Ann Romney is the Romney Democrats fear most  —  Ann Romney's unexpected rock star status has the political arena buzzing about how her husband's campaign will leverage her popularity in an election in which Michelle Obama — one of the most admired first ladies in history — will have an outsized and substantive portfolio.

The right's stealthy coup  —  Right before our eyes, American conservatism is becoming something very different from what it once was.  Yet this transformation is happening by stealth because moderates are too afraid to acknowledge what all their senses tell them.

‘Mad Men’ Blasts Romney, Calls Him a ‘Clown’  —  The hit AMC TV show “Mad Men” took a not-so-subtle swipe at a Romney Sunday night — George Romney, the father of presidential contender Mitt Romney, that is.  —  In the 1960s-era series, the character Henry Francis …

Former President Clinton on Mitt Romney: Etch-a-Sketch “Is What He's Got to Do”  —  Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, currently faces a dynamic similar to the one President Bill Clinton faced during his first presidential run 20 years ago: a long, bruising primary, driving up his unfavorable ratings.

HEAVY BURDEN  —  It's well known by now that Donald Verrilli, Jr., the Solicitor General, had an off day at the Supreme Court last Tuesday, when he was called on to defend the constitutionality of the individual mandate, the part of the Affordable Care Act which requires people to buy health insurance.

Pink Slime Economics  —  The big bad event of last week was, of course, the Supreme Court hearing on health reform.  In the course of that hearing it became clear that several of the justices, and possibly a majority, are political creatures pure and simple, willing to embrace any argument …

Rick Santorum: I may ‘sneak’ Wisconsin win  —  Rick Santorum predicted Monday on the eve of the Wisconsin primary that he may “sneak in and have an upset.”  —  “We feel good that we're going to have a good result here in Wisconsin — we're going to have a strong showing …

Why Don't Black People Protest ‘Black-on-Black Violence’?  —  Juan Williams offers a meme that we are seeing repeated in response to the widespread protests around Trayvon Martin: … This is an interesting question.  It's also one that Juan Williams, who's been writing about race for almost three decades, should be able to answer.

Sarah Palin to guest-host ‘Today’ show Tuesday  —  Sarah Palin will guest-host NBC's “Today” show on Tuesday.  —  The former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential nominee, who is also a Fox News contributor, will join Matt Lauer as co-host for the day, according to NBC News.

Local group to buy Phila.  Media Network for $55 million  —  A group of local investors agreed on Monday to buy Philadelphia Media Network Inc., the parent company of The Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com, for $55 million with up to an additional $10 million in working capital for operations.

Ann Romney Says Campaign Will ‘Unzip’ the Real Mitt  —  GREEN BAY, Wis. - Ann Romney defended her husband's sense of humor today during a radio interview, explaining that if people think the candidate seems too stiff at times as the host suggested, she thinks “we better unzip him and let the real Mitt Romney out.”

Where is George W. Bush?  —  George W. Bush is everywhere and nowhere in the 2012 presidential race.  —  Reviled by Democrats and generally avoided as a campaign talking point by his fellow Republicans, the former president is in a self-imposed political exile — an absence that was underscored …

Shock Poll: Majority would recall Wis. Gov. Walker  —  A new Rasmussen poll finds that Republican Wisconsin Scott Walker is in trouble of being recalled June 5, with a majority, 52 percent, saying they will vote him out less than two years after he took office and immediately went to work to cut the power of public service unions.

Senior citizens continue to bear burden of student loans  —  New research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows that Americans 60 and older still owe about $36 billion in student loans, providing a rare window into the dynamics of student debt.  More than 10 percent of those loans are delinquent.