Tuesday in politics: Romney in Pennsylvania, Obama in Texas, and more

By Phil Pruitt

July 17, 2012

Mitt Romney will campaign Tuesday in Pennsylvania, a 2012 battleground state, and President Barack Obama will be in Texas. Romney's primary mission is votes; Obama's is campaign cash.

Romney will try to shift attention away from his tenure at Bain Capital and his personal finances by taking aim at Obama's record, including charges of cronyism. Obama is certain to continue hammering on the Bain theme while raising money from gay, Latino and high-dollar donors.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gives his semiannual report on the economy to the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday and to the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday. What everybody will be listening for: Clues as to whether the Federal Reserve is going to take more steps to jump-start the U.S. economy.

Also worth noting on Tuesday. DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz will attend a "Chefs for Obama" fundraiser in Washington, D.C., and N.J. Gov. Chris Christie and Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal will attend a fundraiser in Atlanta for Romney.

And then there is this: Former Vice President Dick Cheney will be on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to meet with GOP House leaders about the impact of automatic spending cuts to defense programs, CNN reports.

Sources: Yahoo! News, Associated Press, CNN