Romney opens up new line of attack against Obama

Romney lobs an “Obama-loney” attack against the president, Cardon goes dark in Arizona, and Quayle goes after a Schweikert’s mailer saying he “goes both ways.”

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WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED:

*In an interview with Fox News Channel, Mitt Romney lobbed a new attack at President Obama — “Obama-loney,” a term he used to describe what he says are untrue things the president has been saying about his record. In the interview, Romney didn’t shed any new light on where he is with regard to picking a running mate. “All I can tell you is that by the third night of the Republican Convention I will have made a decision and be ready to communicate it,” he said.

*The memo that is the basis of Romney’s new attack against Obama on the issue of welfare doesn’t completely back his campaign’s claim that the president gutted reforms put in place during the 1990s.

*Republican businessman Wil Cardon’s Arizona Senate campaign is going dark on the airwaves, just as the crucial early voting period has begun. Cardon’s campaign denies that he is winding down his campaign, but it is not an encouraging sign for him, especially with Republican Rep. Jeff Flake up with a seven-figure buy that runs through Election Day.

*Arizona Republican Rep. Ben Quayle’s campaign is decrying a mailer from his opponent, fellow Republican Rep. David Schweikert, that his camp says carries sexual connotations. The mailer says Quayle is someone who ”goes both ways.” Schweikert’s camp says the term refers to Quayle’s flip-flops on key issues.

*The super PAC associated with Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) is going up with a $100,000 TV ad buy for former congressman Mark Neumann’s Wisconsin Senate campaign. The ad argues that when Neumann was in Congress, he “took on Democrats and Republicans for spending too much.”

WHAT YOU SHOULDN’T MISS:

*Obama will campaign in Iowa next week from August 13-15. First Lady Michelle Obama will join the president on the last day of the trip. Obama’s trip overlaps with Romney’s August 11-14 bus tour, during which time he may announce a running mate.

*Former President Jimmy Carter will address the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte via video, and won’t attend the gathering in person. Bill Clinton is the only former president who will attend his party’s national convention this year.

*Massachusetts Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren’s campaign is backing away from her Monday suggestion that Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) should release 20 years worth of tax returns. Warren’s campaign says she misspoke, and was asked a question about Romney, who has been pressured by Democrats to release more of his own tax history.

THE FIX MIX:

Early in November.

With Aaron Blake and Rachel Weiner