In 2008, then-candidate Barack Obama traveled to Europe and was greeted by hundreds of thousands of supporters and excited foreign leaders at almost every stop along his tour. Pundits across the board labeled the trip a success for the campaign, so it’s understandable why, four years later, candidate Mitt Romney thought it would be a good idea to do an overseas trip of his own.

Things haven’t exactly gone according to plan, though. During his first stop in London, Romney enraged an entire country by questioning Great Britain’s readiness to host the olympics, which began the day he arrived. The notoriously merciless UK media flambéed Romney with big headlines and scathing editorials.

Romney then moved on to Israel, where he explained to a room full of wealthy donors why Palestinians were generally poorer than Israelis due to their inferior “culture.” Israeli and Arab press alike were incensed, calling the remark racist (a charge the Romney campaign vigorously denies.)

And then today in Poland, as reporters who had traveled a cumulative 10,000 miles with the campaign faced their sixth day without having an opportunity to ask a single question to the candidate, a Romney campaign spokesman told a restless gaggle to “kiss my ass” when they tried to shout their questions at Romney as he left Pilsudski Square in Warsaw.

In all, not Mitt Romney’s best week:

Congressman Richard Hanna (R-NY) is fed up with the GOP.

Hanna singled out Michele Bachmann’s “suggestion that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin be investigated to see if she has ties to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood” as an example of a party that has gone off the rails.

The Syaracuse Post-Standard has the story:

“I have to say that I’m frustrated by how much we — I mean the Republican Party — are willing to give deferential treatment to our extremes in this moment in history,” he told The Post-Standard editorial board.

…“We render ourselves incapable of governing when all we do is take severe sides…” he said. “If all people do is go down there and join a team, and the team is invested in winning and you have something that looks very similar to the shirts and the skins, there’s not a lot of value there.”

…“I would say that the friends I have in the Democratic Party I find … much more congenial — a little less anger,” he said.

BuzzFeed reports that Hanna is not alone and “moderate members of the House GOP conference feel that Boehner, who has struggled with an often raucous and openly defiant right wing, has forced them to go along with conservative demands but has provided them little in return.”

This isn’t the first time that Hanna, who was first elected to Congress in 2010, has been critical of the Republican party. At at women’s rights rally in March he advised the crowd to “contribute your money to people who speak out on your behalf, because the other side — my side — has a lot of it.”

A woman has not moderated a Presidential debate in 20 years. In fact, only one woman — Carole Simpson of ABC– has filled that position since the Commission on Presidential Debates started hosting the events in 1988.

Three teenagers from New Jersey are looking to change that. Emma Axelrod, 16, Sammi Siegel, 15, and Elena Tsemberis, 16, started a petition to the commission that picks moderators asking them to consider a woman for the post. That quickly grew to over 117,000 signatures, and another petition, directly to the candidates, garnered another 53,000.

The girls are excited about their success, and now they’re taking the petition where it counts –right to the commission that decides on a moderator. ThinkProgress got a chance to speak with Emma, Sammi, and Elena while they were on their way to Washington to drop off their petition and sit down with the commission.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length

What led you guys to start this petition?
SAMMI: It kind of started off in school. It was mentioned to us that there hasn’t been a female debate moderator in 20 years and we just thought it was absolutely ridiculous and we decided to jump on the opportunity and bring this to the public’s attention and write a petition.

Why do you think it’s important to have a woman moderate the debate?
ELENA: I think just seeing a woman on the political stage in a position of power and prominence is important. There is a serious lack of women’s visibility in society and it’s teaching teenage girls to believe that they are not as capable and not as worthy or valuable or intelligent as men and it can be detrimental for many girls growing up in America.

EMMA: Twenty years is four years’ longer than I have been alive. The debates are very important in deciding who is going to be the future leader of America, one of the most powerful nations on earth, and the fact that half of our population has been missing for 20 years that’s longer than a coincidence, that’s a trend.

SAMMI: In a world where these girls and boys are watching as two men run for the highest position of power in our country, there needs to be a woman thrown in the mix to provide as a role model for people who are inspired to be in positions of power in the political realm. Watching a woman asking her own questions in her own voice is really important.

How has the response been from the people signing it?
ELENA: The responses online for the petition have been mixed. A majority are positive but when we appear in articles online, some people comment on them ‘oh women are meant to stay at home and make dinner, what are you guys doing?’ just very gender-stereotypical comments that are discouraging.

EMMA: A lot of people who are supportive of what we’re doing are calling into question why we are starting with something so small, the big problem is there’s never been a woman president. But, this is a very doable thing. And if we achieve our goal it could have a big impact.

It’s not too late to sign Emma, Elena, and Sammi’s petition here.

Journalists following the Romney campaign on the road have voiced some gripes with how they are being treated. They have been asked to submit quotes for approval, barred from asking questions on the rope line, and were temporarily barred from entering a fundraiser to which they’d been promised entry (after media outrage, the campaign reversed its decision).

Now, Fox News’ conservative host Greta Van Susteren has joined the chorus of journalists complaining about treatment from the Romney campaign. As she follows the campaign through Poland today, Van Susteren posted to her blog saying that the press has had no access to the candidate, and that she feels like she is in a petting zoo:

There has been no press access to Governor Romney since we landed in Poland. We (press) are in a holding pattern (I can’t help but feel a bit like the press is a modified petting zoo since we are trapped in a bus while Polish citizens take pictures of us.) Under the headline “Governor Romney won’t like this” we saw a big sign in the crowd for Rep Ron Paul.

The Romney campaign has granted some interviews to journalists, including Van Susteren herself. But he has been much more secretive than predecessors, including Obama who, when traveling abroad, held two press conferences, two appearances on Sunday talk shows, and several television and in-person interviews.

Following a series of well-publicized gaffes in London, Mitt Romney’s campaign may be trying to restrict press access to the former Massachusetts governor as he travels to Israel, violating a pre-negotiated agreement.

Romney, who is flying with a group of reporters on his international trip, had agreed in April to allow limited media coverage of all finance events held in public spaces. But on Saturday, the campaign suddenly reneged on that deal and announced that a fundraiser with big-money American donors — including controversial casino magnet Sheldon Adelson — in Jerusalem’s King David Hotel would be “closed press“:

But Romney’s campaign announced Saturday that it would block the news media from covering the event, which will be held at the King David Hotel. The campaign’s decision to close the fundraiser to the press violates the ground rules it negotiated with news organizations in April, when Romney wrapped up the Republican nomination and began opening some of his finance events to the news media.

Under the agreement, a pool of wire, print and television reporters can cover every Romney fundraiser held in public venues, including hotels and country clubs. The campaign does not allow media coverage of fundraisers held in private residences.

Campaign spokesman Rick Gorka declined to explain the campaign’s decision to violate protocol with the Jerusalem event. Pressed repeatedly by reporters to offer an explanation, Gorka said only that the fundraiser was “closed press.”
“That’s all I’ve got for you — it’s closed press,” Gorka said.

Politico notes that Romney “allowed press into his London fundraiser Thursday night.”

Ohio Senate nominee Josh Mandel (R)

According to personal financial disclosure documents examined by ThinkProgress, Josh Mandel’s wife owns an undisclosed amount of ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury exchange-traded fund (ETF). This ETF aggressively “shorts” U.S. Treasury bills, meaning that it bets against U.S. debt and spikes when Treasury bill values drop. If a default were to occur, the desirability of Treasury bills would plummet and Mandel’s ETF would skyrocket in value.

That precise scenario could become more likely if Mandel wins his race against Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH). One of the top issues Mandel lists on his website is to “Stop increasing the debt ceiling.” Similarly, when Congress was embroiled in the debt ceiling fight last year, he stated that he “would have voted against the debt deal” that narrowly staved off a default.

Mandel and his wife’s personal financial disclosure form shows an investment of up to $1,001 in the Treasury-shorting ETF (highlighted in yellow):

In addition, it appears as though Mandel’s wife may own up to $15,000 in additional holdings that bet against U.S. Treasury bonds. As shown below, Mandel lists on page 18 ownership of up to $15,000 of “ProShares Trust Ultrashort (Bond).” Though this is not the name of a specific asset (and thus means the Ohio Republican did not file a complete form) ThinkProgress spoke with a representative from ProShares who noted that they only provide four “ultrashort” bond funds — 20+ year Treasury, 7-10 year Treasury, 3-7 year Treasury, and Treasury inflation protected securities — all of which short Treasury bills.

Though Mandel’s Treasury-shorting holdings may not be gigantic at the moment, their value would soar in the event of a debt default.

Controversy erupted last summer when it was revealed that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor was also betting against long-term U.S. Treasury bonds while opposing efforts to raise the debt ceiling. Mandel’s ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury stock is the same one that Cantor owned.

The very optics of a politician profiting off a default could present problems for Mandel as he tries to convince Ohio voters to send him to Washington next year so he can “stop increasing the debt ceiling.”

Multiple requests for comment have not been returned by Mandel’s campaign.

A campaign sign for Russell Pearce. Photo by Arizona New Times reporter Stephen Lemons.

An Arizona New Times reporter snapped a picture of one such sign reminding voters about his “Golden Apple Award for Eduction [sic].” The award is handed out by the organization “Arizona Parents for Education,” a deceptively named organization that is in fact run by the president of the Arizona Virtual Academy, a loosely accredited, online-only, for profit home schooling program.

Another campaign sign touted his endorsement by the “Arizona Teacher’s [sic] Association,” a group with no website, no official state documentation, and as far as anyone can tell, no members. Education officials in the state contacted by a local TV news station say they have never heard of the organization and believe it to be a phantom group created by the Pearce campaign solely to endorse his candidacy:

One of those officials is Sam Politio, who has lobbied on education issues at the state Capitol for nearly 30 years.

He said he has no idea what the group is, but fears it’s a political ploy by Pearce to win votes in next month’s primary election.

“It’s deplorable to give the impression that the state’s 100,000 teachers are supporting him,” Polito said in a telephone interview.

As the spelling and grammar errors might suggest, Pearce’s relationship with “eduction” could be generously described as spotty. While a senator, he fought for deep cuts to education programs, and staunchly opposed a temporary penny sales tax increase designed to support public schools that have been forced to cut back on extracurriculars and other programming.

Pearce is best known as the chief architect and sponsor of the state’s unconstitutional SB 1070 law and its controversial “papers please” provision. Opponents

Last year, he became the first Arizona lawmaker in the state’s history to be thrown out of office in a recall election.

Mitt Romney’s criticism of the London Olympics in Great Britain led the nightly news show ‘BBC London’ on Thursday. The program reported on Romney’s uncomfortable visit with Prime Minister David Cameron after suggesting that the nation was unprepared to host the games, mocked his efforts to backpaddel those remarks and showed footage of London Mayor Boris Johnson mocking Romney before to tens of thousands of people in London’s Hyde Park:

Back at Downing Street [David Cameron] met US Presidental hopeful, Mitt Romney. Now it would have been understandable if all this had been a bit uncomfortable. Mr Romney, who ran the winter Olympics in Salt Lake City a decade ago, last night told a US reporter he had concerns about the London Games. [...]

But a chat with Mr Cameron later and Mitt Romney was rowing back faster than Sir Steve Redgrave. [...]

Tonight, in front of 60,000 people, gathered in Hyde Park to see the Olympic torch, the mayor turned his attention to Mitt Romney’s criticism.

Watch it:

Mitt Romney’s speech at the NAACP was defined in the media by the resounding chorus of boos he elicited from the crowd. Campaign staffers had a different interpretation, insisting that he received “thunderous applause over and over again.”

Reflecting this idea, the campaign’s new video targeting African American voters, “We Need Mitt Romney,” rewrites history by splicing together Romney’s speech with shots of a couple audience members nodding as if in agreement. While Romney received a polite standing ovation when he was done speaking, the video has been edited to make it seem like the audience rose to their feet to applaud him mid-speech.

In reality, Romney was booed multiple times, especially when he promised to repeal Obamacare. 95 percent of black voters went to President Obama in 2008 and it is highly unlikely Romney will be able to capture the historically progressive demographic. In fact, an NAACP official told MSNBC that the Romney campaign brought their own African American supporters to fill in the July 11 event. Romney himself admitted that he expected to be booed.

The campaign video also features four African Americans speaking to the camera. One woman declares: “We need in our next president someone who will be honest, open and transparent.”

Watch it: