On the Trail: July 24

Romney heads to Europe; Obama refines his message.

Détente - After the July 20 shootings in Aurora, Colorado, both President Obama and Republican Mitt Romney took a time-out from the campaign trail and negative attacks on each other. "There are going to be other days for politics," the president said at what was to be a rally in Fort Myers, Florida. Speaking from New Hampshire, Romney agreed. By Monday, however, they began to renew their attacks on each other.  – Joyce Jones   (Photo: from left REUTERS /KEVIN LAMARQUE /LANDOV, Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

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Détente - After the July 20 shootings in Aurora, Colorado, both President Obama and Republican Mitt Romney took a time-out from the campaign trail and negative attacks on each other. "There are going to be other days for politics," the president said at what was to be a rally in Fort Myers, Florida. Speaking from New Hampshire, Romney agreed. By Monday, however, they began to renew their attacks on each other.  – Joyce Jones (Photo: from left REUTERS /KEVIN LAMARQUE /LANDOV, Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Back to Business - The kid gloves came off on Monday as Romney hammered Obama on the amount of time he's spent raising campaign dollars. "I guess in the last six months he's done 109 fundraisers. He found time for that. I'd suggest between the fundraisers, get together with the jobs council and learn from people who are working hard to create jobs," the Republican said at an event in Costa Mesa, California. (Photo: David McNew/Getty Images)

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Back to Business - The kid gloves came off on Monday as Romney hammered Obama on the amount of time he's spent raising campaign dollars. "I guess in the last six months he's done 109 fundraisers. He found time for that. I'd suggest between the fundraisers, get together with the jobs council and learn from people who are working hard to create jobs," the Republican said at an event in Costa Mesa, California. (Photo: David McNew/Getty Images)

Honoring Vets - Obama delivered an emotional speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars conference Monday in Reno, Nevada, in which he recognized four members of the military who were killed in Aurora. He also talked about the "heartbreaking" rate of military suicides and said, "If you're hurting, it's not a sign of weakness to seek help, it's a sign of strength."    (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

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Honoring Vets - Obama delivered an emotional speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars conference Monday in Reno, Nevada, in which he recognized four members of the military who were killed in Aurora. He also talked about the "heartbreaking" rate of military suicides and said, "If you're hurting, it's not a sign of weakness to seek help, it's a sign of strength." (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Romney Addresses Vets - Romney addressed the Veterans of Foreign Wars conference on July 24 and criticized national security leaks, accusing the Obama administration of using classified information for political gain, and also hit the president on pending defense cuts. "The president’s policies have made it harder to recover from the deepest recession in 70 years, exposed the military to cuts that no one can justify, compromised our national-security secrets, and in dealings with other nations, given trust where it is not earned, insult where it is not deserved and apology where it is not due," Romney said. (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

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Romney Addresses Vets - Romney addressed the Veterans of Foreign Wars conference on July 24 and criticized national security leaks, accusing the Obama administration of using classified information for political gain, and also hit the president on pending defense cuts. "The president’s policies have made it harder to recover from the deepest recession in 70 years, exposed the military to cuts that no one can justify, compromised our national-security secrets, and in dealings with other nations, given trust where it is not earned, insult where it is not deserved and apology where it is not due," Romney said. (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Battling for Votes - Republican Presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and his wife Ann Romney, scoop ice cream for people during a campaign event at the Milford Ice Cream Social on June 15, 2012 in Milford, New Hampshire. Mr. Romney is starting a five-day swing through battleground states as he battles President Barack Obama for votes. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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Battling for Votes - Republican Presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and his wife Ann Romney, scoop ice cream for people during a campaign event at the Milford Ice Cream Social on June 15, 2012 in Milford, New Hampshire. Mr. Romney is starting a five-day swing through battleground states as he battles President Barack Obama for votes. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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Ad Wars - The Ad Rating Project has found that an ad the Obama campaign produced of Romney singing "America the Beautiful" with a backdrop of negative headlines about his tenure as head of Bain Capital and Massachusetts governor may be working. After viewing the ad, a group of independent voters said their approval of Romney fell from 16 to 3 points and half also said they were "disgusted" by the ad's negativity.    (Photo: Courtesy of barackobama.com)

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Ad Wars - The Ad Rating Project has found that an ad the Obama campaign produced of Romney singing "America the Beautiful" with a backdrop of negative headlines about his tenure as head of Bain Capital and Massachusetts governor may be working. After viewing the ad, a group of independent voters said their approval of Romney fell from 16 to 3 points and half also said they were "disgusted" by the ad's negativity. (Photo: Courtesy of barackobama.com)

Shift in Course - The Obama campaign this week released a new ad that is a marked shift from recent harsh attacks, and simply lays out the differences between his solutions to fix the economy and his rival's. “Sometimes politics can seem very small. But the choice you face, it couldn’t be bigger," he says, sounding more like the 2008 candidate of hope and change.   (Photo: Courtesy of barackobama.com)

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Shift in Course - The Obama campaign this week released a new ad that is a marked shift from recent harsh attacks, and simply lays out the differences between his solutions to fix the economy and his rival's. “Sometimes politics can seem very small. But the choice you face, it couldn’t be bigger," he says, sounding more like the 2008 candidate of hope and change. (Photo: Courtesy of barackobama.com)

Twittergate - Romney's Twitter account has suddenly gained 75,000 new followers, which has led to accusations that the Republican is buying followers, which the campaign has denied. The spike was noticed by 140elect.com, a blog that monitors 2012 presidential election Twitter trends.   (Photo: Courtesy of Twitter)

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Twittergate - Romney's Twitter account has suddenly gained 75,000 new followers, which has led to accusations that the Republican is buying followers, which the campaign has denied. The spike was noticed by 140elect.com, a blog that monitors 2012 presidential election Twitter trends. (Photo: Courtesy of Twitter)

An American in London…Israel and Poland - Romney heads overseas this week to meet with leaders in London, Israel and Poland to "listen and learn" but not promote any policies. In London, he will attend the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics. A dressage horse owned by his wife Ann will be competing in the games.   (Photo: Amos BenGershom/GPO via Getty Images)

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An American in London…Israel and Poland - Romney heads overseas this week to meet with leaders in London, Israel and Poland to "listen and learn" but not promote any policies. In London, he will attend the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics. A dressage horse owned by his wife Ann will be competing in the games.  (Photo: Amos BenGershom/GPO via Getty Images)

All in the Game - HBO's The Wire is one of Obama's favorite television shows, and next month the cast will appear at a fundraiser for him. According to Sunlight Foundation's Party Time website, the event will take place on Aug. 15, not on the gritty streets of Baltimore, Maryland, where the series was filmed, but on the posh island Martha's Vineyard, and tickets cost $500 to $2,500. The president isn't scheduled to attend the event.  (Photo: Brad Barket/Getty Images)

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All in the Game - HBO's The Wire is one of Obama's favorite television shows, and next month the cast will appear at a fundraiser for him. According to Sunlight Foundation's Party Time website, the event will take place on Aug. 15, not on the gritty streets of Baltimore, Maryland, where the series was filmed, but on the posh island Martha's Vineyard, and tickets cost $500 to $2,500. The president isn't scheduled to attend the event. (Photo: Brad Barket/Getty Images)

Burn Notice - President Obama's reelection campaign is burning through money as fast as it can and outspending rival Mitt Romney by 2-1 on advertising, Bloomberg reports. The president ran 35,347 television ads in the two-week period ending July 16, compared to Romney's 15,946 spots.   (Photo: from left Courtesy of barackobama.com, courtesy of mittromney.com, courtesy of barackobama.com)

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Burn Notice - President Obama's reelection campaign is burning through money as fast as it can and outspending rival Mitt Romney by 2-1 on advertising, Bloomberg reports. The president ran 35,347 television ads in the two-week period ending July 16, compared to Romney's 15,946 spots. (Photo: from left Courtesy of barackobama.com, courtesy of mittromney.com, courtesy of barackobama.com)