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SALT LAKE CITY — A 40-year-old Tennessee man is behind bars after allegedly becoming violent when he saw a picture of Mitt Romney on his girlfriend's Facebook page and thought the woman was committing adultery.
Lowell Turpin, of Claxton, reportedly suspected Crystal Gray, his live-in girlfriend, of having an affair, and flew into a rage July 22 upon seeing a picture of another man on the woman's Facebook page: presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Turpin "angrily demanded to know who the male was" upon seeing the picture, according to Deputy Bradley Prewitt of the Anderson County Sheriff's Department. When Turpin saw Gray "attempting to communicate with friends through her Facebook account," he "began smashing" their shared laptop against a wall and punched the woman in side of the face, according to police reports.
According to the police report, Turpin claimed he had not hit the woman, but that her brother had "threatened to kill me if I hit his sister." Turpin provided "multiple, contradictory accounts" of the incident.
Gray told police Turpin had been violent toward her multiple times over the past several years, but that she never filed a police report. Turpin is being charged with domestic assault and remains in the Anderson County Jail.
Other political news
- A new poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that Pres. Barack Obama holds a double-digit lead over Mitt Romney on healthcare issues. Public opinion of the Affordable Care Act remains negative, but voters say Obama would be better at "dealing with the future" of the law, The Hill reports.
- Richard Gorka, Romney's travel press secretary, told members of the press to "shove it" at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Poland, and that the reporters should "show some respect." When reporters protested, pointing out that Romney has only taken a few press questions during his trip, the aide insulted reporters, using an expletive. Gorka later called two of the reporters to apologize, [CBS News](<http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57483220- 503544/romney-aide-to-press-shove-it/ >) reports.
- Scientists are looking at how various factors will affect the percentage of the vote each presidential candidate will receive, according to an analysis by Reuters.More than 90 percent of leading forecasters have accurately predicted the popular vote winner in the last four presidential elections.
- A new ad out of the Obama camp ties Romney to former Pres. George W. Bush. The ad, titled "Worried," suggests Romney would make deficits worse by cutting taxes for wealthier Americans and increasing military spending, similar to the Bush era.
- A new ad released by super PAC American Crossroads blames Pres. Obama for the lagging economy.
The ad, titled "News," cites figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics: the country has had 41 straight months with an unemployment rate above 8 percent, with 23 million Americans without full-time work.
The narrator directs viewers to "tell (Obama) for real job growth, stop spending and cut the debt."
- Pres. Obama is looking to turn the conversation back to taxes Wednesday as Romney wraps up his three-country foreign tour. The House of Representatives is expected to consider Wednesday Obama's plan to extend certain parts of former Pres. George W. Bush's tax cuts, the Associated Press reports.
- Pres. Obama congratulated the five members of the U.S. women's gymnastics team Wednesday on their gold- medal performance."I told these young ladies as I was congratulating them, how do you not bust your head every time you're on that little balance beam?" Obama said, according to the Associated Press. "I couldn't walk across that balance beam."
