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7) Newark Mayor Cory Booker, whose stock seems back on the rise after his surrogate stumbles, is now giving signals that he's interested in running for governor against Chris Christie, according to PolitickerNJ.com. The story reports Booker and his political consultant Mark Matzen are "meeting face-to-face with county chairs and making it known that Booker is weighing a run for governor and plans to decide by December," Booker is also slated to present the Democratic party's platform at the Democratic National Convention next month. Many Democratic insiders believed that Booker was more interested in the Senate seat currently held by Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg. The carefully-timed leak could be a sign that party leaders are looking for Booker to play a more partisan role than he's accustomed to, and counter Christie when he delivers the keynote address at the GOP Convention. 6) Even as embattled Missouri Senate nominee Todd Akin insists that he's staying in the race, it's not stopping other Republicans from spreading anonymous dirt about some of his potential replacements. Politico reports that the state GOP received an anonymous letter attacking Rep. Jo Ann Emerson's conservative credentials, and calling her a "RINO." Emerson's name had been floated as a potential Senate candidate early on, but expressed little interest. Her relatively moderate record would have made it awfully tough for her to win a primary. 5) Meanwhile, Akin's consultant Rex Elsass spoke to the Wall Street Journal, where he denied he pressured Akin to stay in the race and blamed the GOP establishment's discomfort with social conservatives as driving the pressure to push Akin out. "There are people at the highest level of this party who don't want social conservatism discussed in the primary or by the nominee," Elsass said. In other Akin news: The FBI and the Capitol Police are investigating threats made against Akin after his controversial comments about rape, USA Today reported. "Multiple people have threatened rape and harm against Akin, his staff, and family," one official source told a St. Louis TV station. 4) It never hurts to recycle: Majority PAC released a scathing ad in Florida, comparing GOP Senate nominee Connie Mack IV to Charlie Sheen. Titled "Tiger Blood," the ad brings up past bar brawls, debts and liens, lawsuits filed against him and a history of partying. If the ad sounds familiar, it's almost a carbon copy of the attacks ads that former GOP Sen. George LeMieux aired against Mack before dropping out of the primary. But LeMieux didn't have enough money to air them on television; they were only on the radio. 3) All steak, no sizzle: Romney told the Wall Street Journal that he "won't be part of the celebrity-style culture often favored by politicians." Despite pressure to be more revealing, he says he won't use his campaign as "a way to personalize me like I'm a piece of meat." The story reports that Romney refused to appear in Web video promoting his biography after he secured the nomination, even though his top staff recommended he do so. 2) President Obama turned down an offer from New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan to offer a benediction at the Democratic National Convention, the New York Post reports. He'll be delivering a prime-time invocation at the Republican National convention in Tampa. Obama and Dolan have clashed over the administration's health-care law requiring employers to provide abortion coverage. 1) Mitt Romney's convention reset: the GOP presidential nominee is out with an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, re-outlining his successes turning around business at Bain Capital. In it, he connects his lessons learned at Bain to his management of the Salt Lake City Olympics and as governor of Massachusetts. The kicker: "I know what it takes to turn around difficult situations. And I will put that experience to work, to get our economy back on track, create jobs, strengthen the middle class and lay the groundwork for America's increased competitiveness in the world." Meanwhile, Romney looks like he will be nominated early - on the Monday of the convention - to both prevent potential disruptions from supporters of Ron Paul and to accomplish the important task in case Hurricane Isaac disrupts the convention later in the week. And Politico reports that Ann Romney's highly-anticipated speech may occur Tuesday instead of Monday because the broadcast networks (NBC, ABC, CBS) aren't airing any prime-time convention coverage Monday.