Campaign Finance/Fair Elections
Southington Patch: John Larson: "Put elections back in the hands of ordinary Americans"
Coverage of last night's townhall with Rep. John Larson and Nick Nyahrt in West Hartford. Nick: "What would it take to go from ‘money to many? What would it take to give Americans their elections back?” CT News Junkie.

Congress/2012
MSNBC: Key figures in Abramoff scandals are back "in the middle of American politics"
Rachel Maddow looks at Abramoff scandals like Ralph Reed and how they are back in the game.

National Journal: Obama raises money with Michael Jordan and other court stars
"The Obama campaign announced its latest fundraising contest on Tuesday: a chance to play basketball with Michael Jordan and other legends."

AP: Obama holds private DC fundraiser
Last night in DC: "The Obama campaign says the fundraiser at the W Hotel is with about 20 supporters paying $40,000 a person to attend. The campaign said the president was also giving a campaign update to 25 supporters before the fundraiser."

Mother Jones: How secret foreign money could infiltrate US elections
"These outfits, organized under the 501(c) section of the US tax code, can take money from foreign citizens, foreign labor unions, and foreign corporations, and they don't have to tell voters about it because they don't publicly disclose their donors. What's more, with a savvy attorney and a clean paper trail, a foreign donor could pump millions into a nonprofit without even the nonprofit knowing the money's true origin."

Source 2012: Obama pushes small dollar donors
Obama really pushing small dollar donors in his fight with Romney. Even sent an image that compares one Sheldon Adelson to 188k small donors.

Des Moines Register: To protesters, Mitt Romney's country club fundraiser is symbolic of his political priorities
"For the demonstrators lined up on Mills Civic Parkway on Tuesday afternoon, Mitt Romney’s high-dollar fundraiser at the country club behind the gates encapsulated his entire campaign."

Politico: Rob Portman to deliver $500 for Mitt Romney
"The Ohio Republican, a top vice presidential contender, headlined two Buckeye State fundraisers that were expected to pull in more than $500,000 for Romney Victory." RPM Manufacaturing, where one of the fundraisers was held, received that awful stimulus money.

Huffington Post: "Koch Brothers fire back at Zack Galafianakis" is definitely not a headline I ever imagined writing
In the new movie, The Campaign, there is a pair of wealthy political donors called "The Motch Brothers," which Galafianakis said was about the Koch brothers. And Charles and David are not happy.

NYT: The ungrateful president
Maureen Dowd column on Obama and being aloof, etc. "Stories abound of big donors who stopped giving as much or working as hard because Obama never reached out, either with a Clinton-esque warm bath of attention or Romney-esque weekend love fests and Israeli-style jaunts; of celebrities who gave concerts for his campaigns and never received thank-you notes..."

WaPo: Mitt Romney's money edge--and whether it matters
"Add to those numbers the fact that, as of mid-July, Republican super PACs and other conservative aligned outside groups were outspending their Democratic counterparts by a seven-to-one margin on the TV airwaves in swing states, and you are left with a simple, inescapable conclusion: The President of the United States is likely to be heavily outspent in the final three months of this campaign."

Politico: Pro Bono-Mack super PAC forms in California
"A group of Republicans has formed a super PAC to support California Rep. Mary Bono Mack, the wife of Florida Senate hopeful Rep. Connie Mack, officials with the new entity told POLITICO." The adviser to that PAC is business partners with the PAC helping to elect her husband, Rep. Connie Mack, to Florida Senate.

iWatch: Outside groups spend $2.2 million in Missouri Senate race
Ahead of last night's primary in Missorui: "Super PACs and nonprofits have spent more than $2.2 million in the race for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate in Missouri, with nearly 90 percent of the total going toward negative ads, according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis."

Buzzfeed: Rob Portman was registered foreign agent for Haitian dictator
VP hopeful Rob Portman was a registered foreign agent in the 80s for Baby Doc while working as a lobbyist for Patton Boggs.

CRP: Washington Influence Olympics: The 4x400 relay
"Instead of having K Street's top lobbyists compete against one another, OpenSecrets Blog constructed the ultimate lobbyist relay team based on each lobbyist's total number of clients this year."

US News: Karl Rove group uses typo to skirt FEC disclosure law
"Crossroads GPS, Karl Rove's powerful outside spending group, is banking that a typo on the Federal Election Commission's website will allow it to spend anonymously for a few extra days without reprisal."

Roll Call: RNC spends $17 million on TV since mid July
"The Republican National Committee over the weekend reported spending another $3.8 million on independent expenditure television advertising to bolster Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, bringing its total to more than $17 million in less than a month."

Politico: Bachus considering Volcher alternatives
"House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus is considering introducing legislation to make changes to the controversial Wall Street trading crackdown, known as the 'Volcker rule,' and is solicitingfeedback on what would be a less “burdensome” alternative to a proposal released by financial regulators last year."

Washington Examiner: Obama, DNC, Arkansas' Griffin got cash from bank that did business with Iran
"Officials with the British bank that has been accused of doing $250 billion in business with banks in Iran gave more than $80,000 to American political figures in recent years. "

Other/States
Buzzfeed: Commission: Only Ohio distinguishes Ohio, other voters
"Despite claims that Democrats' challenge to an Ohio voting law would undermine military voters' rights everywhere, no other states offer soldiers' the special status afforded in Ohio."

Huffington Post: Pennsylvania voter ID law hits Philadelphia blacks, Latinos harder
"A Pennsylvania law that would turn away voters who don't have a valid photo ID would disproportionately suppress voting in Philadelphia's minority neighborhoods, according to a new study."