Obama to rally supporters at Iowa fairgrounds where Romney defended corporations

NEWTON, Iowa — President Obama will appear Thursday evening at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, site of one of Mitt Romney’s more ignominious moments, to rally Democratic supporters in a key swing state.

At the campaign rally in Des Moines, Obama is expected to keep up attacks on the presumptive Republican nominee’s experience as the head of Bain Capital, a private equity firm, as the president seeks to paint Romney as out of touch with the middle class.

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Ron Paul supporters roil Clark County, Nevada, GOP

Five top members of the Clark County, Nev., Republican Party have resigned in an apparent dispute with supporters of Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas).

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas). (Laura Segall — Getty Images)

Chairman Dave Gibbs, Vice Chairman Woody Stroupe, Precinct Organization Administrator Matthew Yarbrough, Communications Director Bobbie Haseley and Media Relations Director Michael Chamberlain announced their resignations at a special Wednesday night meeting of the county GOP executive board.

The resignations were confirmed by Cindy Lake, the former county party secretary who has been tapped to serve as acting chairwoman. The departure of the five officials follows the resignation several weeks ago of Coalition Director Mitch Cain, according to Lake.

That leaves only two of the county GOP’s seven executive board officers — Treasurer Linda Bronstein and Political Director Frank Ricotta — remaining in their positions.

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Hecklers mar Romney’s visit to inner-city charter school in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA – When Mitt Romney came to an inner-city charter school here Thursday to promote his new education agenda, he received something of a history lecture about the persecution of blacks in America and the struggles of African American children to meet the academic achievements of their white counterparts.

Seeking to broaden his appeal heading into the general election, Romney was venturing for his first time in this campaign into an impoverished black neighborhood to hear the concerns of local educators and community leaders. But here in the streets of West Philadelphia, the emotion surrounding his contest with the nation’s first black president was raw, as dozens of neighborhood residents shouted, “Get out, Romney, get out!”

Romney arrived at Universal Bluford Charter School aboard his logo-emblazoned campaign bus and began his morning visit by meeting school and civic leaders at a formal roundtable session. “I come to learn, obviously, from people who are having experiences that are unique and instructive,” he said.

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Marco Rubio: ‘Historic’ reasons for Obama’s wide lead among Hispanics

Asked about recent polls showing President Obama with as much as a 45-percentage-point lead over Mitt Romney among Hispanics, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Thursday morning that Democrats’ advantage is due largely to “historic factors.”

“It seems as if the Republican Party, since George Bush got 40 percent when he first ran, has been losing the Hispanic vote. Why?” asked Fox News Channel host Brian Kilmeade.

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Ron Barber, former Giffords aide, wouldn’t say in debate whether he would vote for Obama

This story has been updated

Ron Barber, the former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) staffer who is now running to succeed his old boss in Congress, declined to say Wednesday night whether he plans to vote for President Obama in the fall.

In a 75-minute debate ahead of the June 12 special election to fill out the remainder of Giffords’s term, Barber was asked by Republican Jesse Kelly how he planned to cast his ballot in November.

After a three-second pause, Barber responded: “My vote is my vote, Mr. Kelly, as yours is, too. And I will not be talking about other elections. I’m focused on beating you on June 12.”

Jessica Schultz, a spokeswoman for Barber, said in a statement Thursday that Barber does, in fact, plan to vote for Obama in the fall.

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Romney touting education plan in Philadelphia; Obama to Iowa | Campaign schedules

Mitt Romney will continue to push his education agenda with a visit to a charter school in Philadelphia on Thursday after announcing his support for vouchers and naming his education policy advisers earlier this week.
U.S. Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney makes a point about children's education at the Annual Economic Summit at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington on May 23. (Larry Downing - Reuters)

And President Obama has one more campaign event in California on Thursday before he heads to the swing state of Iowa, where he’ll tour a wind turbine blade manufacturer and deliver remarks there on his “To Do List” for Congress.

Here’s a look at what is happening with each candidate and their campaigns Wednesday, courtesy of the White House press office and the PBS News Hour Political Calendar.

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Colin Powell criticizes Romney on foreign policy; says he has ‘no problem’ with gay marriage

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell on Wednesday criticized Mitt Romney’s foreign policy stance, particularly when it comes to the presumptive GOP nominee’s statement earlier this year that Russia is the “number one geopolitical foe” of the United States.

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In an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Powell -- who backed President Obama in 2008 but has yet to endorse him this time around – was asked about Romney’s foreign policy advisers.

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Romney address to Latinos comes as campaign works to make up ground with key constituency

Mitt Romney’s address Wednesday to the Latino Coalition’s Small Business Summit Luncheon in Washington comes as polls show the presumptive GOP nominee lagging behind President Obama among Hispanic voters – and as Obama’s Spanish-language outreach effort continues to outpace his rival’s.

File photo: Republican candidate for U.S. president and former Gov. Mitt Romney (R) greets guests at a campaign appearance at Conchita Foods Inc. in Miami, Florida November 29, 2011. (JOE SKIPPER - REUTERS)

Recent Washington Post-ABC News polling shows Obama leading Romney 71 percent to 27 percent among Hispanic voters. And a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released Wednesday shows Obama with a 35-percentage-point lead over Romney among Hispanics.

While Romney aired Spanish-language ads during the GOP primary campaign, he has released only one Spanish-language general-election TV ad so far – “Día Uno,” a direct translation of his English-language “Day One” ad. According to NBC News, the ad was part of an initial $3,000 buy in the Raleigh, N.C., media market.

The Obama campaign, by contrast, has spent an estimated $1 million on Spanish-language TV ads to date, Reuters reports. The campaign doesn’t confirm the amount, but says the latest buy is “substantial.” Its second round of Spanish-language ads, which are health-care themed, went up earlier this month in the battleground states of Nevada, Colorado and Florida. Its Spanish-language ads started on April 17.

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Romney accuses Obama of waging a ‘war on job creators’

Mitt Romney strongly defended his work at the private equity firm Bain Capital on Wednesday, accusing President Obama of waging a “war on job creators.”

Facing a wave of withering attacks from Obama and his allies over massive job losses at companies controlled by Bain Capital under his watch, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate lashed back for the first time this week in a speech in Washington and an interview with Time magazine.

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