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over the past two years, said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center.
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• WASHINGTON (AP) -- Mitt Romney's vice presidential search has entered a new phase: auditions.
• As his campaign evaluates potential running mates, Republicans with a possible shot at the No. 2 spot on the presidential ticket are starting to engage in unofficial public tryouts for the traditional vice presidential role of attack dog.
• Democratic President Barack Obama is "the most ill-prepared person to assume the presidency in my lifetime," New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie declared at a speech in Kentucky this week. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio told South Carolina Republicans that Americans hadn't seen such a "divisive figure in modern American history" as Obama.
• Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, speaking Tuesday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library -- it's a favorite venue for Republicans seeking more attention -- said Obama "wants to take us further in the wrong direction." And in an Alabama appearance earlier this month, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal called Obama "the most incompetent president since Jimmy Carter."
• Not that any of them -- or any of the others who may have landed a spot on Romney's list -- are talking about becoming vice president. Nor are any of them acknowledging they're trying out for the role or saying the Romney campaign has asked them to do so. Top Romney aides are sworn to secrecy, as are potential running mates and their staffs -- an example of the Romney campaign's closely controlled, no-leaks culture.
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• BRUSSELS (AP) -- European Union leaders concluded their latest summit early Thursday with few concrete steps to fix the continent's festering financial crisis even as the potential for a messy Greek exit from the euro appears to be rising. Some leaders stressed the importance of planning for just such an event but offered no measures that might help Greece avoid it.

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