White House refuses to back Reid’s tax attack

Jay Carney won’t join Reid’s tax attack against Romney, Mica cries foul over an Adams ad, and first lady Michelle Obama will sit down with Jay Leno.

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WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED:

*White House press secretary Jay Carney refused to line up behind Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s claim that Mitt Romney hadn’t paid taxes for 10 years, saying “only Sen. Reid knows his source.” But House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is vouching for Reid, saying the Nevada Democrat “made a statement that is true.” Reid is still not backing down from his claim and Republicans are trying to link David Axelrod to the story.

*Romney’s presidential campaign officially announced a four-day bus tour he will take through Virginia, North Carolina, Florida and Ohio from Aug. 11-14. But the Romney camp did not provide any specifics beyond the dates of the trip and states to which he is traveling. The tour could be used by Romney to roll out his VP running mate choice.

*Following a shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, the Romney campaign is suspending events in the state and the Republican National Committee and the pro-Romney super PAC Restore Our Future have pulled their ads from the air.

 *In Florida, Republican Rep. John Mica's campaign is urging TV stations to pull an ad from fellow Republican Rep. Sandy Adams that it says runs afoul of House ethics rules barring recordings of floor proceedings from being used for political purposes. Mica and Adams will face off in one of August's five member-versus-member primaries.

 *Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's first trip to Malawi wrapped up on a rough note when a swarm of bees encountered Clinton and her team at the airport. "People could be seen running away to keep cover as the Secretary of State swiftly boarded her plane to avoid any stings,” an eyewitness told the Nyasa Times.

WHAT YOU SHOULDN’T MISS:

*First lady Michelle Obama will make her third appearance on the "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on Monday, Aug. 13, to talk about life in the White House and what it was like to lead the U.S. Olympic delegation.

*Gallup finds that 92 percent of voters who say they voted for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in 2008 are backing Romney while 86 percent of voters who say they voted for President Obama in 2008 are supporting the Democrat once again. Obama voters are switching over to the other side at nearly twice the rate of McCain voters, but for the most part, voters are staying loyal to their 2008 party preferences.

*Obama will raise money in Connecticut this evening with movie producer Harvey Weinstein and his wife, fashion designer Georgina Chapman, at an event where guests are paying $38,500 apiece.

 *Michigan Republican Senate candidate Clark Durant is getting some eleventh-hour help from former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who endorsed him today. But it might be too little too late for Durant, who is trying to upset former congressman Pete Hoekstra on Tuesday. Huckabee previously backed Gary Glenn, who is no longer in the race.

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