CONVENTION PARTY WATCH.  Story here.  “Armed with cameras and the press, the Sunlight Foundation and Public Citizen plan to crash convention parties in a double-teaming effort.”

(C)(4) GIFT TAX ISSUES.  Roll Call.  “The Congressional Research Service released a report this week indicating that existing gift tax statutes can apply to contributions made to offshoots of super PACs that are spending millions of dollars to influence state and national elections.”

FORMER SEN. OPENS SHOP.  Story here.  “Former Sen. Slade Gorton (R-Wash.), who had been a lobbyist with K&L Gates, has opened his own shop, Slade Gorton LLC.”

TXT MSG $.  InsidePoliticalLaw.com.  “The FEC made public today two advisory opinions, AO 2012-26 (m-Qube II) and 2012-28 (CTIA), that clarify the permissibility of political contributions via text message.”

HURDLE CLEARED ON TXT $.  Chicago Trib.  “The FEC ruled that wireless carriers would have no responsibility for possible fraudulent campaign donations and could refuse text-donation services to campaigns if they are not deemed commercially viable.”

FOR PROFIT CONDUITS.  CMDI Blog.  “From a campaign’s point of view, does it make sense to support for-profit conduits?”  (I added The CMDI Blog to my list of links.)

MCCOTTER SHOCKER.  Politico.  “The fraudulent petition problem, it appears, reaches back beyond this year.”

UTILITY AND CONVENTION.  Story here.  “The intersection of Duke Energy’s interests and its support for the convention is testing Mr. Obama’s pledge to free the party’s gathering from business and lobbyist support.”

DOMAIN NEWS.  Story here.  “In the wake of Mitt Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate, plenty of folks headed to RomneyRyan.com to learn about the new Republican ticket.”

DE:  NEW LAWS.  Story here.  “Delaware is about to get more transparent, thanks to a package of bills that recently passed the legislature and will be signed today by Governor Markell.”

NE:  WHAT’S NEXT?  Story here.  “After 20 years of fits and starts, the Nebraska Supreme Court has finally declared the Campaign Finance Limitation Act ‘unconstitutional.’ Dead. Finished. Stick a fork in it, it’s done.”

NY:  TICKET QUESTIONS.  The Times.  “So [State Senator] Avella dutifully asked the Legislature’s ethics commission whether the tickets could be accepted. The word came back swiftly: no.”

PA:  VOTER ID CASE UPDATE.  Story here.  “A Pennsylvania judge on Wednesday declined to block a new state law requiring specific kinds of photo identification to vote.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.