CNN's GUT CHECK | for August 16, 2012 | 5 p.m.
– n. a pause to assess the state, progress or condition of the political news cycle

BREAKING: CNN Electoral Map: Wisconsin moves to true "toss-up"... CNN Thursday turned the important battleground state of Wisconsin from "lean Obama" to true "toss-up" on its electoral map, in the wake of Mitt Romney's naming of House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, a seven-term congressman from the Badgerstate, as his running mate. One contributing factor behind CNN's move was a new poll that matched two others from last week that indicate the presidential contest in Wisconsin is close. While Ryan's announcement did not dramatically alter the presidential poll numbers in Wisconsin, it did change the way both campaigns viewed the state of the race in the state.

ROMNEY TALKS TAXES: 13 FOR 10... Mitt Romney has paid no less than 13% in personal income taxes over the past 10 years, he said Thursday. The presumptive GOP nominee has faced withering criticism from Democrats over the release of his tax returns, including a charge by Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid that Romney had paid no taxes for a 10-year period. Reid did not specify if those were the last 10 years or an earlier period.

"I did go back and look at my taxes and over the past 10 years I never paid less than 13%. I think the most recent year is 13.6 or something like that. I paid taxes every single year," Romney said, explaining he had gone back to check his records after being asked by a reporter about the tax rates he had paid.

FULL POST