Sarah Palin endorses Rep. Jeff Flake for Senate in Arizona

Sarah Palin makes a new pick, a Romney ad star got help from the government, Obama will visit Israel and a potential Tierney rival folds.

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WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED:

* Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin has endorsed Rep. Jeff Flake in the Arizona GOP Senate primary over businessman Wil Cardon, saying the lawmaker was “not afraid to ‘go rogue.’” Palin has endorsed a number of upstarts this cycle, but Cardon’s campaign called the endorsement “further proof of politicians rallying around their friend, career politician Jeff Flake.”

* The star of a recent Romney ad, who criticized President Obama for saying that businesses aren’t built alone, got some government help for his business in the 1980s. Jack Gilchrist’s Gilchrist Metal got $800,000 in tax-exempt revenue bonds from New Hampshire Business Finance Authority, the New Hampshire Union Leader reports. The company has also got some government contracts more recently. “As far as I’m concerned, I’m getting some of my tax money back,” Gilchrist told ABC News.

* If President Obama is reelected, he will likely visit Israel in his second term, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East,  Colin Kahl told reporters today. Campaign officials argued that Romney’s upcoming trip to Britain, England and Poland will be less substantive than the trip Obama took in 2008.

* Seth Moulton, a Marine veteran who was considering an independent bid against Rep. John Tierney (D), has decided not to run. Getting a campaign together was “too much to accomplish in three months,” he told Roll Call. That’s a relief for Tierney. But some Democrats fear the lawmaker will lose to Republican Richard Tisei — in part because of a gambling scandal — and were hoping for another candidate.

WHAT YOU SHOULDN’T MISS:

* The National Republican Congressional Committee outraised the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee last month, $7.2 million to $5.7 million. The House Republicans also have more cash on hand, $41 million to $33.2 million.

* The Club for Growth has upped its spending in the Texas GOP Senate runoff, adding $574,000 to its current buy. That means the group has spent $2.5 million in support of former solicitor general Ted Cruz, who faces Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst on July 31.

* Rep. Jim Renacci (R-Ohio) has returned $100,000 in questionable campaign cash. The FBI has been investigating whether the donations to Renacci were illegally funneled through a Canton-area businessman; Rep. Betty Sutton (D), who faces Renacci this fall, has been pressuring him to renounce the money.

* A change in the status of non-profit, tax-exempt political groups could, maybe, possibly be coming. An official with the Internal Revenue Service wrote a letter to public interest groups, saying ”We will consider proposed changes in this area.” A former official told Reuters that’s standard practice.. But it’s the first word back from the agency to groups pushing for the change, which would affect groups like Crossroads GPS.

THE FIX MIX:

We’re going to go out on a limb and say this is the strangest political music video ever.