Campaign Finance/Fair Elections
New Yorker: Judges for sale
Jeffrey Toobin on the new CAP report on spending in judicial elections.

NYT: Overt discrimination is in Ohio
County boards in Ohio are shortening voting hours in the cities that voted for Obama, but keeping them open longer in suburbs. "The sleazy politics behind the disparity is obvious."

Mother Jones: The reformers strike back
"Over the past year, campaign finance reformers—including Democracy 21 president Fred Wertheimer and Campaign Legal Center president (and Stephen Colbert's "personal lawyer") Trevor Potter—have notched several important wins. Don't call it a full-fledged comeback. But the reformers' recent victories signal that Bopp & Co.'s once-unstoppable momentum may finally be slowing."

Congress/2012
NYT: Ryan meets casino mogul and GOP donor
In a closed-press event yesterday, Paul Ryan met with casino mogul Shel Adelson. "But a closer connection with Mr. Adelson also holds risks for Mr. Ryan and the Republican ticket," says the Times due to the whole "possibly bribing foreign officials thing." PCAF's David Donnelly: "If a Vice President Paul Ryan receives calls from a billionaire casino mogul facing federal investigators and a senior citizen worried about what’ll happen to her Medicare, which call do you think he’ll take? You get one guess." Buzzfeed, Reuters, AP.

NaJo: Cardozo stepping down from House and into private sector
In what has to be a revolving door record, within hours of announcing he wouldn't finish his term, it was announced that Rep. Dennis Cardozo (D-Calif.) already has a gig lined up at a DC lobbying firm.

NYT: Utility's role in convention helps Obama
"The intersection of Duke Energy’s interests and its support for the convention is testing Mr. Obama’s pledge to free the party’s gathering from business and lobbyist support."

Politico: Tim Bishop's bar mitzvah episode could spell trouble
Did Tim Bishop solicit money after agreeing to help a man get fireworks approved for his son's bar mitzvah, or was it offered in thanks? "Bishop agreed to intercede. But before Bishop and his aides completed their work on his behalf, Semler received a request from the congressman’s campaign staff, according to documents obtained by POLITICO and multiple interviews: For a contribution of up to $10,000 to Bishop’s reelection campaign."

The Hill: Team Romney raises $7.4 million off Ryan pick
"Mitt Romney's campaign announced Tuesday that it had raised $7.4 million online in the three days since announcing Paul Ryan as the vice presidential pick, via more than 100,000 donations." Ok, but they raised $100 million in July, so this would mean their daily average is down.

Politico: Romney back to the Hamptons
"Two sources say Mitt Romney will be fundraising in the Hamptons again on Friday, including an event at the home of Blue Ridge hedge funder John Griffin."

WaPo: Paul Ryan one of top fundraisers in Congress
"Rep. Paul Ryan has become one of the top fundraisers in Congress in recent years, drawing on a growing national profile to amass more than $8 million for this year’s election through his campaign and political committee." And: "Executives and employees of major financial and insurance companies are Ryan’s biggest and most reliable sources of money."

Fiscal Times: Hedge fund managers bet on Ryan
"Some of the nation’s top hedge fund billionaires, including many of the same financiers who are playing a major behind-the-scenes role bankrolling Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney, helped finance Rep. Paul Ryan’s rise to prominence over the past two years."

CT News Junkie: Donovan concedes, calls for campaign finance reform
Chris Donovan, after conceding last night in the 5th district: "“This race brought Citizens United to our doorsteps. And mailboxes and TV sets and now Connecticut knows we need campaign finance reform at the federal level just like the law I passed at the state level.”"

Sunlight Foundation: Congressional rookies following the way of Washington
Great new series from Sunlight: "In 2010, voters were so determined to upset the Washington establishment that they elected a House of Representatives in which 20 percent of the faces were new. It was a political revolution. But nearly two years later, the 89 rookies elected in November, 2010—80 Republicans and nine Democrats—don’t look all that different from their more veteran colleagues."

ThinkProgress: McCain anti-sequestration tour partially funded by defense company PAC money
John McCain is on his anti-defense cuts tour, funded by his PAC, and as ThinkProgress notes, "Since the start of 2010, McCain’s campaign committee and leadership PAC have received more than $125,000 in combined contributions from defense contractors’ corporate PACs."

Roll Call: Tom DeLay registers to lobby on sex-trafficking issues
"Former Rep. Tom DeLay has officially made the jump to lobbyist. The Texas Republican in late July filed paperwork to lobby for Argus Global LLC on sex-trafficking issues, according to records tracked by the website Political MoneyLine."

PBS News Hour: Exploring the financing of campaign advertising
"Is a low-budget online video that names political candidates, states campaign issues and includes language that could sway opinion in an election, a political advertisement subject to donor disclosure laws, or is it an expression of free speech protected by the First Amendment? That depends on who you ask."