The Romney-Ryan campaign moved quickly Sunday to distance the presumptive Republican ticket from a comment by Rep. Todd Akin, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Missouri, who said that when pregnancy results from rape, the law should punish the rapist and not the unborn child.

On the first day of a three-day bus tour of Iowa, President Barack Obama blamed Mitt Romney's new running mate for blocking a federal farm bill in the House and promised farmers $170 million in government meat and poultry purchases to offset the devastating drought that has resulted in crop failures and higher grain prices through much of the Midwest.

Even as he campaigned with his designated running mate over the weekend, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was careful to avoid embracing as his own the controversial budget Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) steered through the House of Representatives this year.

No sooner had Mitt Romney's choice of Paul Ryan as his running mate become known than the world of punditry was abuzz with talk of "Ryanmania." Since mania is by definition an excessive or unreasonable enthusiasm, the label may be regarded as an understatement.

Missouri voters Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a "Right to Pray" amendment to the state's Constitution, which will almost surely be challenged in federal court. Amendment 2, approved by a vote of roughly 5 to 1, includes a provision that guarantees students the right to take part in prayer in public schools on a voluntary basis.

A conservative coalition led by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback routed moderate incumbents in Kansas GOP Senate primary races August 7, giving the Topeka State House a strong rightward tilt in one of the nation’s most solidly Republican states. 

Mitt Romney's decision to steer clear of the controversy over Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy's defense of traditional marriage could cost the Republican presidential candidate votes of social conservatives needed to win the White House, William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Liberties, said.

Even as his former Republican campaign rivals Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum and 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin were making pilgrimages to Chick-fil-A restaurants to show their support for company president Dan Cathy, Mitt Romney was carefully keeping his distance from the controversy over Cathy’s statements in opposition to same-sex marriage.

Even as Republicans campaign in this year's election on a promise to repeal President Obama's signature health care program, the party's leadership in the House appears ready to continue funding for ObamaCare and its controversial mandate that employers include coverage for contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs in health care plans for their employees.

The air war over this year's presidential election grew more intense Sunday as Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus went on ABC's This Week program and called Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) a "dirty liar" in the ongoing battle over Republican candidate Mitt Romney's tax returns.