Obama ad links Romney and Bush

Obama invokes W, Geoff Davis is resigning, someone told Harry Reid something about Mitt Romney and Steve LaTourette is tired of the partisanship.

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WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED:

* President Obama is out with a new ad, “Worried,” that suggests former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney will govern like George W. Bush. “You watched and worried,” the narrator says. “Two wars. Tax cuts for millionaires. Debt piled up. And now we face a choice. Mitt Romney’s plan. A new $250,000 tax cut for millionaires. Increase military spending. Adding trillions to the deficit. Or President Obama’s plan? A balanced approach. Four trillion in deficit reduction. Millionaires pay a little more.” The ad is airing in Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio and Florida.

* Rep. Geoff Davis (R-Ky.) has resigned. He was already planning to retire. “Recently, a family health issue has developed that will demand significantly more of my time to assist,” he said in a statement. “As a result, I cannot continue to effectively fulfill my obligations to both my office and my family. Family must and will come first.”

* Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (R-Nev.) claims a Bain investor told him that Romney didn’t pay taxes for ten years. “Now, do I know that that's true? Well, I'm not certain,” the Democrat admitted in a Huffington Post interview. “But obviously he can't release those tax returns.” Romney’s campaign has denied that the candidate ever paid no taxes.

* Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) and his wife, author Helen Thorpe, are separating after ten years of marriage. In a statement, the couple said that there was no affair, they did seek counseling, and that they still plan to spend vacations and holidays together. They have a ten-year-old son.

* Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio), one of the few moderates left in the House, explained today why he’s retiring. He said “the atmosphere” in the House “no longer encourages the finding of common ground” — in particular, he was “horribly disappointed” by the wrangling among Republicans over a highway funding bill.

WHAT YOU SHOULDN’T MISS:

* Romney’s campaign is planning a high-profile, four-day bus tour through Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, and Ohio starting Aug. 10 — possibly to introduce the party’s vice presidential candidate.

* Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) is out with a new ad defending his conservative bona fides against primary challenger Wil Cardon. “You know me, I’m a conservative,” he says, listing his many endorsements. “An Arizona conservative.” After the ad came out, the NRA joined in backing Flake. FEC reports suggests that Flake could run out of money trying to compete with the self-funding Cardon.

* Some colleagues may have turned on her. But Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) has plenty of supporters after accusing a State Department staffer of spying for the Muslim Brotherhood — she still raised $1 million in July. Minnesotans “know my time is genuinely focused on keeping America strong and growing.”

* Obama ponied up and donated $5,000 to his own campaign today. “[W]e have always believed that there’s nothing we can’t do when we all pitch in,” he said in an email. “That includes me.” The campaign released a web video of Obama making the donation online.

* Obama and Romney both released new mobile apps today. Romney’s app will let you know when he picks a running mate. Obama’s is an organizing tool that helps volunteers donate, find events and distribute news. But its biggest component is a new canvassing tool that allows supporters to access local voter data and start going door-to-door without ever visiting a campaign office.

* Poor Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.). A day after he came out with what is quite possibly the worst campaign ad of 2012, the Club for Growth is dinging him for another ad — this one defending earmarks funding armored vehicles. Club spokesman Barney Keller said the group was “disappointed” that Akin would “defend a policy that directly leads to more government and wasteful spending.”

THE FIX MIX:

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