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    #HashOut goes on location: What role should First Spouses play in the White House?

    While the heart of the action at the Republican National Convention is in downtown Tampa, Fla., I rest my head every night at the western edge of the region in Clearwater. The downside is that it's at the western edge of the region, adding a significant commute to the heart of hot gavel-on-gavel convention action. The upside is that I get to look out my window at the beach every morning. and I'm in the hotel with the New York GOP delegation.


    At the hotel bar Monday night I met Marilyn Miller, a Republican from Crown Heights, Brooklyn. She invited me and #TeamHashOut to Tuesday morning's delegation breakfast at the hotel's ballroom featuring former NY Sen. Al D'Amato.

    Basically what I'm saying is, with the team meeting me at my Clearwater hotel, I got to sleep in.

    We chatted with several delegates and guests including Rep. Steve King (R-NY), delegates from Long Island, and a man, Charles Wang, who has attended six political conventions in his life: three each for Democrats and Republicans.


    Unlike Monday's #HashOut question, which asked for five words people wanted to hear in Romney's acceptance speech, Tuesday's was simpler and less open-ended. We asked whether a president's spouse should have a formal policymaking role or keep his or her influence behind the scenes. Most people leaned toward the less formal role, including Rep. King, who suggested he wanted to limit his own responsibilities should he ever become a first spouse.

    Finally, today's best #HashOut response goes to Loren Spivak. He didn't have as much to say about the role of the first lady as he did about his parody book, The Cat and The Mitt.


    He's remade President Obama as the cat and Mitt Romney as the fish, and there's a Solyndra reference and I found it all a bit confusing but intriguing enough to give him $20 for a copy. See, I support small business owners!

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    • Tennis-McEnroe calls for Nadal to be seeded four at Wimbledon

      By Martyn Herman LONDON, June 18 (Reuters) - Wimbledon's seeding committee should use its power to promote 11-times grand slam champion Rafa Nadal into the top four, according to three-times former champion John McEnroe. Speaking the day before the seeds are announced for the grasscourt slam which starts on Monday, the American said it would be "totally wrong" if Nadal had to play world number one Novak Djokovic, defending champion Roger Federer or home favourite Andy Murray in the quarter-finals. ...

    • Duncan's 30 gives Spurs lead in Game 6

      MIAMI (AP) — Tim Duncan scored 30 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lift the San Antonio Spurs to a 75-65 lead over the Miami Heat after three quarters in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday night.

    • Man charged with tossing wife off cruise ship

      SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A California grand jury has indicted a Florida man on charges he strangled his ex-wife and tossed her off a cruise ship in Italy.

    • Kim and Kanye's Baby Name Is Not That Strange

      It's being reported that rapper Kanye West and his reality star girlfriend Kim Kardashian have named their brand-new baby, born this weekend, Kaidence Donda West. Donda was Kanye's late mother's name, so that makes sense, but, um, Kaidence? What's going on with Kaidence?

    • Bieber behind wheel as car hits man in Hollywood

      LOS ANGELES (AP) — Video shows Justin Bieber running into a photographer with his white Ferrari in Hollywood, but police say there was no crime and the injuries aren't life-threatening.

    • Miss Utah's Pageant Answer Is the Worst You've Ever Seen

      The only time normal people seem to care about national beauty pageants is when one of the contestants messes up the question-and-answer round in the worst way possible. Well, it happened again last night at the Miss USA pageant, with Miss Utah giving an answer so bad that it eclipsed all other terrible pageant answers before her. Meet 21-year-old Marissa Powell. She is from Salt Lake City. And this is the full, cringe-worthy sequence you will be seeing a lot of this week:

    • Suit: McDonald's wages put on costly debit card

      Would you like fees with that? A Pennsylvania woman has filed suit to avoid fees she may be charged to get her McDonald's wages from a debit card. Single mom Natalie Gunshannon has filed suit over bank ...

    • 3 charged with enslaving disabled Ohio mom, child

      ASHLAND, Ohio (AP) — A mentally disabled woman charged with shoplifting a candy bar asked to be jailed because three people "had been mean to her" — then went on to tell authorities about her time spent in unfathomably cruel servitude, along with her young daughter, at the hands of three people, authorities said Tuesday.

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