 revised form are available. Voters “can use either form depending on their needs and comfort level,” Hull-Ryde said.

Apart from that controversy, Dzieduszycka-Suinatat said voting for overseas Americans is often smooth since they can receive their ballots online. (Go to the Overseas Vote Foundation website.)

And she said, “FedEx teams with [the Overseas Vote Foundation] every election year to offer at-your-doorstep pick up for ballots to be sent back to U.S. election offices in a matter of a day or two at very reduced rates, special for U.S. voters overseas.”

She added that this year U.S. citizens residing abroad have another incentive to vote: their unhappiness with a 2010 law called Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, which imposes fines for those who do not report information on their foreign bank accounts (if their aggregate value exceeds $50,000) to the Internal Revenue Service. The minimum penalty for failing to submit the information is $10,000; the maximum penalty is $50,000.

“It makes all kinds of sense to find people who are hiding money overseas to keep it from being taxed,” she said. “But what happened is that in their net, they ended up persecuting the average Joe who lives overseas.”

She said, “It’s almost as if the U.S. doesn’t appreciate the fact that we’re out here representing the country, building trade.” She said, “without representation, overseas Americans can be somewhat persecuted.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) liked what he heard from former Vice President Dick Cheney today over lunch in the Capitol.

Cheney was on the Hill on Tuesday to meet with House and Senate Republicans to sound the alarm over automatic defense cuts set to take place on Jan. 1 as laid out in last summer's debt ceiling agreement.

“He probably talked more today than he did in eight years,” Graham told reporters, noting that Cheney seemed in "excellent" health and in "good spirits" following a heart transplant earlier this year.

According to Graham, Cheney, a former secretary of Defense, warned that $500 billion in cuts over the next 10 years would be devastating to long term planning against threats like Iran.

"He pointed out the stealth technology we used in the first Gulf War and precision guided munitions were a result of planning in the eighties," Graham told reporters. "And you know the next war, who knows what the next threats going to be. But, if you had to go into an Iran where you've got really hardened sights, you're going to have to have the most sophisticated accurate weapons possible."

Graham was quick to point out, “He didn’t say we should attack Iran.”

Cheney told Republicans, "You need to keep money flowing in predictable ways so you can plan for the next war."

Graham is advocating a one year fix to avoid $109 billion in defense cuts in 2013. He said he is willing to put revenue on the table in the form of fees, asset sales and ending deductions and loopholes combined with cuts across other parts of the government. He predicted he could bring other Republicans along to support revenue increases if the president wanted to negotiate. 

"Where is presidential leadership here? We need him," Graham said. "He should be calling a group of us. I could bring a pretty large number of Republicans, more than a handful that would sit down with the president and Democrats to find a way to do a combination of revenue, other government cuts to avoid at least 2013."

New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R) also said today she supported a one year fix in the absence of a longer term solution.

On the other side of the aisle, Majority Leader Harry Reid said it was Cheney's ties to Halliburton that were motivating his concerns over defense cuts.

"Halliburton did extremely well during his time as vice president, and I assume there is going to be some concern about Halliburton again in this conversation they're going to have today," Reid told reporters.

Is the Obama White House willing to follow Senate Democrats off the so-called "fiscal cliff"?

Not exactly.

The White House today weighed in with a slightly different message: Congress should prevent the fiscal cliff -- the prospect of all the Bush-era tax cuts expiring, as well as automatic spending cuts taking effect -- from ever happening.

During a gaggle aboard Air Force One, Deputy White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest was asked if the president supports Democrats who threatening to let all the Bush tax cuts expire -- for both the wealthy and middle class -- if they don't get a "good deal" from Republicans.

“The president believes firmly that there is a way for us to deal with our deficit challenges," Earnest said. He added that this potential way forward could also avoid the $1.2 trillion in automatic budget cuts (including defense spending) that will occur after the end of this year.

Earnest’s comments stopped short of endorsing what Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) said Democrats were willing to do if Republicans refused to raise taxes on the wealthy. Speaking at the Brookings Institution on Monday, Murray said, “If we can’t get a good deal, a balanced deal that calls on the wealthy to pay their fair share then I will absolutely continue this debate into 2013,” meaning after the economy would presumably plunge off the cliff. 

Earnest also echoed a message that President Obama has touted for the past several days -- that the Congress should extend the Bush-era tax cuts for folks making less than $250,000.

“The president does not believe that it's just middle-class families that should have to sacrifice to deal with our deficit challenges. We're all in this together, and that includes asking those wealthiest 2% of Americans, millionaires and billionaires, essentially, to do their fair share.to do their fair share.”  

Republicans have fired back. On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell accused Congressional Democrats of waging an “ideological crusade.”

McConnell said, “Let me boil it down. Faced with the slowest economic recovery in modern times, chronic joblessness, and the lowest percentage of able-bodied Americans actually participating in the workforce in decades, Democrats’ one-point plan to revive the economy is this: you earn, we take. That’s apparently the only thing they’ve got. “

According to a recent poll by the Pew Research Center, 44% of people believe increasing taxes on those making more than $250,000 would help the economy, versus just 22% who believe it will hurt it.

IRWIN, PA -- Mitt Romney sought Tuesday to pivot to offense versus President Obama with a fiery speech at a rally here accusing the president of "crony capitalism" and a fundamental misunderstanding of business.

After having spent nearly a week on the defensive over his refusal to release more than two years of tax returns and amid a barrage of criticism of his tenure at Bain Capital, Romney ripped into what he said was a telling remark about Obama's view of government.

Win Mcnamee / Getty Images

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney arrives on stage before speaking at a campaign rally at Horizontal Wireline Services July 17 in Irwin, Pa.

The president said Friday at a campaign event that, "If you’ve got a business, you did not build that -– somebody else made that happen," in a larger monologue about the importance of government support for business.

"That somebody else is government in his view. He goes on to describe the people who deserve the credit for building this business and, of course, he describes people who we care very deeply about who make a difference in our lives, Romney said, referencing teachers, firefighters and other public workers.

"But you know, we pay for those things, alright; the taxpayers pay for government. It's not like government just provides those to all of us and we say oh thank you government for doing those things no in fact we pay for them and we benefit for them and we appreciate the work that they do and the sacrifices that are done by people who work in government," Romney added. "But they did not build this business."

The presumptive GOP nominee then launched into a list of historic American entrepreneurs to prove his point. Those figures, Romney argued, built their empires through their own efforts.

"The idea to say that Steve Jobs didn’t build Apple. That Henry Ford didn’t build Ford motor," Romney said, continuing to list other prominent American companies. "To say something like that is not just foolishness, it’s insulting to every entrepreneur, every innovator in America, and it’s wrong."

Buoyed by a crowd of roughly 1,000 supporters here in a deeply Republican part of the state, Romney came out swinging this afternoon, hitting the president with a charge of "crony capitalism," in the case of Fisker automotive.

"I'm ashamed to say that we're seeing the president hand out money to the businesses of campaign contributors. When he gave money -- $500 million dollars in loans to a company called Fisker that makes high-end electric cars -- and they make the cars now in Finland, that is wrong, and it has got to stop," Romney said. "That kind of crony capitalism does not create jobs and it does not create jobs here. I believe in free people and free markets and I want government to get out of investing in individual businesses."

Democrats have often pointed out Romney entered into similar partnerships during his tenure as governor of Massachusetts.

Romney once again invoked former Democratic President Bill Clinton in attacking Obama in an effort to drive a wedge between Obama and more centrists Democrats and independents who supported Clinton but may not be enamored with this president's policies, which Romney called "extraordinarily foreign."

"What he is saying is his justification for a larger and larger government," Romney said, pivoting to attack the president's health care plan. "This is very different by the way than the Democratic party of Bill Clinton, that said that the era of big government was over. That reformed welfare -- you heard that story by the way -- he is trying to take work out of welfare requirement. It is changing the nature of America, changing the nature of what Democrats have fought for and Republicans have fought for."

The Obama campaign questioned on Tuesday whether there were years in which Mitt Romney paid any taxes at all.

As part of its ongoing effort to press Romney into releasing additional tax records beyond his 2010 returns, the president's re-election team released a new TV ad this morning raising that very question.

“Romney admits that over the last two years he’s paid less than 15 percent in taxes on $43 million in income," the ad says. "Makes you wonder if some years he paid any taxes at all."

A new attack ad takes aim at Mitt Romney over tax issues.

When asked today during an in-flight gaggle on Air Force One whether it was fair to make such a suggestion, traveling campaign press secretary Jen Psaki said the ad raises the question that “we won't know and it's not possible for anyone to know until he releases further years of tax returns and everybody is able to examine what is included in them.”

During the gaggle, which took place as the president traveled to Texas for a second straight day of campaign events, Psaki was also asked about the president’s ability to govern when he’s spending most of this week on the road fundraising (with one day, Wednesday, at the White House).

“He can walk and chew gum at the same time,” Psaki responded. “While he is campaigning he is reading briefing books, he is doing calls, he is having meetings with his advisers.”

White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest, also on the flight, also cleared up confusion about a moment at the United States vs. Brazil basketball game in downtown Washington last night, when the president and Mrs. Obama found the Verizon Center’s “Kiss Cam” trained on them.

They did not kiss the first time they appeared on the Jumbotron, but during the second half of the game, the Kiss Cam found them once again and they obliged.

White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest said today that the First Couple did not realize that they were supposed to smooch until halftime, when their daughters asked why they didn’t kiss.

“I can tell you based on a very good source, reports that the president was rebuffed are false,” Earnest said, adding that the two “did not recognize that their images were on the screen in conjunction with the kiss cam.”

“So during Act Two of the kiss cam promotion the president took advantage to steal a kiss from his wife,” Earnest continued.

Mitt Romney still has a chance to define himself for voters at several key junctures left in this campaign, in spite of the Obama campaign’s furious efforts to paint the presumptive GOP nominee essentially as a corporate raider and out-of-touch millionaire.

President Obama’s team has poured millions into advertising that voices suspicions about Romney’s personal wealth and his time at Bain Capital in hopes of priming voters’ perceptions of the former Massachusetts governor. In turn, the Romney campaign has been knocked off-message in recent weeks by questions surrounding his departure from Bain and demands that he release additional years of tax returns.

Evan Vucci / AP

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney leaves a fundraiser July 16 in Baton Rouge, La.

“It's incredibly disciplined,” said Bob Shrum, the longtime Democratic consultant, of the Obama campaign’s efforts. “They obviously knew what they were doing coming out of the primary. They obviously tested these tactics in focus groups and polling.”

But if the Romney campaign is sweating these attacks, the public would never know it. The Boston-based team hasn’t budged in the face of demands – even from conservatives – that Romney release more tax returns. And they’ve waved off questions about Romney’s retirement from Bain as a distraction.

GOP frets about swing state toll on Romney from Bain attacks

There is evidence the Obama campaign’s attacks have taken a toll on Romney among voters in swing states, especially ones with heightened scrutiny of outsourcing. But Republicans are quick to note that Romney still has ample opportunities to introduce himself to voters – on his own terms.

“Mitt Romney, when you look at the race, there’s nine or 10 really consequential hours left in the campaign,” said Steve Schmidt, a senior adviser to Arizona Sen. John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign.

In short, Republicans believe that few voters have yet to tune in fully to the campaign, and that Romney has several opportunities to reach voters who might be less familiar with his background and record.

There have been indications that the first opportunity, Romney’s selection of a running mate, could come as early as this week. Senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom on Monday wouldn’t rule out a pick this week for reporters, and the Romney campaign continued to stoke speculation Tuesday morning by announcing senior staff for the impending VP pick.

First Thoughts: Don't bet on an early VP pick

And Romney will have other opportunities to make his case in an unfettered medium to voters who are thought to start paying more close attention to the campaign at the end of summer. The Republican National Convention next month in Tampa, if executed well, could prove a chance to lionize Romney and the GOP ticket. And the three scheduled presidential debates this fall between Obama and Romney will prove a pivotal opportunity for voters to size up the two candidates versus each other.

Moreover, there are other inflection points that might allow Romney to seize control of the media narrative – among them his foreign tour later this month that will take him to the Summer Olympics in London and, afterward, to Israel.

“Voters by definition don’t lock in until the entirety of the process plays out,” said Schmidt. “We’re about to enter a phase of the campaign where there are a number of events that are watched by tens of millions of people that could affect the trajectory of the race.”

RELATED: Is Romney too focused on the economy?

But there are potential liabilities associated with simply trying to wait out the summertime bickering between the campaigns.

Case-in-point: the 2004 presidential campaign, when withering attacks from the outside conservative group “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” took aim at Democratic nominee John Kerry’s military record.

Those attacks, said Shrum, didn’t necessarily convince voters that Kerry was unqualified to serve as commander in chief, but he said they did “disrupt our campaign for two to three weeks.”

Mark McKinnon, a former political adviser to President George W. Bush’s campaign, said the similarities between the 2004 Republican campaign and Obama’s re-election effort were “spooky.”

Among the most striking similarities, he said, are Bush and Obama’s shared effort to make the race into a choice between the two candidates rather than a referendum on the incumbent’s first term – an important strategy given the potential vulnerabilities Bush had on foreign policy and Obama suffers on the economy.

And Bush, like Obama, also spent early and heavily to frame the race.

Some conservatives have even openly mentioned the possibility that Romney might be “Swift Boated” in reference to the attacks he now faces from the Obama campaign. It’s part of the reason that the right has begun to clamor for a more aggressive response by Romney to the president’s attacks.

If he loses this fall, the former Massachusetts governor might find himself the victim of the second-guessing that inevitably follows a party’s losing electoral effort. And if he wins, Romney might be the beneficiary of the same praise heaped on the Obama campaign for its supposedly disciplined and unrattled operation.

“That’s how you win campaigns,” said Shrum. “Having a good strategy, consistently executed is much better than constantly searching for a perfect strategy and intermittently executing it.”

Evan Vucci / AP

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney pauses during a speech to the NAACP annual convention, Wednesday, July 11, 2012, in Houston, Texas.

Don’t bet on an early VP pick. Why? Because in modern times, it has never happened this early… Piling on Romney… Romney in 2D, not 3D… Today’s back-and-forth: Obama camp hits Romney on taxes, while Team Romney continues crony capitalism charge against Obama… Romney stumps outside of Pittsburgh at 1:20 pm ET, and Obama raises money in Texas… Is taxing the wealthy popular? Yes, according to a new Pew poll… DISCLOSE Act gets blocked… And profiling the strengths and weaknesses of Tim Pawlenty (whom Andrea Mitchell interviews today).

*** Don’t bet on an early VP pick: While we’re bracing for Mitt Romney to make his VP pick as soon as this week, here is something to consider: If history is any guide, Romney won’t announce his selection until next month. Indeed, in modern times, the earliest a pick was made -- John Kerry tapping John Edwards in 2004 -- was less than three weeks before the Democratic convention began. Outside of that, every other running mate since 1980 has been selected NO EARLIER than a week before the convention began, if not afterward. And right now we are out six weeks until the Republican convention in Tampa. So Romney could very well go this week, but he’d be making an earlier pick than any other presumptive presidential nominee in modern times. For his part, Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom told reporters yesterday that “no decision has been made” on vice president.

Here are when the past VP selections were made:
Palin was picked on Aug. 29; GOP convention began on Sept. 1
Biden was picked on Aug. 23; Dem convention began on Aug. 25
Edwards was picked on July 6; Dem convention began on July 26
Lieberman was picked on Aug. 7; Dem convention began on Aug. 14
Cheney was picked on July 25; GOP convention began on July 31
Kemp was picked on Aug. 9; GOP convention began on Aug 12
Gore was picked on July 9; Dem convention began on July 13
Quayle was picked on Aug. 16; GOP convention began on Aug. 15
Bentsen was picked on July 12; Dem convention began on July 18
Ferraro was picked on July 12; Dem convention began on July 16
Bush was picked July 17; GOP convention began on July 14 

*** Piling on Romney: Last month, after weeks of negative press, President Obama and his campaign took plenty of incoming criticism. And this month -- after the focus on immigration, health care (is the mandate a penalty or tax?), Romney’s taxes, and his tenure at Bain Capital -- everyone is beginning to pile on Romney and his campaign. In Businessweek, Josh Green raised the prospect of the “wimp factor” dogging the former Massachusetts governor. “[H]aving made up his mind not to release more tax returns—but feeling compelled to go on television Friday anyway—Romney instead attempted the political equivalent of an NBA player flopping to catch the ref’s attention and draw a charge by demanding that Obama apologize for the mean things said about him.” And in National Journal, Michael Hirsch wrote that Romney risks getting “Dukakis-ized.” Ouch.

*** Romney in 2D, not 3D: Also in National Journal, Charlie Cook explains why these attitudes -- in the press and among voters -- is potentially damaging to Romney: because he is so undefined. “Puzzlingly, the Romney campaign has offered very little to build up its candidate as a real human being, someone of character who’s worthy of being entrusted with the Oval Office,” Cook writes. “Given his campaign’s ample financial resources, the decision not to run biographical or testimonial ads, in effect to do nothing to establish him as a three-dimensional person, has left him open to the inevitable attacks for his work at Bain Capital, on outsourcing, and on his investments. It’s all rather inexplicable. Aside from a single spot aired in the spring by the pro-Romney super PAC Restore Our Future, not one personal positive ad has been aired on Romney’s behalf.”

*** Today’s back-and-forth: The Obama campaign isn’t taking its foot off the gas. With Romney holding a town hall in Irwin, PA (right outside of Pittsburgh) at 1:20 pm ET, the Obama camp is up with a new TV ad in Pennsylvania drawing attention to Romney’s refusal to release his tax returns prior to 2010. “Tax havens, offshore accounts, carried interest -- Mitt Romney has used every trick in the book,” the ad goes. “Romney admits that over the last two years he’s paid less than 15% in taxes on $43 million in income. Makes you wonder if some years he paid any taxes at all.” The ad concludes, “What is Mitt Romney hiding?” For its part, the Romney campaign is once again making the charge that the Obama administration’s loan guarantees -- like to Solyndra -- benefited Obama donors. “While the president’s political allies reaped the benefits of half a billion dollars in taxpayer funds, American workers lost everything,” the Romney camp said in a statement today. “Middle-class families deserve better from their president.” The RNC has this accompanying video. But here’s a problem for the Romney camp/RNC charging that Obama bundlers have benefited from the administration: The Romney camp has so far REFUSED to release the name of its own bundlers.

*** On the trail: While Romney campaigns in Pennsylvania this afternoon, President Obama heads to the Lone Star State. “Obama will start his Texas trip with a fundraising event at the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center in San Antonio for a fundraiser hosted by actress Eva Longoria, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, U.S. Rep. Charlie Gonzales and others. The president will attend a second fundraising event while in town,” USA Today writes. “Obama then heads to Austin Tuesday afternoon for a fundraiser hosted by the LGBT Leadership Council. The event will be headlined by the singer-songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker, and tickets range in price from $250 per person to $7,500 per couple. He later will head to another fundraising event hosted by Tom Meredith, Dell's former finance chief. The Austin American-Statesman reported last week that campaign officials believe he can break a fundraising record with the biggest single-day haul in Texas political history.”

*** Is taxing the wealthy popular? According to a new Pew poll, the answer to that question is yes. “By two-to-one (44% to 22%), the public says that raising taxes on incomes above $250,000 would help the economy rather than hurt it, while 24% say this would not make a difference,” pollster Andy Kohut emails. “An identical percentage (44%) says a tax increase on higher incomes would make the tax system more fair, while just 21% say it would make the system less fair.”

*** DISCLOSE Act gets blocked: Over on Capitol Hill yesterday, the Senate blocked consideration of a Democratic measure to force the disclosure of hidden donors who give money to tax-exempt groups airing political TV ads, NBCPolitics.com’s Tom Curry writes. “The bill fell nine votes short of the 60 it needed to move ahead to debate and final passage. Donors to tax-exempt 501c4 and 501c6 groups aren’t required to be identified publicly; this cloak of secrecy has encouraged some contributors who might fear publicity to invest heavily in trying to influence voters through TV ads. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D- R.I., would require any donor who gave $10,000 or more to a 501c4 group that spent money on political advertising to be identified and disclosed.”

*** Tim Pawlenty’s strengths… : In our latest profile of Romney’s potential VP picks, we take a look at former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (whom NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews today). STRENGTHS: Though once a rival for the GOP presidential nomination, Pawlenty has become a constant and loyal surrogate for the Romney campaign… His conservative credentials are rock-solid, which would please the GOP base (opposes abortion and same-sex marriage, is an evangelical Christian)… His Midwest roots and clear middle-class/working-class background (his mother died when he was 16; his father lost his job at a trucking company) could be advantageous to Romney… As someone who has run for president before, Pawlenty is more than familiar with the national scrutiny and high-profile debates…. Could he put Minnesota in play? On the one hand, he’s a former two-term governor of the state. On the other hand, he never received 50% or more in those two races. In 2006, he barely won re-election against challenger Mike Hatch (D), 47%-46%, and he might have lost had not Hatch referred to a female reporter as a “Republican whore” right before the election. In 2008, by comparison, Obama won Minnesota, 54%-44%.

***… and his weaknesses: WEAKNESSES: There are some holes in his conservative record (signed 75-cent fee on cigarettes into law, once championed initiatives to reduce greenhouse gases)… How much do conservatives really like Pawlenty? Remember that despite going all-in to win it, he finished a disappointing third to Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul at the 2011 Ames Straw Poll; the day after that third-place finish, Pawlenty dropped out of the presidential race… How much does Pawlenty owe Romney? According to an analysis by USA Today, more than half of the political donations Pawlenty received after he suspended his campaign -- to pay down his debt -- came from Romney donors… Pawlenty recently joined the board of Smart Sand, a Pennsylvania firm that has built a large frac sand plant in Wisconsin. That sand is used in a controversial process to extract natural gas from rock.

Countdown to GOP convention: 41 days
Countdown to Dem convention: 48 days
Countdown to Election Day: 112 days

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*** Tuesday’s “Daily Rundown” line-up (with guest host Luke Russert): Obama Campaign National Press Secretary Ben LaBolt… Former Cantor spokesman Brad Dayspring and former DCCC spokesman Doug Thornell on the latest tax attacks… One of us (!!!) with today’s 2012 headlines… NBC’s Kristen Welker with a preview of the president’s Texas trip… More news with the Atlantic’s Molly Ball, American Bridge’s Rodell Mollineau and former Gov. Bob Ehrlich (R-MD).

*** Tuesday’s “Jansing & Co.” line-up: MSNBC’s Chris Jansing interviews Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, the Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart, the AP’s Kasie Hunt, and Sen. Tom Harkin.

*** Tuesday’s “MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up: MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts talks with DNC Executive Director Patrick Gaspard, USA Today’s Jackie Kucinich, Democratic strategist Keith Boykin, Republican strategist Chip Saltsman, UVA political scientist Larry Sabato and LPAC Spokesperson Sarah Schmidt.

*** Tuesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews Tim Pawlenty, the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza, former Sen. Sam Nunn, National Urban League President Marc Morial, USA Today’s Susan Page, Politico’s Jonathan Martin, Dem strategist Michael Feldman, and GOP strategist John Feehery.

*** Tuesday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: MSNBC’s Tamron Hall interviews Democratic strategist Jimmy Williams, Republican strategist Danny Vargas, the Atlantic’s Molly Ball, the Sports Fan Coalition’s Brian Frederick (on sports and Super PACs), and Climate Central’s Heidi Cullen (on the drought).

“A new Pew Research poll finds that by two-to-one (44% to 22%), the public says that raising taxes on incomes above $250,000 would help the economy rather than hurt it, while 24% say this would not make a difference,” Political Wire notes. “Moreover, an identical percentage (44%) says a tax increase on higher incomes would make the tax system more fair, while just 21% say it would make the system less fair.”

The Boston Globe: “Mitt Romney and President Obama are stepping up efforts to get campaign donations from Americans living half a world away, a new twist in a rapidly shifting and intensely competitive campaign finance environment. Romney has reportedly sent two of his sons to Hong Kong to raise money, and is planning another round of fund-raising in London while he is there for the Olympics. Obama’s surrogates held a fund-raiser at a Shanghai hotel last Wednesday and next month will dispatch actor George Clooney to Geneva to collect donations.”

The Obama campaign is out with a new ad it say is running in Pennsylvania that focuses on Romney not releasing his tax returns. Here’s the script: “Tax havens, offshore accounts, carried Interest -- Mitt Romney has used every trick in the book. Romney admits that over the last two years he's paid less than 15% in taxes on $43 million in income. Makes you wonder if some years he paid any taxes at all. We don't know because Romney has released just one full year of his tax returns. And won't release anything before 2010.  Mitt Romney: You know what, I've put out as much as we're gonna put out. What is Mitt Romney hiding?”

Today… “Obama will start his Texas trip with a fundraising event at the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center in San Antonio for a fundraiser hosted by actress Eva Longoria, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, U.S. Rep. Charlie Gonzales and others. The president will attend a second fundraising event while in town,” USA Today writes. “Obama then heads to Austin Tuesday afternoon for a fundraiser hosted by the LGBT Leadership Council. The event will be headlined by the singer-songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker, and tickets range in price from $250 per person to $7,500 per couple. He later will head to another fundraising event hosted by Tom Meredith, Dell's former finance chief. The Austin American-Statesman reported last week that campaign officials believe he can break a fundraising record with the biggest single-day haul in Texas political history.”

Yesterday…  “President Obama put a new spin on his attack on Mitt Romney as an ‘outsourcer,’ citing a new commentary in a campaign speech today that suggests that his rival's policies will lead to American jobs shifting overseas,” USA Today writes, adding, “Speaking at a town hall-style meeting in Cincinnati, Obama referenced the analysis by Reed College columnist Kimberly Clausing in Tax Notes that found Romney's support for changes in the territorial tax system would "increase employment in low-tax countries by about 800,000 jobs."

The Wall Street Journal looks at some of the lighter moments from yesterday’s town hall with the president, including talking haircuts and Girl Scout cookies.

“President Obama's health care law is constitutional as a tax — but only a small percentage of Americans will pay more, a USA TODAY analysis of federal data shows. Though the law is projected to raise more than $800 billion in taxes, fees and penalties over a decade, 40% comes from about 3.5 million households with adjusted gross incomes above $200,000. Employers, insurers and health care providers are slated to fork over much of the rest. That leaves only a few taxes that will fall partially on middle-income taxpayers.”

Hillary Clinton has traveled to more countries than any other U.S. Secretary of State. “Since becoming secretary of state in 2009, Clinton has logged 351 days on the road, traveled to 102 countries and flown a whopping 843,839 miles, according to the State Department,” AP reports. “While some previous secretaries may have flown more miles -- mainly due to shuttling back and forth to the Mideast on peace missions -- none has visited more nations. Clinton broke that record last month, eclipsing Madeleine Albright's total of 98, when she traveled to Finland for number 99 and then hit the 100 mark in Latvia. Not content, she tacked on another two countries -- Mongolia and Laos, where she was the first secretary of state to visit in 57 years and only the second ever -- on her latest trip. And she has another six months to go before she reaches her self-imposed deadline to step down and take a breather.”

She just returned from a France-Afghanistan-Japan-Mongolia-Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia-Egypt-Israel trip.

It took two takes for the president and first lady to get a “Kiss Cam” right at a USA Basketball Exhibition in DC last night – with the crowd’s urging.

“It’s a subtle change, notable only because it contributes to a reshaping of questions about the length of Mitt Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital, the private equity firm he founded,” the Boston Globe notes. “In recent days, Romney and his defenders have begun to say Romney left his “day-to-day” duties at Bain Capital when he took over the Salt Lake City Olympics in February 1999, seemingly absolving him of responsibility for any bankruptcies, layoffs or offshore outsourcing after 1999 by companies Bain had invested in.”

“An independent group supporting Mitt Romney raised a whopping $20 million last month, the most ever for a super PAC in a single month,” USA Today writes. “The fundraising haul by Restore Our Future dwarfs the $6.1 million raised in June by Priorities USA Action, the super PAC backing President Obama.”

Karl Rove thinks Romney should continue not to fight back: "They can't take the bait and fall into the mud with President Obama, because at the end of the day, if this is a battle between two mudslingers -- neither one of them looking presidential -- people will tend to go with the guy who is already president."

Newsweek looks at Sarah Palin not having been invited to the GOP convention in Tampa, and why that might be (bus tour stepping on Romney’s announcement, not fully embracing him, etc.)

In Las Vegas today, AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka will unload on Romney, per excerpts of his remarks.  “[Romney] doesn’t care about hard work and responsibility. He doesn’t care that he created and ran a company that pioneered the practice of offshoring good jobs -- good union jobs -- to China and wherever else the labor is cheap. Mitt Romney doesn’t know a thing about responsibility. Hey, it was profitable for him to bleed companies, kill jobs, end pensions in bankruptcy court and then walk away with millions. What did he care? Maybe that’s fine for Mitt, but it doesn’t fly with me. It won’t fly with working families. And it won’t fly in the White House!”

“The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has from today until the end of next week to announce a pick, before departing for the Summer Olympics in London and visits to Israel and Poland,” the Boston Globe reports. “Romney’s second window opens around Aug. 12, when the media dominance of the Olympics ends, children in many parts of the country head back to school, and the Republican Party gears up for its national nominating convention in Tampa, Fla. It runs from Aug. 27 through Aug. 30.”

“Romney says no decision has been made about the Republican's running mate, despite a New York Times report that has everyone buzzing,” USA Today writes. “The Associated Press reports Eric Fehrnstrom, a Romney strategist, said Romney could make a final decision in the coming days.”

Reuters: “Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney appears to be in the final stages of deciding who to pick as his vice presidential running mate, with speculation growing that he has narrowed his choice down to a short-list of three.” The three: Portman, Pawlenty, Jindal. More: “Many Republicans believe Romney will break from tradition and announce his choice well before the party's convention in Tampa in late August that will formally nominate Romney as the Republican candidate. Campaign officials were loathe to discuss the selection process or the short list but made clear that Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, had yet to make up his mind.”

CHRISTIE: Political Wire: “A new Quinnipiac poll in New Jersey finds Gov. Chris Christie (R) with a healthy 54% to 39% job approval. However, New Jersey voters say by 53% to 40% that Christie would be a bad choice as the vice presidential candidate for Mitt Romney.”

JINDAL: Romney raised money with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal yesterday. Here’s a pic of the two of them together.

BATON ROUGE, LA -– Mitt Romney’s campaign is tamping down speculation that a decision has been reached on a running mate, after a report today that the former Massachusetts Governor had made up his mind.

Eric Ferhnstrom, a top Romney aide, told reporters today “no decision has been made” on vice president. Ferhnstrom told the AP separately a decision could be reached this week.

The remarks occurred during a lunchtime fundraiser here in Baton Rouge, where Romney was joined by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, a buzzed-about Republican whom some consider to be on Romney’s shortlist.

This morning, the New York Times reported that people close to Romney say a decision had been made.  The report also speculated about how former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty may appeal to Romney.

But today’s fundraiser, at the City Club of Baton Rouge, marked Jindal’s debut at Romney’s side.  In remarks to guests, Jindal called President Obama “incompetent,” and described Obama’s politics as too liberal for the American people.

“This president, President Obama, he cannot run on his record, he can’t run on his political philosophy so he has to attack and distort Governor Romney’s record,” Jindal said, referring to what he described as the Obama campaign’s negative tactics.

Last week, the Romney campaign fielded attacks from the Obama team over questions about when Romney left the helm of the venture capital firm Bain Capital, kickstarting new discussions about venture capitalism, and the financial economy.

“I am thrilled he’s a successful businessman. You don’t want an unsuccessful businessman in the White House,” Jindal said.

About 40 donors attended today’s luncheon, at $50,000 a plate.  Guests ate Louisiana gulf shrimp and beef tenderloin. 

One guest, Andie Bollinger of Thibodaux, LA, later told reporters that Governor Romney told guests privately about his plans for a Romney presidency, though she didn’t elaborate.

“He’s a brilliant man,” Bollinger said of Romney.

Jindal, who supported Texas Gov. Rick Perry during the Republican primary, has recently become a more visible surrogate for Romney’s campaign, deploying sharp attacks on President Obama and defending conservative issues.

This weekend, Jindal addressed the Nebraska GOP convention, where he touted Gov. Romney’s business background and was met with applause when he said the U.S. Supreme Court made an “awful choice” upholding President Obama’s health care law.

Today Romney and Jindal arrived for the fundraiser only minutes apart, and about half an hour early.  Fehrnstrom said the two men met privately and spoke about education -- a focus for Jindal here in Louisiana -- but didn't discuss the vice presidency.

CINCINNATI, OH -— President Barack Obama took aim at Republican challenger Mitt Romney at the top of an otherwise lighthearted town hall meeting in a key battleground state.

The president addressed unplanned questions about topics ranging from gay rights and education to haircuts at a crowd of 1,200 here in southwest Ohio.

But not until he leveled more criticism at Romney.

The president said he hadn’t found “any serious economic study” that claims Romney’s economic plan would create jobs, “until today.” 

“Today we found out there's a new study out by nonpartisan economists that says Gov. Romney's economic plan would in fact create 800,000 jobs. There's only one problem: The jobs wouldn't be in America,” he continued.

The president went on: “By eliminating taxes on corporations' foreign income, Governor Romney's plan would actually encourage companies to shift more of their operations to foreign tax havens, creating 800,000 jobs in those other countries.”

The president was citing an article from a tax policy newsletter called “Tax Notes” by a Reed College economics professor named Kimberly A. Clausing. In the article, Clausing doesn’t mention Mitt Romney by name but she does claim that a “territorial” corporate tax system similar to one of the aspects of Romney’s tax plan, would “encourage job creation abroad instead of at home.”

The Romney campaign as well as congressional Republican offices immediately pounced on the new talking point, sending out links to a Weekly Standard article that says Clausing is by no means “non-partisan” and that she’s donated money to the Obama campaign in the past.

Today’s move allowed the president to extend his outsourcing attack on Romney.  “We don't need a president who plans to ship more jobs overseas or wants to give more tax breaks to companies that are shipping jobs overseas. I want to give tax breaks to companies that are investing right here in Ohio,” Obama said to an applauding audience.

But none of the questions that came out of today’s town hall were specifically about taxes or Mitt Romney or Bain Capital. Mostly people wanted to know what could the president do about unemployment and how could he help small businesses survive the current economic times.

Tony White, who owns a barber shop in Cincinnati asked the president, “What will you be doing…for the self-employed and businesses…with less than 10 employees?”

The president used the question as an opportunity to bring up the tax cut fight going on in Washington right now.

“His [Romney’s] basic tax plan is to give folks at the top… a tax break. Now, we can have that debate. But what I've said is, in the meantime, let's give 98% of individuals and 97 percent of small businesses some certainty right now by going ahead and passing a law that says your taxes won't go up.”

Afterwards, White seemed satisfied with the response but did say he wanted the president to go into more depth about how small businesses can get help since there’s so much red tape in getting what he needs from the government. “If he can cut out some of that red tape for the small guy, everybody would be a lot better off,” said White.

White also took the opportunity to ask another question: “Also, when can I cut your hair?”

Over the laughter and cheers of the audience, the president responded, “You would not want a president who was disloyal to his barber…I am not going to let you cut my hair, because my barber would be hurt.”

But the president’s most controversial answer of the day very well could’ve been to a question he got from a Girl Scout in the crowd: “What's your favorite Girl Scout cookie?”

The president’s answer was that he’s pretty partial to the mint cookies.  Though the president couldn’t quite come up with the name Thin Mints, some in the audience knew exactly what he was referring to and booed the choice.

“I didn't mean to create controversy here. There was somebody -- did you hear, there was somebody booing?”

Tomorrow the president heads to Texas to some fundraising.

LEBANON, OH -- Ohio Sen. Rob Portman said Monday he has "no idea" whether Mitt Romney has chosen a running mate, a decision that could come this week before the presumptive Republican presidential nominee takes his campaign overseas.

Portman spoke to supporters and media at the Romney Victory Office here ahead of President Obama's campaign stop in Cincinnati today. It is the second time in the past three days the Ohio senator has campaigned for Romney in the southwest corner of his home state, an area that will be pivotal in deciding whether the Buckeye State goes for Romney or Obama this fall.

Despite his continuing role as a high profile surrogate for the campaign, he has remained mum on any speculation about the prospects of him taking on a bigger role as running mate.

A report from The New York Times this morning suggested that the former Massachusetts governor may have already chosen his No. 2, but senior Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom has since told reporters that no decision has been made.  But -- just to keep the VP buzz at a heightened alert -- Ferhnstrom told the Associated Press, "Technically it could, but the governor hasn't made a decision. It will only happen after he makes a decision."

Near the top of almost every list of possible running mates is Portman, whose deployment today to bracket the president is another sign of the high esteem with which he is held by the Romney.  But the first-term senator again declined to divulge any information about his VP prospects, and if he's the guy, he doesn't know it yet.

"I have no idea," Portman told reporters when asked if he thought Romney had made a decision. "I also have to add that people vote for the presidential candidate, not the VP," he said.

Portman's deployment in Ohio in recent days has focused on refuting the negative ads running against Romney in a state that is more saturated with political ads than nearly anywhere else in the country.  "He's attacking Mitt Romney on a personal basis," he said of the president. "Why? Because he doesn't want to talk about his record."

Portman, who held today's event adjacent to The Golden Lamb, a hotel and restaurant owned by his family that is the longest continuously running business in the state, has sought to portray Obama as out of touch with small business owners. 

"He's in Cincinnati today, I'm glad he's coming to Ohio.  I really am. I hope he'll go on the shop floor and talk to some workers in the greater Cincinnati area. I hope he'll come out to Warren County and talk to some small business owners," he said. "But if he does that, you know what he's going to find, he's going to find the private sector is not doing just fine."

It is going to be a busy week in the state. On Wednesday, Romney will hold fundraisers in the state and a rally in Bowling Green, OH. On Wednesday, former Florida governor Jeb Bush will be here to fundraise for Romney. But with the Senate in session, it is unlikely Portman and Romney will be together again until after Romney gets back from his overseas trip.

The amount of attention Portman's home state will get between now and the election is an advantage that has helped lift him to the top of VP list. It is something that is not lost on him.

"Southwest Ohio is incredibly important, we're going to be in the middle of it again...given where we are as a country, the direction we're heading, for our kids,for our communities and for our country, we have got to have a change," Portman said. "And that's where Warren County, greater Cincinnati, southwest Ohio, are going to play a key role."  

Updated 3:53 p.m. - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has joined forces with the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) to launch a fundraising committee aimed at helping to pay off the millions of debt owed by his erstwhile presidential campaign while also helping active GOP candidates for Congress.

A committee, "Solutions Start in the House," registered with the Federal Election Commission at the end of May. Proceeds from the joint committee are split between Newt 2012 and the NRCC. The next fundraising stop for the committee is coming up in Nevada.

"The goal of this venture is to raise money for candidates running for the House but also to  pay down our own debt," Gingrich spokesman, RC Hammond, told NBC News. "We want to pay off the debt off as fast as possible but we are realistic that it will take a few years to pay down the debt."

After Gingrich withdrew from the presidential race in early May, FEC reports showed he was nearly $4.8 million in debt. As of last month, the campaign still owed slightly more than $4.7 million.

Hammond says this partnership with the NRCC is just one of the avenues Newt 2012 is using to pay off the debt. Gingrich has also been traveling to various states to host small luncheons and receptions on his own to raise money and the campaign has been renting their email and mail lists in addition to Solutions Start in the House.

Presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney has not directly helped Gingrich pay off any debt but the former speaker has attended at least two known fundraisers with Romney in Georgia and Nevada that could have brought new funds to Newt 2012.

According to a source close to many of the creditors, the campaign set up long term deals with many companies owed money back in May that they would make monthly payments. The payments came for the month of June, the source says, but not for July.

There is still a long way to go, Hammond admitted, but said they were trying to be "proactive." Creating this group with the NRCC, fell in line with Gingrich's desire to help create a conservative platform for the GOP ticket and encourage a greater majority in the House of Representatives.

Adding to his visibility, the former Speaker will also appear on The Tonight Show this Wednesday.

Mitt Romney’s campaign had a heavy presence this weekend in Nebraska to help ensure that Texas Rep. Ron Paul would not have the chance to have his name put forward as a potential GOP presidential nominee at next month’s convention in Tampa.

At least five staffers, including campaign lawyer Ben Ginsberg, attended the Nebraska state convention this weekend, where the state’s Republicans were formally selecting delegates to send to Florida. Paul needed to win a majority of the delegates in Nebraska to add to the four other states he had won, and meet the five-state threshold he needed to at least maintain his longshot bid for the Republican nomination.

When all the votes were counted, the Texas congressman only won two of Nebraska’s 35 national slots – despite rallying supporters the night before on a conference call. 

Nebraska Republican Gov. Dave Heineman did not attend the convention, but reportedly “worked actively behind the scenes to personally contact Nebraska Republicans who made the delegate selections.” As the first Republican governor to endorse Romney, Heineman wanted to avoid embarrassment and deliver his home state.

“We had a primary process,” Heineman said. “Mitt Romney won that and Ron Paul didn’t win a single state. I wanted Nebraska to reflect that.”

State party officials had security concerns due to the intense interest of Paul supporters after being warned by Republicans in other states their event may encounter “significant disturbances.” They initially planned to hire additional security guards to patrol the convention, but the idea was withdrawn days later and the convention concluded at the Riverside Golf Club in Grand Island with no major problems.

“We did it the Nebraska way. In Nebraska, we can have our disagreements but, at the end of the day, we work together,” state GOP chair Mark Fahleson told the Omaha World Herald.

Paul revealed that his staff has spoken indirectly with the Romney campaign about the national convention and described their organization as “very insecure.”

“They want to build a party and they preach this thing about big tent -- it's not like I'm preaching socialism,” Paul said Friday on Fox News, addressing fears over his presence in Tampa. “I am … for doing exactly what Republicans claim they believe in. So it is sort of ironic. … Why can’t we have a little debate?”

The Paul campaign claims to have 500 supporters as delegates – most bound by state party rules to vote in favor of Mitt Romney for president – and on Friday, the leader of this movement hinted at the influence they can have on nominations for vice president.

“The rules dictate who gets to be nominated … not only for a president, but for vice president as well,” Paul declared.

RNC Rule 40 (b) states that “each candidate for nomination for President of the United States and Vice President of the United States shall demonstrate the support of a plurality of the delegates from each of five (5) or more states, severally, prior to the presentation of the name of that candidate for nomination.”

The Paul campaign believes they have a plurality of delegates in at least nine states and are also represented in non-Romney slates of delegates from other states headed to the national convention. These activists originally supported someone other than Romney during the primaries and aren’t bound by state party rules to vote for the former Bain executive’s vice presidential pick,  which could present a challenge to Romney during the symbolic procedure of officially endorsing the nominee’s pick for vice president. 

Time for veepstakes watch… Our 3 veepstakes questions: 1) Does Romney play it safe or go bold?… 2) Does he select an insider or outsider?... 3) And when does he make his pick? Soon or next month? … The Romney-Bain story continues, while the Obama-Romney campaign takes an increasingly negative turn… Does the Romney camp really not have a problem with those Ralph Lauren Olympic uniforms being made in China?... On the trail: Obama holds a town hall in Cincinnati at 2:20 pm ET, while Romney raises money in Baton Rouge, LA and Jackson, MS… And profiling Rob Portman.

Evan Vucci / AP

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney gestures during a speech to the NAACP annual convention, Wednesday, July 11, 2012, in Houston, Texas.

*** Veepstakes watch: As soon as this week and as late as the middle of next month, Mitt Romney will announce the selection of his vice-presidential running mate. And this week, there’s a flurry of activity by Romney’s potential VP picks. Today, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman will bracket President Obama’s visit to Cincinnati with his own event and media availability in Lebanon, OH around noon ET. Also today, Romney attends a fundraiser with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal at 12:15 pm ET. And on Tuesday and Wednesday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie headlines two other fundraisers for the presumptive GOP presidential nominee -- in Atlanta and DC. Over the next two weeks, we’ll be taking an in-depth look at the strengths and weaknesses of Romney’s top potential VP picks. Today’s profile: Portman (which is below).

Related: Handicapping a potential veep shortlist

*** Three veepstakes questions: With veepstakes watch well underway, there are three key questions we have. First, unlike John McCain four years ago, does Romney play it safe (picking  someone like Portman, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, or even Jindal), or does he go for a bold pick (Christie, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, or someone not on anyone’s radar screen)? Second, does he select a DC insider (a la Portman or South Dakota Sen. John Thune), or does he go with a relative outsider (like Pawlenty or Jindal). And third, when does Romney make his pick -- as soon as this week (to change the subject away from Bain and Romney’s taxes, and to have a surrogate ready to go when Romney heads abroad), or after Romney’s overseas trip (to build anticipation before the convention)? There are a couple of signs that the pick MIGHT NOT be announced this week. For starters, the campaign announced a contest last Thursday to meet with Romney and his eventual choice “every week until the VP announcement is made,” which implies this contest will last for more than a week. Also, Romney’s schedule this week (a rally in Pennsylvania on Tuesday and a town hall in Bowling Green, OH isn’t typical of a vice-presidential rollout.

*** When did Romney really leave Bain? So what did we learn from Romney's five Friday interviews on Bain Capital? In a Clintonian way, it all comes down to what the meaning of “ongoing activity” is. "In February of 1999, I left Bain Capital and left all management authority and responsibility for the firm. I had no ongoing activity or involvement in the affairs of Bain Capital because I went out to run the Olympics," he told NBC’s Peter Alexander, despite evidence that Romney hadn’t entirely severed his ties to the company. And it also comes down to what “retired retroactively” means. “He actually retired retroactively at that point, David, because he ended up not going back to the firm,” Romney senior adviser Ed Gillespie said on “Meet the Press” yesterday, even though Romney earned at least $100,000 as a Bain “executive” in 2001 and 2002. (A campaign official says that payment was part of his retirement compensation agreement.) And Romney made it crystal clear in his interviews that he WON’T release his tax returns prior to 2010-2011. “I understand that the opposition research people at the Obama campaign want more information that they can dig through,” he said in his interview with NBC’s Alexander. “You know what? I’ve put out as much as we’re gonna put out once I’ve added this year, and that’s the information that gives people more information than what is required by law."

*** More unanswered questions: As a matter of standard PR practice, you give interviews like Romney did on Friday to answer every question and angle -- so you can put the story behind you. But for the Romney campaign, Friday’s interviews only raised more questions. For instance: Why did a Bain press release, in July ’99 (so after that Feb. ’99 date) describe Romney as the “Bain Capital CEO” who was on “a part-time leave,” and why did it include a quote from him? Also: If he had no “ongoing activity at Bain,” why did he travel back to Boston, per 2002 testimony, to sit on the board of Lifelike Co (a Bain investment at the time) and remain on the board of Staples (another Bain investment)? And if he ceded day-to-day management of Bain, did he disagree with any of the company’s decisions or investments? If so, which ones? The problem for the Romney campaign is that any new revelation of some kind of tie between Romney and Bain -- whether another press release, another SEC document, etc. -- will only further this story.

*** The campaign takes an increasingly negative turn: The back-and-forth over Bain has only highlighted the increasingly negative tone in the presidential contest. Over the weekend, the Obama campaign went up with arguably its hardest-hitting TV ad of the campaign season, which repeated its charges of outsourcing and Romney’s Swiss bank account as Romney sings “America the Beautiful.” The Romney camp fired back with its third TV advertisement in a week accusing Obama of running negative ads. (But as we wrote last week, if you’re accusing someone of running a negative campaign, it often means those attacks are working.) And today, while Obama campaigns in Cincinnati, he “will highlight a new report that estimates Mitt Romney's support for eliminating U.S. taxes on American companies' foreign incomes would create 800,000 jobs in other countries, including 73,000 jobs in China,” per the campaign. For Team Romney’s part, it’s up with a new web video charging that Obama is helping his donor friends (and it plays Obama signing “Let’s stay together”).

*** Ralph Lauren’s outsourcing to China: Here’s one more point we want to make about the presidential contest, especially when it comes to the issue of outsourcing: On “Meet” yesterday, Ed Gillespie wouldn’t say if Romney believes it’s improper for the Ralph Lauren Olympic uniforms to be made in China. “I think what he said was that, you know, we shouldn’t politicize the Olympics and that, you know, this is an American company that contracted out,” Gillespie told NBC’s David Gregory. “And the fact is, again, we need to make investment here in the United States more attractive, and make manufacturing in the United States more attractive.” So it’s OK for the Romney camp if a company outsources its work -- for the Olympic Games no less -- to China? This answer (or non-answer) only plays into the outsourcing narrative that the Obama campaign wants to highlight.

*** On the trail: As mentioned above, President Obama holds a town hall in Cincinnati, OH at 2:20 pm ET… Mitt Romney, meanwhile, raises money in Baton Rouge, LA and Jackson, MS.

*** Senate Dems play hardball on Bush tax cuts: The Washington Post reports that “Democrats are making increasingly explicit threats about their willingness to let nearly $600 billion worth of tax hikes and spending cuts take effect in January unless Republicans drop their opposition to higher taxes for the nation’s wealthiest households.” More: “In a speech Monday, Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), the Senate’s No. 4 Democrat and the leader of the caucus’s campaign arm, plans to make the clearest case yet for going over what some have called the ‘fiscal cliff.’” Murray is expected to say, per the Post: “If we can’t get a good deal, a balanced deal that calls on the wealthy to pay their fair share, then I will absolutely continue this debate into 2013.” A top Senate GOP communications aide emailed that story to reporters and asked: “Dems hold the economy hostage for tax hikes on small business?”

*** Rob Portman’s strengths and weaknesses: Here is the first in our series of strengths/weaknesses for Romney’s potential VP picks… STRENGTHS: Hails from the battleground of Ohio, which could very well decide the election… If you’re looking for the exact opposite of Palin, it might be Portman -- a former congressman, OMB director, and U.S. trade representative; has also been the go-to guy for GOP debate preparation, having played Obama (in 2008), John Edwards (in 2004), Hillary Clinton (in 2000), and Joe Lieberman (in 2000) in mock debates…With the number of conservatives urging a “boring” pick, Portman certainly fits that bill -- in the positive sense of the word. WEAKNESSES: Romney currently has no direct ties to the Bush legacy, but Portman could take that away (having not only worked for the George W. Bush administration, but also owing much of his career to the Bush family)... As Bush’s OMB director (from 2006-2007), Portman presided over a period of time when the federal government was running deficits… And he’s not even two years into his first term as U.S. senator.

Countdown to GOP convention: 42 days
Countdown to Dem convention: 49 days
Countdown to Election Day: 113 days

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*** Monday’s “Daily Rundown” line-up: Romney Campaign Communications Director Gail Gitcho… One of us (!!!) with today’s political news… Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) and Rep. Tim Griffin (R-AR) on the tax debate and threat of sequestration… More 2012 headlines with The Washington Post’s Dan Balz, AP’s Kasie Hunt and former RNC Chair Michael Steele.

*** Monday’s “Jansing & Co.” line-up: MSNBC’s Chris Jansing interviews Victoria DeFrancesco Soto/NBCLatino.com contributor, GOP strategist Rick Tyler, Bill Adair/Poltifact.com, Reid Wilson/National Journal and Susan Page/USA Today, Judith Brown Dianis/Advancement Project and NBC’s Domenico Montanaro.

*** Monday's “MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up:  MSNBC’S Thomas Roberts talks with DNC Chair, Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Fmr. OH Governor Ted Strickland, Hogan Gidley (Former Santorum Campaign), TheGrio.com Political Editor Perry Bacon and Newsweek/Daily Beast Special Correspondent Michael Tomasky.

*** Monday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki, former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, Romney adviser Vin Weber, Time magazine’s Joe Klein, former State Department advisor Aaron David Miller and NBC’s Peter Alexander.

*** Monday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: MSNBC’s Tamron Hall interviews The Hill’s A.B.Stoddard, Democratic strategist Mo Elleithee, GOP strategist Alice Stewart, and the Miami Herald’s Marc Caputo.

“President Obama’s reelection campaign continued to hammer Mitt Romney on Sunday on the length of his tenure at Bain Capital and his limited disclosure on tax returns, while Romney’s side called the Democrats’ attacks an attempt to distract voters from the weak economy,” the Boston Globe writes. “The Bain controversy ignited after the Globe reported Thursday that Securities and Exchange Commission filings and other documents from Massachusetts showed Romney remained the sole owner and chief executive of the private equity firm until 2002. Those filings appeared to conflict with statements the presumptive Republican presidential nominee made on his financial disclosure form submitted last month. On that form, Romney said that since Feb. 11, 1999 — the date he took charge of the Salt Lake City Olympics — he ‘has not had any active role with any Bain Capital entity and has not been involved in the operations of any Bain Capital entity in any way.’”

“About 89 percent of Obama’s ads in the 14-day period ended July 9 carried an anti-Romney message and 94 percent of Romney’s ads criticized Obama, according to New York-based Kantar Media’s CMAG, which tracks advertising. The Democratic president’s campaign ran more than twice as many negative spots as Romney during the period, 37,022 to 13,962, CMAG data show,” Bloomberg/BusinessWeek writes. “The negative ads underscore that Obama and Romney are sharpening their attacks 16 weeks before a Nov. 6 vote that national polls indicate will be close. Obama led Romney by 50 percent to 43 percent among registered voters in a survey taken June 28-July 9 by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.”

AP’s Benac: “While a lack of specifics is something that voters bemoan about their candidates every presidential election, the vagueness of the 2012 race is even more pronounced as both campaigns spend more time arguing about past issues like Obama's health care law and Romney's private sector experience than on what they'd do in the future if elected.”

“A yearlong stalemate between Florida and Washington ended Saturday when the federal government gave the state access to a federal citizenship database, which the state will use to resume an election-year purge of noncitizen voters,” the Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald writes. “After repeatedly refusing, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security agreed to open its database to the Department of State, which oversees Florida's voter registration system. The state will now cross-check the names of Florida voters against a federal citizenship database known as SAVE, or Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements. It wasn't clear why Homeland Security changed course, and the department had no comment Saturday. But the reversal comes after a federal judge in Florida refused to halt purge efforts.”

The paper called it a “victory for Republican Gov. Rick Scott, who has said the purge is necessary to guarantee fair elections. Democrats and voter advocacy groups have criticized Scott for the action, saying it is aimed at Democratic-leaning voters in an election year. Some groups filed lawsuits to block it.”

“After 18 months as governor, Rick Scott remains personally unpopular with a majority of Floridians, according to a new Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald/Bay News 9 poll,” Florida Today writes. “But despite voters’ displeasure with Scott, they strongly support his efforts to rid Florida’s voter rolls of non-citizens in this presidential election year.”

The Mason-Dixon poll found Scott with just a 40%/51% approval rating, and just a 29%/37% fav/unfav.