Reince Priebus. (Photo: Twitter)

This morning, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus held a press conference call to discuss Vice President Joe Biden's comment that middle-class Americans have been "buried the last four years." He also talked about his view that, despite poor poll numbers in the swing states, Mitt Romney has a path to winning the 270 electoral college votes necessary to defeat President Barack Obama, and he gave the RNC's take on footage of an old speech by the president that resurfaced on conservative media outlets last night.

Mr. Priebus said he agreed with Vice President Biden that the middle class has been "buried" during the first four years of the Obama administration.

"Obama and Biden have buried the middle class, and now they want to bury them some more," said Mr. Priebus. "I mean, just imagine what Barack Obama would do. He buried us economically in this country knowing that he would have to face re-election. Just imagine what he would do with nothing but daylight in front of him. Just imagine where this economy would go."

He went on to discuss Mr. Romney's economic policies, which he said would improve the country's financial situation.

"Getting our economy back on track, getting Obamacare off the books, reducing spending in Washington, cutting small business taxes, getting Keystone pipeline started and exploring energy across America is just the start. And that's the Romney/Ryan plan to save this country today," said Mr. Priebus. "We need a new direction. Joe Biden admits it, the American people know it and, thankfully, Mitt Romney has a plan to take us there."

Polls have increasingly been showing President Obama pulling ahead, specifically in Ohio. However, Mr. Priebus said he believes the Buckeye State is "extremely close." He's also confident the GOP has the ground game necessary to get a win for Mr. Romney.

"That's the one thing that I think that is a narrative out there that I just think is blatantly uninformed, which is the fact that the Democrats have this great ground game. I think we're going to crush the Democrats on the ground," Mr. Priebus said. "I just don't think they've got a very good ground game. I've looked through it, I've seen it. It's all smoke and mirrors. It's a lot of talk, but when you go around the neighborhood and you look at who's getting absentee ballots in the municipal clerks' offices and you figure out who's hitting their goals, in our case, we've got a sophisticated program around our GOP universe and we check that every single morning with municipal clerks' offices that are hooked up to our system. And I just know that we're better than them on the ground, and I think that we're going to crush them in Ohio."

Ohio isn't the only state Mr. Priebus is optimistic about.

"We have other good things going for us right now as well: Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado, Nevada. There are other places that we're doing very well in that, quite frankly, we didn't win in ’08 but we're doing better this year," he said. "So, we'll wait and see. We've got it all on the table. Ohio is, of course, extremely important. It's nothing new, but I also see avenues to 270 opening up for Mitt Romney in places that weren't there in ’08."

Mr. Priebus concluded the call by answering a question about a video of a speech President Obama made at Hampton University in 2007 in which he acknowledged the controversial Reverend Jeremiah Wright and criticized the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina as evidence of racism. The speech was covered by the media when it first occurred, but it was heavily hyped last night by Fox News and the conservative websites Drudge Report and The Daily Caller, which argued it "escaped scrutiny" in 2007. The DNC sent an email last night describing the resurfacing of the video as "lame" and "desperation tactics." For his part, Mr. Priebus said he believes "people are going to draw their own conclusions from the video."

"Clearly, I know that some people are pretty troubled by it, but, you know, the fact of the matter is people have to watch that video on their own and draw their own conclusions," he said. "I think that President Obama's views shape his policies and his policies, in turn, are having a very negative impact on our economy. I don't believe that government is the solution to our problems in this country. I think free enterprise is the solution to the problems in our country. I don't think handouts are the solution to our problems in this country."

The photo that shows up when you Google "Matt Rhoades." (Photo: UrbanGrounds.com)

Then do a Google search for Mr. Romney's campaign manager, Matt Rhoades.

While writing our post about the testy exchange between Mr. Rhoades and Obama campaign manager Jim Messina that occurred this morning, we couldn't help but notice that Googling Mr. Rhoades yields a photoshopped picture of Mitt Romney planting a kiss on conservative blogger Matt Drudge's cheek in a profile of Mr. Rhoades that appears alongside the other search results.

So, what the heck is going on here?

We reached out to Google to solve this mystery, because, frankly, we had no idea what those profiles that pop up next to search results are called and how they are made. Apparently, the technical term for the profiles is "knowledge graph" and they are  officially described as a "section of information" that "appears only for certain types of searches about a person, place, or thing." According to the Google, the knowledge graphs are populated with pictures and information from a variety of different sources, including; "online resources like Wikipedia, subject-specific resources like Weather Underground for weather information and the World Bank for economic statistics, publicly available data from Freebase.com" and "Google search data."

The picture that appears in Mr. Rhoades' knowledge graph comes from a blog called UrbanGrounds authored by a man named Robbie Cooper who describes himself as "a conservative, a biker, a Veteran, a professional writer, and a blogging enthusiast in the heart of uber-Liberal Austin, TX." UrbanGrounds uses the image of the Romney/Drudge smooch to illustrate a post discussing Mr. Rhoades' reportedly close relationship with the influential Mr. Drudge.

Luckily for Mr. Rhoades, Mr. Romney and Mr. Drudge, knowledge graphs are accompanied by a feedback button that allows users to report problems with the content. Mr. Rhoades might want to get on that. We reached out to Messrs. Rhoades and Drudge for comment and, as of this writing, have yet to receive a response.

Tim Pawlenty campaigning with Mitt Romney in New Hampshire in January. (Photo: Getty)

Just four days after claiming Condoleezza Rice was the "frontrunner" in Mitt Romney's veepstakes, the Drudge Report is claiming Mr. Romney has "made his decision" and decided on former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty.

The Drudge Report's proprietor, Matt Drudge reportedly has a close relationship with Mr. Romney’s campaign manager Matt Rhoades. Mr. Drudge's close connections to the Romney campaign make it possible he has some inside information about the vice presidential vetting process, but it has also led to speculation he may be trying to shift the conversation away from the continuing controversy over Mr. Romney's departure from Bain Capital.

This time around, Mr. Drudge pegged his claim to a New York Times report that Mr. Romney is considering tapping Mr. Pawlenty. Officially, the Romney campaign is not commenting on the veepstakes rumors.

"We don't discuss VP speculation," Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul told The Politicker. 

Mr. Pawlenty came very close to being tapped to run on the Republican ticket with John McCain in 2008. Last year, he began a presidential campaign for this year's race, but he dropped his White House bid just a few months later after coming in third in the Iowa straw poll last August. Since then, Mr. Pawlenty, who finished his second term as Governor of Minnesota in 2010, has aggressively campaigned for Mr. Romney.

Other politicians who have been floated as potential running mates for Mr. Romney include; Ohio Senator Rob Portman, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte and Florida Senator Marco Rubio. Like Mr. Pawlenty, all of the other entrants in Mr. Romney's veepstakes have also hit the campaign trail for the Republican nominee. According to the Times report on Mr. Pawlenty's vice presidential prospects, "several Republicans close to the campaign believe Mr. Pawlenty and Mr. Portman stand out among those being considered."

Update (12:05 pm): The Drudge Report has now changed their headline linking to the Times article from "HE'S MADE HIS DECISION!" to the decidedly more tentative "NYT: HE'S 'MADE HIS DECISION.'"

Condoleeza Rice (Photo: Getty)

An exclusive item on Matt Drudge's eponymous news site, the Drudge Report, claims former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is now a "frontrunner" in the Republican veepstakes.

"Romney himself has narrowed the field of candidates to a handful, sources reveal," the unbylined report says. "And a surprise name is now near the top of the list: Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice!"

The Drudge Report is highly influential in political circles and enjoys an extremely large audience. Mr. Drudge also reportedly has a close relationship with Mr. Romney's campaign manager Matt Rhoades. Ms. Rice recently appeared at a fundraiser for Mr. Romney in Utah where, according to multiple accounts, she wowed the audience and "stole the show." In addition, in a CBS News interview last week, Mr. Romney's wife, Ann, said her husband was considering a woman to join him on the Republican ticket. In spite of all this, there are many reasons Ms. Rice would be an odd choice to be Mr. Romney's running mate.

Mr. Romney has previously said he would only choose a running mate who was opposed to abortion rights. At a town hall in February, Mr. Romney, who has had trouble earning support among more conservative voters, vowed he would pick someone who is "pro-life" and "conservative to the core."

Ms. Rice certainly doesn't fit that bill. In the past, she has described herself as "mildly pro-choice" and expressed support for civil unions for same-sex couples. These positions certainly wouldn't help Mr. Romney improve his standing among the GOP's conservative base.

There is also the question of whether Ms. Rice would want to subject herself to the scrutiny of a presidential campaign. Ms. Rice has always preferred to keep her personal life closely guarded and private.

Though there are many reasons Ms. Rice would seem to be a surprising pick for Mr. Romney, there are also factors that would make her an attractive choice. Picking a woman of color like Ms. Rice as his running mate would help Mr. Romney bring diversity to the Republican ticket. Ms. Rice's experience as secretary of state would also help bring foreign policy bonafides to Mr. Romney's ticket. And, though her more moderate views might not help drum up enthusiasm among conservatives, they certainly could raise Mr. Romney's appeal among independent voters. At the very least, floating the idea he is considering a surprising high profile running mate pick could certainly help Mr. Romney change the conversation on a day when the news cycle was dominated by questions about whether he has honestly represented his tenure at the private equity firm Bain Capital.

Andrew Stiles of the Washington Free Beacon enjoyed the vocal stylings of MSNBC's Chris Matthews.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker discussed his (lack of a) drug habit and support for medical marijuana.

Matt Drudge debuted a new cowboy hat avatar and speculated about a coming invasion of government drone planes.

Deputy RNC Communications Director Tim Miller had fun watching Democratic operatives dispute a poll that showed Mitt Romney pulling ahead of President Barack Obama with female voters.

Apparently, 1990's sitcom star Joey Lawrence means a great deal to CNBC contributor James Pethokoukis.