News roundup: Biden invades Romney territory to raise cash

Bidens hit Utah to raise funds, highlight soldier sacrifices. Was Rove's meeting on the up and up?. McAdams waits out the GOP mayoral recount.

Happy Tuesday. Vice President Joe Biden will fly into Utah today for a fundraiser in Park City. The Beehive State is, of course, strongly Mitt Romney country, but there are blue dots in that red sea and Park City is definitely one of them. There are no public events planned with Biden, though contributors can pony up, starting at $500 a head, to attend the event at the home of John and Kristi Cumming. The Trib's Robert Gehrke is in the press pool and will be filing reports with any details he can glean from the private campaign stopover.

-> The vice president's wife, Dr. Jill Biden, meanwhile, will be stopping by the Utah National Guard headquarters tonight to push the Joining Forces Initiative, which focuses on the challenges facing service members and their families. [Trib] [DNews]

Topping the news: Karl Rove, who heads a pro-Romney Super PAC, spoke to donors outside of Romney's big Deer Valley retreat recently (and for a group ran by Romney's top finance guru), raising the question of just how close are the campaigns that legally can't coordinate. [HuffPost]

-> Spike Lee says it would be a stretch for folks to bring up Jeremiah Wright to attack President Barack Obama but then raises the question of whether Americans will vote for a Mormon. [Politico]

-> Whomever his opponent may be, Democrat Ben McAdams says he is eager to begin a positive campaign for Salt Lake County mayor. [Trib]

-> Utahns are moving closer to supporting gay marriage and civil unions, a stark change from 2004. [UtahDataPoints]

Tweet of the day: From @donhudson_tv: "Our weatherman tried to make one word out of four words for our daily weather in a word. So gosh it is hot" [Instagram].

And for those of you in the D.C. area, from @OKnox: "O/H White House basement: 'If I'm ever in the electric chair, I hope PEPCO is the provider. At lease 50% chance of a reprieve.'"

Happy birthday: To former state Sen. Dan Liljenquist.

Happening today: Sen. Mike Lee is stumping for Romney in Ohio, speaking to the Cincinnati Tea Party and the Hamilton County GOP.

In other news: With state and federal funding for the Sugar House steetcar project going only so far, the city may have to sacrifice its original plans in favor of a cost effective route. [Trib] [KUTV]

-> Utah's Constitutional Review Commission plans to wait on the sidelines until after the election. [UtahPolicy]

-> Peg McEntee says the new and improved Utah League of Women Voters wants answers from candidates and the group will consider silence an answer. [Trib]

-> House Republicans could bring up another contempt charge, this time against Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. [WashExaminer]

-> Utah radiation officials say federal cuts to radon education programs would be unwise, even dangerous. [Trib]

-> Bryan Schott offers the five things he thinks this week, including the idea that Romney donors should stop talking to the news media. [UtahPolicy]

-> Pat Bagley's take on the mansions being built on private land inside Zion National Park. [Trib]

2012 watch: Romney says he's concerned about the poor, but the middle-class is where his main worries remain. The wealthy, he says, are doing fine. [CNN]

-> Obama raises more money in the last month than he has in previous monthly cycles, but Romney still leaves him in the dust. [NYTimes] [TheHill]

-> The president may be bring in less, but he's spending more on swing state campaigning than Romney, who's still recovering from a bitter primary battle. [WaPost]

-> Obama calls on his opponent to be an open book and says he needs to release all of his tax records like Romney's father did. [CNN]

-> The NYT's FiveThiryEight blog continues its look at states' electoral patterns and notes that Utah wasn't always such a reliably red state. [NYTimes]

-> Campaigns are on fans of raising contributions through cell phones but carriers aren't so thrilled. [Reuters]

-> A new poll says voters think Obama has in fact changed the country — but not for the better. [TheHill]

-> Romney has so many advantages over Obama. So why is the president still leading in the polls? [TheHill]

-> Obama's camp points the finger at Romney's outsourcing record, but the president's critics say he's not doing any better. [WaPost]

Where are they?

Rep. Jason Chaffetz attends a Judiciary Committee hearing and meets with the CEOs of Kennecott Copper and Norbest Turkeys.

Gov. Gary Herbert meets with Cabinet members then attends a farewell reception for Major General Andy Busch and Mike Gill.

AG Mark Shurtleff meets with division chiefs then joins a panel on privacy and security.

SL Co. Mayor Peter Corroon continues visit to Yuzowa, Japan, the sister city to the Magna Township.

WVC Mayor Mike Winder attends a board meeting of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah, attends the Salt Lake County Council meeting for election results and then heads to his City Council meeting.

President Barack Obama speaks at a campaign event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Got a tip? A birthday, wedding or anniversary to announce? Email us at cornflakes@sltrib.com. If you haven't already, sign up for our weekday email and get this sent directly to you inbox. [Trib]

— Thomas Burr and Andreas RiveraTwitter.com/thomaswburr and Twitter.com/andreascrivera