NBC polls: Obama edges Romney in three key battleground states  —  President Barack Obama holds a narrow advantage over presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney in three of the most pivotal presidential battleground states — Florida, Ohio and Virginia — according to new NBC-Marist polls.

'Those of us who've spent time in the real world ...'  —  The Obama campaign has tried in a number of ways to define Mitt Romney as a guy who's out of touch with the reality most Americans experience, and at a campaign event in Denver last night the president trotted out this Mitt-just-doesn't-get-it line:

Cory Booker got it right  —  The attacks on Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker (D) by the more vitriolic liberal commentators for what he said about Bain Capital on this past Sunday's “Meet the Press” are just as indefensible as the Republican Party's cynical and dishonest attempt to exploit …

Two Dem recruits back away from Obama  —  National Democrats are upbeat about former North Dakota Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp's prospects as a Senate candidate.  And on the House level, Dems are optimistic that former Gabrielle Giffords aide Ron Barber will keep Giffords's open seat in Democratic hands.

Man implicated himself in Etan Patz disappearance: Commissioner Kelly  —  A man is in custody for the 1979 disappearance of Etan Patz, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly confirmed this morning.  —  Kelly issued a release stating that the man made statements to NYPD detectives implicating himself in the boy's disappearance.

Democrats stiffen spine on sequester  —  Power in Washington these days is most defined by saying “no,” which helps explain why Speaker John Boehner felt compelled last week — in the middle of May — to bring up a wintry debt ceiling fight more than six months away.

Has recall election made Scott Walker a GOP hero?  —  Democrats leapt at the chance to use Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to send a message to all the budget-cutting, union-busting conservatives across the land: If you mess with Big Labor, there's a heavy price to pay.  —  But if you shoot at the king, you'd better not miss.

Elizabeth Warren pulls even with Scott Brown in new poll  —  Elizabeth Warren, emerging from what many consider the roughest patch yet in her Senate campaign, has pulled into a virtual tie with US Senator Scott Brown, according to a new Suffolk University/7News poll.

Air Force Academy Graduates First Openly Gay Cadets  —  COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Eight months after a repeal of the military's “don't ask , don't tell” policy, the U.S. Air Force Academy today graduated its first group of openly gay cadets.  —  As President Obama addressed the graduates, no rainbow flags could be seen on display.

Bill Clinton's glamorous fundraiser called “worst party ever” by angry guests  —  An exclusive event hosted by Bill Clinton and attended by a host of celebrity friends has been criticised after guests who paid up to £1,000 for tickets were left queuing outside for hours.

Like an Anorexic, U.S. Sees Itself Fat With Taxes  —  NEW YORK — Are your taxes too high?  When Gallup asked that question in April , tax month in the United States, 46 percent said they were.  An additional 47 percent said their taxes were “about right.”  Just 3 percent said their taxes were too low.

Trump to Newsmax: I'm Mulling Own Super PAC to Defeat Obama  —  More ways to share...  Mixx  —  Stumbled  —  LinkedIn  —  Vine  —  Buzzflash  —  Newstrust  —  Technocrati  —  Forward Article  —  Billionaire businessman Donald Trump tells Newsmax he is seriously considering launching …

Unabomber sends Harvard class update  —  Ted Kaczynski — the domestic terrorist known as the Unabomber, who is serving life in prison for sending deadly mail bombs — will not be able to attend his 50th class reunion at Harvard College.  But he did contribute a bizarre entry to the alumni report for the class of 1962.

Romney defends class size stance to teachers  —  (CNN) - Mitt Romney, who is spending this week promoting a plan for America's public school system, spent Thursday morning defending his stance that smaller class sizes don't necessarily equate with better learning in schools.

Why Tuesday's Democratic Primaries Matter  —  Tuesday night, President Obama continued his streak of poor primary performances in culturally Southern states.  He received 58.4 percent of the vote in the Arkansas Democratic primary against token opposition, and 57.9 percent of the vote …

Online auction of Ronald Reagan's blood canceled  —  (CBS News) An online auction house canceled the sale of a medical vial purportedly containing dried blood of President Ronald Reagan, announcing the seller would instead donate the item to the late president's foundation.

Paul Fussell, Literary Scholar and Critic, Is Dead at 88  —  Paul Fussell, the wide-ranging, stingingly opinionated literary scholar and cultural critic whose admiration for Samuel Johnson, Kingsley Amis and the Boy Scout Handbook was balanced against his withering scorn for the romanticization of war …

On Health Care, Romney Goes Retro  —  Editor's Note: After looking at the economic platform of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, this installment of our series on his policy plans examines the details of his health care agenda.  —  The gist: Repeal the Affordable Care Act …

Fetisheers Take On Union In Chicago  —  The country's biggest leather fetish convention is at odds with a major hotel workers' union .  The union wants solidarity, while the conventioneers accuse them of “outing” participants.  —  Attendees at International Mr. Leather 2007.  —  Source: Codo / via: senor_codo

Welcome End of a Pseudotheory  —  Many opponents of giving equal rights and protections to gay Americans — at the workplace, in the military, in marrying and forming families — make the claim that homosexuality is a chosen way of life.  They have long seized on the work of a towering figure in psychiatry to justify their position.

Real federal deficit dwarfs official tally  —  The typical American household would have paid nearly all of its income in taxes last year to balance the budget if the government used standard accounting rules to compute the deficit, a USA TODAY analysis finds.