Paul Mirengoff, Power Line
The Washington Post has obsessed over an incident in which Mitt Romney allegedly cut the hair of a fellow high school student. The mainstream media paid plenty of attention to George W. Bush’s “irresponsible youth,” and speculated about whether he had used cocaine. Yet, the MSM has essentially ignored Barack Obama’s admission in his autobiography of cocaine use, of attending Socialist seminars while in college, and of being drawn as a young man to Marxists and Communists.

Sometimes it’s hard to explain why we need strong financial regulation — especially in an era saturated with pro-business, pro-market propaganda. So we should always be grateful when someone makes the case for regulation more compelling and easier to understand. And this week, that means offering a special shout-out to two men: Jamie Dimon and Mitt Romney.

Cecile Richards, The Daily Beast
If you want to see what women’s health care in America will be like if Mitt Romney becomes president, just look at Texas and Arizona.Both states are in the news these past few weeks for trying to prevent women from getting health care at Planned Parenthood. It’s wrong, and it will have devastating consequences for women for years to come—and Mitt Romney wants to do it in all 50 states.

E.J. Dionne, Washington Post
WASHINGTON -- In this election, we're not having an argument that pits capitalism against socialism. We are trying to decide what kind of capitalism we want. It is a debate as American as Alexander Hamilton, Andrew Jackson, and Henry Clay -- which is to say that we have always done this. In light of the rise of inequality and the financial mess we just went through, it's a discussion we very much need to have now.The back-and-forth about Bain Capital, Mitt Romney's old company, is part of something larger. So is the inquest into the implications of multibillion-dollar trading...

WASHINGTON -- He barely speaks in his own first general-election ad. On the top floor of his Boston campaign headquarters, the most visible poster is one of his dad's. His party's leaders in Congress, the states and the lobbying world don't bow to him, or mention him much, even as they make moves that can't help but define his agenda for him. Arguably the key person in his campaign is Republican kingpin Karl Rove, but Rove doesn't work there.

And this is just the way Mitt Romney and his team like it. Romney is the incidental candidate in an incidental campaign. He's a bland, blunt instrument, but only an instrument, in a wider crusade dedicated to one goal: ousting President Barack Obama and reversing whatever policy victories he has won.

Goofy or creepy when off script, burdened by an ideologically muddled record and a penchant for privacy in his business and religious life, Romney has chosen to focus on everyone but himself and to surrender his campaign to a larger conservative effort.

The question is whether Romney's attempt at political self-abnegation will work. Will voters see him as selfless, shrewd and focused on the unglamorous task at hand? Or will they dismiss him as a weak, evasive figure with contempt for facts and a lot to hide?

So far, the answer isn't clear. Romney's likability and fundraising numbers are up, but he trails in the Electoral College projections. The consensus on the fall race: it's close.

There hasn't been a presidential campaign like Romney's in more than half a century -- since before 1960, when another Bostonian and Harvard graduate, John F. Kennedy, burst onto the scene.

In that year, television transformed politics into a contest between personal narratives and a search for the most convincing communicator. Also that year, presidential campaigns themselves -- the mechanics, the harried advisers, the closed-door dramas of decision-making -- took on Homeric public stature. The party was incidental in this saga; it was all about the Kennedys.

It's not all about Mitt; it's about everything but Mitt. It's not about his Boston campaign apparatus; it's about everything and everyone else surrounding it. As for the party, Mitt is glad to let them lead.

The strategy is reflected in his staff. They are not the kind to quote Tennyson.

Romney's campaign manager, Matt Rhoades, is a publicity-shy ninja of "oppo." If many voters concluded in 2004 that Sen. John Kerry was a French-fried, flip-flopping toff, Rhoades is the reason: He was head of "research" for the Bush-Cheney campaign that year. Stuart Stevens, Romney's top message and advertising man, is known for his penchant for attack spots.

There's no "Making of the President" or even "Game Change" aura here. One reason may be that the indirect godfather of the enterprise isn't on the premises. Karl Rove's influence lies in the accumulation of personal ties and changes in the way presidential campaigns are operated and financed.

Much of the top staff is composed of protégés of "The Architect." Rhoades was Rove's research aide in 2004; Stevens was a key part of the Bush advertising team in 2000 and 2004 under Rove. Romney's close friend and former gubernatorial chief of staff, Beth Myers (who is now in charge of vetting vice presidential candidates), received her start in politics working with Rove in Texas.

As the man behind the super PAC American Crossroads and its affiliate Crossroads GPS, which together are expecting to raise more than $300 million for "independent" spending, Rove may have more impact on Romney than Romney's own campaign. Federal law bars Rove and his Boston friends from talking strategy with each other. But they don't have to. They know each other's thinking and how to read the public signals.

American Crossroads will be the largest Republican-oriented super PAC and one that Rove & Co. hope will draw money and attention away from renegade operations that would drag the party off its economic message and into counterproductive attacks on religion and race.

As for GOP congressional leaders, Romney has long since tied his destiny to theirs, and far more willingly than presidential candidates generally like to do. When Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell engineered a day of votes on draconian GOP budget plans, Romney was happy to stress his own, only slightly less drastic plan.

He signed onto Rep. Paul Ryan's budget in the House early and has repeated his support often. Doing so gave Romney a way to ingratiate himself with conservatives who were and are suspicious of him.

Romney's speeches and interviews rarely produce news or provide much information, and rarely seem designed to do so. His May 12 speech at Liberty University was a chance to deliver a memorable moment of eloquent faith witness. Some evangelicals professed to be pleased by what he said, but it was, in fact, nothing more than an anodyne, risk-free homily on the value of service, with one line tucked in about his belief in man-woman marriage.

When he has to answer unscripted questions, the results have been so problematic so often that he now is determined to fade into the woodwork as quickly as possible. Asked to defend an earlier comment about President Obama's relationship with the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Romney tried to erase himself from view. "I'm not familiar precisely with exactly what I said," Romney said, "but I stand by what I said, whatever it was." In other words, he is incidental to his own history.

Anti-tax lobbyist Grover Norquist depicts the Romney presidency -- if there is one -- as a kind of figurehead monarchy in which the real power will lie with Congress, and within Congress, the power will lie with tax-cutting conservatives such as Norquist.

"All we have to do is replace Obama," Norquist said in February. "We are not auditioning for Fearless Leader. We don't need a president to tell us in what direction to go. We know what direction to go. We want the Ryan budget. We just need a president to sign this stuff."

If Romney objected to this view of his role, he didn't say so. And why would he object? In Norquist's view, the identity of the person who isn't Obama is incidental. And that seems to be Romney's point.

Noam Scheiber, The New Republic
The Wall Street Journal has an intriguing story today about the anxiety in the White House over $2 billion-and-counting loss that JP Morgan announced last week. At first blush, the reason for the angst isn't entirely clear. After all, the loss would seem to strengthen the case for financial reform, which, as it happens, the president signed into law two years ago, and which Mitt Romney opposes. To the extent that JP Morgan revives the debate over financial reform, it would seem to benefit Barack Obama.  

Jamelle Bouie, American Prospect
The defining feature of the Republican presidential primaries was the constant Sturm und Drang over Mitt Romney’s ability to win Republican voters. Pundits claimed that Romney had a “ceiling” with conservatives in the party, and opponents like former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum routinely assailed the front-runner as a candidate whose commitment to conservatism was short-lived and inauthentic—a human “Etch A Sketch,” in the words of Romney’s own campaign spokesperson. But when Romney locked up the nomination...

MIAMI -- Sen. Marco Rubio has close ties to a colleague accused of questionable financial dealings. The freshman senator also once was enmeshed in a controversy over the use of the state party's credit card for his personal expenses. And he has faced increased scrutiny over his personal background since bursting onto the national political scene, including conflicting details of his parents' immigration from Cuba and his recently disclosed ties to the Mormon faith.

Will issues like those in Rubio's personal and political background hold back one of the GOP's fastest-rising stars? That's a question being debated in Republican circles in Washington, Florida and elsewhere as the Cuban-American senator with solid conservative credentials works to raise his profile beyond Florida, if not position himself for a national role within the GOP.

"Marco Rubio is a huge star in the Republican Party in much the same way that Barack Obama was in the Democratic Party between his convention speech in 2004 and his candidacy for the president," said Steve Schmidt, a top adviser to John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. "There are a lot of plusses when you look at Marco Rubio as a potential vice presidential candidate, but there are also unknowns."

Rubio, who all but certainly has political aspirations that extend beyond the Senate, frequently is mentioned by Republican insiders as an attractive candidate to be Mitt Romney's running mate partly because the party needs to attract Hispanic voters in battleground states like Nevada and Florida in November.

While Rubio denies any interest in the No. 2 slot on the ticket this year, he's working hard to stay in the national spotlight. He recently gave a major foreign policy address in Washington, he's talking about writing a bill to allow some young illegal immigrants to remain and work in the country without citizenship, and next month he'll release a memoir.

The country is only just starting to get to know Rubio and his political vulnerabilities, though Florida residents know both well.

Rubio's relationship with fellow freshman lawmaker Rep. David Rivera, now facing a federal probe into tax evasion, and the credit card controversy surfaced during his 2010 Senate campaign. And they didn't have much effect. But that doesn't mean the country as a whole would overlook those eyebrow-raising issues.

"Floridians may be numb to these hits because of the rough-and-tumble nature of politics in the state, when it's looked at by a national audience it may not be as palatable," said Abe Dyk, a political strategist who managed the 2010 Senate campaign of Rubio's Democratic challenger.

Rubio and Rivera met in 1992, during the campaign of former Republican Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a fellow South Florida Cuban-American. The two rose through the ranks in the statehouse with Rivera oftentimes playing bad cop to the more congenial Rubio.

During the legislative session, they shared a Tallahassee townhouse, which a bank began foreclosure proceedings on in 2010. Rubio made only partial payments on that mortgage for five months in 2010, even as he held jobs as a consultant, professor and TV commentator. He has said the missed payments were due to a dispute over the terms of the mortgage.

State officials closed a criminal probe into Rivera's personal financial dealings without filing charges but didn't clear him entirely. They cited Florida's brief statute of limitations and its lax campaign finance laws for not charging him with living off of his campaign funds and failing to disclose his income.

In the last year, Rubio has publicly kept some distance from Rivera and has said that his friend has some issues he must address on the campaign trail. Still, Rubio threw a small Washington fundraiser for Rivera last week. So far, Rubio hasn't faced blowback from his friendship with Rivera.

"It's tough to say how that will play out," says Emilio Gonzalez, a consultant who served in the Bush administration and sees Rubio as a potentially formidable presidential candidate in 2016.

If Rubio were to end up on the GOP presidential ticket or mount his own national campaign in the coming years, he all but certainly would face questions about the scandal over the use of state GOP funds when he was the speaker of the Florida House.

The head of the party, Jim Greer, was forced to resign following revelations he and his second-in-command charged $1.5 million on party credit cards, much of it on luxurious hotels, fancy restaurants, chauffeured sedans and lavish entertaining. Greer's trial is set to start July 30, just ahead of the Republican convention, and many Republican observers anticipate he will detail unethical use of party money by other high-ranking GOP officials.

Rubio himself spent more than $100,000 on the party card between 2006 and 2008, paying off about $16,000 in personal expenses and claiming the rest as official party business. His records from 2005, when he was lobbying to become Florida House speaker, never were released. When asked about using the party card for personal expenses, Rubio has said he sometimes just pulled the wrong card out of his wallet and he has called it a "lesson learned."

He also has had to answer criticism for how he spent money donated to two political committees he formed - including payments to relatives. He has acknowledged the bookkeeping for at least one of the accounts was sloppy.

And then there's the fuzziness around his family's background.

Rubio long claimed his parents fled Fidel Castro's regime. But it was recently disclosed that they arrived several years before Castro took power – although they quickly embraced the Cuban exile community as Castro turned toward communism. Rubio has said the dates he gave were based on his parents' recollections.

There's another part of Rubio's upbringing that long had gone undisclosed, and the revelation is one that could turn off evangelicals who make up the base of the GOP.

Rubio was baptized as Mormon when his family lived for a few years in Las Vegas, thanks to the influence of cousins who belonged to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Rubio returned to the Catholic Church as a young teen, and as an adult he has also frequently attended Baptist services.

When it comes to the vice presidency, Rubio's greatest liability may be one only time can resolve.

"I suspect that the Romney campaign is going to pick someone who is viewed as unquestionably qualified for the office," said Schmidt, who was intimately involved in McCain's selection of Sarah Palin. "To the extent that (Rubio's) in his first term, he's in the first two years of his term and he's 40 years old probably doesn't help him."

___

Farrington reported from Tallahassee, Fla.

Follow Laura Wides-Munoz on Twitter: (at)lwmunoz

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's reelection campaign spent more than $14.6 million in April, ending up with more than $115 million cash on hand, according to a filing it made with the Federal Election Commission on Friday afternoon.

The numbers show a campaign taking in far more money than it is spending, though that may change with massive television ad campaigns beginning in May. The filing also shows that the campaign is banking on person-to-person contact and staff-oriented campaigning to help overcome what it expects will be bigger spending by Mitt Romney's campaign on television advertising.

The Obama campaign spent more than $2.45 million in April on payroll, not including the $1.19 million in payroll taxes the campaign paid. The campaign also paid just under $150,000 in rent during the month, picking up the tabs for the Democratic Party in battleground states and in non-battleground states that include South Carolina, Oregon, Washington, Louisiana and Vermont.

The president's reelection team is projected to spend $25 million on TV ads during May. In April, the campaign spent just $1.79 million in "media buys" as well as more than $344,000 in "media production." More money, in fact, was spent in online ads, for which the Obama campaign cut checks totaling $2.37 million in April.

Telemarketing was another major Obama campaign expense, at more than $917,000. In addition, the Obama campaign made a one-day $23,216 payment to Mobile Commons in Brooklyn, N.Y., for "text messages."

The FEC filing included some quirky expenses, including two payments that seem to have been aimed at shoring up relations with the progressive base. A $790 payment was made for "media production" services to Planned Parenthood Action Fund (a campaign official clarified that it was for an employee of the pro-choice organization to participate in a campaign video), while check for $899.95 was made for "conference and training fees" to Netroots Nation, the online progressive gathering slated for this summer in Providence, R.I.

The campaign cut checks totaling $1,497 to the Department of the Treasury for photography services, travel and lodging. The president's reelection headquarters in Chicago is a Mac office. More than $31,000 was spent on computer maintenance with Apple Inc. during April.

The president's campaign appears to be helping Romney with his claims to being a job creator. Obama for America spent $1,247.78 at Staples -- the office supply chain that Romney holds up as an example of a successful investment made by his former private equity firm, Bain Capital.

The Truth-o-Meter says: Half Flip | Did Mitt Romney flip-flop on the economic stimulus?

During his 2012 presidential campaign, Mitt Romney has been no fan of the stimulus Democrats passed in 2009. On the third anniversary of its passage, Romney issued a news release titled, "Three Years Later, Obama's Stimulus is Still Failing." Democrats contend Romney has flip-flopped on it. On Nov. 28, 2011, the Democratic National Committee released two videos -- a 30-second version and a four-minute version -- that claimed he had flipped on several issues, including the stimulus:     On-screen text: "Opposed the stimulus."     Video clip ...

>> More

The Truth-o-Meter says: No Flip | Did Mitt Romney flip-flop on TARP?

The Troubled Asset Relief Program -- the "TARP" program that was supposed to stabilize the financial markets -- has not been popular with conservatives. During the Republican presidential primary, most candidates attacked it. But the Democratic National Committee says Mitt Romney has flip-flopped on it. On Nov. 28, 2011, the DNC released two videos -- a 30-second version and a four-minute version -- that said Romney flipped on several issues, including TARP.         About three minutes into the four-minute version, the word "TARP" appears on screen. Then Romney ...

>> More

The Truth-o-Meter says: Half Flip | Did Mitt Romney flip-flop on gun control?

Mitt Romney has at times had an awkward relationship with firearms, as when he said during the 2008 Republican presidential primary that his hunting experience generally involved "small varmints." But has he flip-flopped on gun policy? We’ll start by noting that the Flip-O-Meter rates politicians' consistency on particular topics from No Flip to Full Flop. The meter is not intended to pass judgment on their decisions to change their minds. It’s simply gauging whether they did. Romney’s statements on gun restrictions before he became governor In ...

>> More

The 137th running of the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of horse racing's Triple Crown, is this Saturday at Pimlico race track in Baltimore, Maryland. The Preakness can either destroy the dreams of the Kentucky Derby winner's team or it can set up drama like no other at the Belmont Stakes. There has not been a Triple Crown winning horse since 1978, when Affirmed completed the trifecta. I'll Have Another, the 2012 Kentucky Derby winner, is hoping to do the same in 2012.

Mitt Romney has locked up the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 2012. Just like I'll Have Another, he is riding high right now. Romney is leading President Obama in a recent CBS News/New York Times poll. His next major campaign move, selecting his Vice Presidential nominee, might decide what looks to be a very close general election. If you don't believe me, look no further than Sarah Palin in 2008.

So without further ado I give you the "Mitt Romney VP Odd's Preakness Style" based on the first early morning lines of the race when post positions were drawn. Can there be anything more fun than combining premier US horse racing with presidential politics? I think not.

THE FAVORITES

8-5 Odds - Bodemeister/Senator Marco Rubio (R - FL): Bodemeister led from the gate to nearly the finish of the Kentucky Derby until I'll Have Another caught him. Just like Bodemeister, Rubio sprinted out to an early lead in the veepstakes and has maintained it up to this point. He is a rising star, has been called the "crown prince" of the Tea Party movement, and potentially delivers the most important swing state of them all. He also helps with the all important and growing Latino vote. Can Rubio seal the deal with Romney or will he get passed in the end like Bodemeister in the Derby? Maybe Romney passes if Mitt can't handle Rubio's "star power" potentially outshining him. This pick makes so much sense for Mitt.

5-2 Odds - I'll Have Another/Senator Rob Portman (R - OH): I'll Have Another shocked the horse racing world down the stretch of the 138th Kentucky Derby with his closing and finishing speed. Rob Portman is one those guys who has often been mentioned in the running for Romney's mate, but isn't as exciting to many Republicans as Rubio. Portman has served his country in the United States House and Senate, as well as in two cabinet positions in the George W. Bush administration. He is from the coveted swing state of Ohio, which President Obama won in 2008. Portman is a lot like Romney when it comes to style and substance, but his experience might make him a tad bit safer choice than Rubio. Portman is closing fast on Rubio in I'll Have Another fashion.

6-1 Odds - Went the Day Well/Governor Bob McDonnell (R - VA): Went the Day Well went from 17th to a 4th place finish at this year's Kentucky Derby. His jockey, Jose Valezquez, recently said to Fox Sports, "he was so far back I couldn't make up that much ground, no way." Bob McDonnell doesn't have to make up as much ground because he gives Romney a chance to win the state of Virginia, which President Obama won in 2008. A former State Attorney General who has served in the military, McDonnell has seen unemployment in Virgina drop from 7.3 percent to 5.6 percent during his short time in the Governor's office. If "it's the economy stupid" election, Mitt might show that Virginia is for lovers and chose McDonnell.

6-1 Odds - Creative Cause/Congressman Paul Ryan (R - WI): If Creative Cause gets a clean path in the Preakness he just might pull it off. Why you ask? Based on Trakus data that recorded Kentucky Derby race results, Creative Cause traveled 29 more feet than the winner, but 79 less feet than the runner up. He finished only three lengths behind the Preakness favorite Bodemeister in the Kentucky Derby. Paul Ryan is a high profile Congressman who is every cutting government fan's dream. He has a good rapport with Romney and his "Ryan Plan" was endorsed by Mitt. He is on the cover of the Republican conservative budgeting playbook and this might make him irresistible for Romney.

MIDDLE OF THE PACK

12-1 Odds - Daddy Nose Best/Governor Chris Christie (R - NJ): Daddy Nose Best has been called "very perky" since his 10th place finish in the Kentucky Derby. Christie is the exact opposite of Mitt Romney, he likes to ad lib. Scripts, what scripts? The Republican base loves him, but he might be too much for Mitt to handle. Paging Joe Biden.

15-1 Odds - Teeth Of The Dog/Governor Bobby Jindal (R - LA): Teeth of the Dog's trainer says he has "galloped out real good" lately. Bobby Jindal has been doing well himself, as Americans for Tax Reform's Grover Norquist recently said he was the guy Romney should choose for his VP. Republicans and Louisianans believe he is an effective reformer who has weathered many storms in his state. Jindal has been the flavor of the month many times, and his loose personality might be a good antithesis to Romney.

20-1 Odds - Zetterholm/Senator Kelly Ayotte (R - NH): You say Northeast ticket I say Romney/Ayotte, Romney/Ayotte...Romney/Ayotte. Kelly Ayotte is picking up a lot of steam lately in the veepstakes, just as Zetterholm has won his last three races. A female running mate could help Romney with his lagging numbers with this important demographic. However, Sarah Palin has described Ayotte as a "Granite State 'mama grizzly' who has broken barriers." Say what?

30-1 Odds - Cozzetti/Fmr. Governor Tim Pawlenty (R - MN): Cozzetti's trainer Dale Romans recently said of the horse, "One day he's going to wake up and run lights out." Republicans have been waiting for Pawlenty to do this on a national level for awhile. He dropped out of the 2012 race after the Iowa straw poll and was on the very short VP list for John McCain in 2008. He still has a lot of strong conservative fans. Will Mitt give him the chance to run lights out? Probably not.

TAKE A FLIER

30-1 Odds - Tiger Walk/Governor Nikki Haley (R - SC): Why Tiger Walk? Kent Desormeaux is his jockey. Why Nikki Haley for Romney 2012? Female, Tea Party starlet, and she is a governor from the south. Good contrast with Mitt.

30-1 Odds - Optimizer/Congressman Mitch Daniels (R - IN): Optimizer is using the Preakness to prepare for the Belmont Stakes. Optimizer's trainer believes that the Belmont will be his best race. Mitch Daniels was widely speculated to be a presidential candidate in 2012, but choose not to run. This publicity and positive speculation is only helping a possible run in 2016 should Romney lose to President Obama. Daniels serves out his second term as Governor of Indiana.

LONGSHOT

30-1 Odds - Pretension/Fmr. Governor Mike Huckabee (R - AR): Pretension is the token Maryland horse in the race to make the local fans get excited. Folksy Mike Huckabee does the same thing to the conservative and evangelical base of the Republican party. It would be a surprise, but stranger things have happened in politics.

Happy 137th Preakness and 2012 Republican presidential veepstakes.

And down the stretch they come...

Bill Schneider, Politico
‘More to come.” That’s what a source close to the Obama campaign told POLITICO about the ad attacking Mitt Romney’s record as chief executive officer of Bain Capital. This is not a one-week story. It’s going to be the central narrative of the Obama campaign.Why are Democrats so confident they can win on the anti-Bain issue? Because it hits Romney on the defining theme of his campaign: Romney’s claim that he’s a turnaround artist.

Mitt Romney will campaign Friday in New Hampshire, looking for his own "bridge to nowhere." The Romney camp thinks they have found it in a 19th century bridge no longer used for traffic that was restored with state and federal funds.

Romney's attack on the $288,000 bridge restoration will run into several immediate challenges: Funding for the project was overwhelmingly supported by state Republicans, including a significant number who have now endorsed Romney for president. The infrastructure project created much-needed jobs during tough economic times. And it left behind a public park enjoyed by Granite State residents who take great pride in their early-American and colonial history -- and who will be casting critical, swing-state votes in November. It's a curious breed of conservatism that would find offense in the job-creating conservation of a stone arch bridge that is one of the earliest examples of dry-laid masonry vaults in New England.

According to the Union Leader of Manchester, Romney is scheduled to speak in Hillsborough on Friday afternoon, and will highlight the Sawyer Bridge as an example of unnecessary government spending. The stone bridge, originally built in the 1800s, is no longer used for vehicular traffic, but the area surrounding it has been converted into a small public park. A Romney spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Romney will use the location to emphasize what he sees as the misuse of taxpayer funds in the face of the growing national debt. He'll have to be careful which local politicians he invites to stand behind him at the campaign event, because a number of prominent state officials who have endorsed Romney might not agree with the former Massachusetts' governor's characterization of the bridge.

The restoration project cost $150,000 in federal stimulus money -- roughly the amount that Romney earns in three days of income that he still receives from his old job as a private equity executive.

Flickr photo by oliva73200 taken in December 2011.

In 2004, the New Hampshire state legislature, with overwhelming support from both parties, approved a 10-year infrastructure plan that included $138,000 for the Sawyer Bridge repair. The funding provided for a new top surface for the bridge, as well as money to create a picnic area and nearby parking. According to the roll call vote record, the proposal was approved by at least 28 state senators and representatives who have since endorsed Romney.

The additional $150,000 in federal funding as part of President Barack Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009. Restoration was completed in 2010.

That year, Republican Sean Mahoney made a similar attack on the Sawyer Bridge during his failed bid for Congress. Mahoney's former campaign strategist Pat Hynes was recently hired by the Romney campaign

During the 2008 presidential campaign, then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) spoke repeatedly about rejecting federal funding for a multimillion dollar bridge that would have been used by only a handful of residents. The story turned out to be mostly untrue -- she was for the funding until it became clear Congress wouldn't provide it -- but Palin used it to establish her fiscally conservative credentials. Alaska's bridge to nowhere was easily mockable, but the bridge in New Hampshire appears to offer little to grab on to.

While New Hampshire went for Obama by over nine percentage points in 2008, recent polls have predicted a fairly tight race in November. As a result, both parties have put a strong emphasis on the state. Friday's visit marks Romney's third stop in the state in the last month. Vice President Joe Biden will make his fourth trip of the year on Tuesday.

The Truth-o-Meter says: Full Flop | Mitt Romney once distanced himself from Ronald Reagan, but no longer

Ronald Reagan is the ultimate icon for Republicans. But has Mitt Romney flip-flopped on his support for the Gipper? The flip-flop charge was raised by the Democratic National Committee in an video advertisement. Separately, one of Romney’s Republican primary opponents, Newt Gingrich, charged that Romney has demonstrated insufficient warmth for the late president. In this item, we’ll ask whether Romney has flip-flopped on his degree of support for Reagan. We’ll start by noting that the Flip-O-Meter rates politicians' consistency on particular topics from No Flip to Full Flop. ...

>> More

The Truth-o-Meter says: Full Flop | Mitt Romney rejected state tax pledge before signing national one

These days, it’s hard for candidates to claim they truly oppose taxes if they haven’t put it in writing. As a presidential candidate in 2012, Mitt Romney signed a pledge to forswear tax increases. In fact, in his official tax proposal, Romney has advocated across-the-board tax cuts. But has he been consistent over the years about putting his commitment not to raise taxes in the form of a pledge? The question about Romney and the tax pledge was raised in late 2007, when the Democratic National Committee released a ...

>> More

It seems for the moment that the arc of the moral universe is bending toward equality. On the heels of the president's historic announcement supporting marriage equality last week, several officials and even rap mogul and philanthropist Jay-Z have come out on the right side of history. In a CNN interview Jay-Z stated, with regard to marriage equality, "I've always thought [of] it as something that was still holding the country back."

Exhibiting praise for inequality is not a business plan, nor should it be a campaign slogan, yet Mitt Romney seems comfortable playing the bigotry banjo as the rest of his camp claps and sings to the beat. Romney had a great opportunity when Richard Grenell, his openly gay national security spokesman, was being attacked by the far right for being gay, to speak out against such vitriol -- especially given that Grenell was so highly qualified. But instead of standing up to the bullies on the right, Romney took Grenell's resignation after just two weeks on the job.

What kind of leadership does that show? Not only did Romney reaffirm his support for inequality after the president's announcement last week, stating that "marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman," but he recently reversed a statement he made on gay adoption. Last week Romney said that he was "fine" with gay adoption, adding that "that's something that people have a right to do." But just when he was starting to make sense, he quickly did a political two-step and retracted his statement: "Actually, I think all states but one allow gay adoption. So that's a position which has been decided by most of the state legislatures, including the one in my state some time ago. So I simply acknowledge the fact that gay adoption is legal in all states but one."

Not only did Romney recant his earlier televised interview, but he did so by misstating the facts. Only 18 states and the District of Columbia allow same-sex parents to petition for joint adoption -- that's a far cry from "all states but one."

Romney reminds me of a kid who is trying his damnedest to get the "cool kids" to like him, but he's failing miserably to convince them he's "down." It's essentially a role reversal from his high-school days as "bully-in-chief," when he led a group of kids in holding down another student as Romney cut his hair while the victim cried and yelled for help. Now, instead of being his own man and showing that he has grown past the "pack mentality," he's decided instead to adopt the role of sheep, following the rest of the conservative right's flock -- right of a cliff! This is the same man who took to the Bay Windows paper in 1994 stating that he would "be better than Ted [Kennedy] for gay rights." Really? But like the right has said about Romney's bullying incident, you can't judge someone on things they did (or said) decades ago -- ain't that the truth!

Danielle Moodie-Mills is the Advisor to LGBT Policy and Racial Justice at the Center for American Progress. Read her musings on politics and pop culture at threeLOL.com, and follow her on Twitter @DeeTwoCents.

Michael Tomasky, The Daily Beast
At first blush, it looked so deftly orchestrated on Tuesday"”Mitt Romney giving his blistering "prairie fire" speech on the debt, and John Boehner telling Pete Peterson and crowd that he relishes forcing another debt-ceiling showdown. The old one-two. Dominated the headlines. The speeches appeared to reflect a shift in focus to debts and deficits. But is this really where Romney wants to go? And in the company of Boehner? What's next, an ethnic sensitivity speech at Mel Gibson's place? Chip Somodevilla / Getty ImagesFirst of all, Romney's...

Michael Barone, DC Examiner
Is it panic time at Obama headquarters in Chicago? You might get that impression from watching events -- and the polls -- over the past few weeks.In matchups against Mitt Romney, the president is leading by only 47 to 45 percent in the realclearpolitics.com average of recent polls. A CBS/New York Times panelback poll, in which interviewers call back respondents to a previous survey, showed Romney leading 46 to 43 percent -- and leading among women.

Nate Silver, NYT
We are beginning to see more national surveys now, including this week’s New York Times/CBS News poll, that show Mitt Romney with a slight lead over President Obama in the general election matchup. There are also a number of polls that put Mr. Obama slightly ahead. But Mr. Obama’s lead does seem to have narrowed — from about three or four points in an average of national polls a month or two ago to more like a point or so in surveys today. 

The Truth-o-Meter says: Mostly True | Obama ad claims Romney, Bain left misery in wake of GST Steel takeover

Mitt Romney’s business record is the central narrative of his presidential campaign -- and the main line of attack by his rivals. Is he a savvy businessman who understands the factors that make economies thrive? Or a corporate raider who makes rich profits for himself while often leaving working people as collateral damage? You can guess which storyline President Barack Obama’s campaign is weaving. A new ad from Team Obama tells the story of GST Steel, a company taken over by Bain Capital, the private equity firm Romney led for years before his entrance into ...

>> More

The Truth-o-Meter says: Mostly True | Mitt Romney said there are "49 different federal job training programs that report to eight agencies"

During a campaign stop in St. Petersburg on May 16, 2012, Mitt Romney said he intended to make government work better and save money in the process. As an example, he cited the federal government’s efforts to provide job training. "Do you know how many federal job training programs there are? 49 different federal job training programs that report to eight agencies," he said. Romney said he would look to consolidate programs and send them to the states. "I want to take those dollars, put them together ...

>> More

Aaron Blake, Washington Post
President Obama said in an interview airing Tuesday that he will win reelection this year.“I’m going to win,” he said in an interview with ABC’s “The View,” which was taped Monday.Obama acknowledged continued difficulties with the economy present a challenge for his campaign, but also said that the election should be a choice between candidates. He said he hopes American voters will make a decision between his and Mitt Romney’s visions for the country.