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.

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 …

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.

'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:

Obama Misses His Entrance  —  President Obama failed to appear on cue last night at the Fox Theater in Redwood, California, a weird lapse for a president who may have been exhausted at the end of a marathon day of speechifying and campaigning.  —  Pool reporter Peter Baker of the New York Times offers …

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.

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.

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 …

Air Force Academy Graduates First-Ever Openly Gay Cadets  —  Though there wasn't any particularly visible recognition, the recent commencement ceremony at the Air Force Academy was an important milestone: there were openly gay cadets graduating for the first time.

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 …

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.

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.

Indelible Image of Boy's Pat on Obama's Head  —  WASHINGTON — For decades at the White House, photographs of the president at work and at play have hung throughout the West Wing, and each print soon gives way to a more recent shot.  But one picture of President Obama remains after three years.

New York Lawmakers Encounter Comments Sections, Freak Out  —  Ah, the joys of someone with power who just encountered their first bonkers comments section.  Via Wired: … It's easy to make fun of the late Sen. Ted Stevens' for his description of the internet as “a series of tubes,” …

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.

Wasserman Schultz On Verge of Being Cancelled at Temple Israel  —  The blowback from Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz' political tactics that the Shark Tank first reported on last week has resulted in a unprecedented public outcry and political pressure being brought to bear on the Trustees …

Rob Portman said to be on short list for Romney vice president  —  COLUMBUS, Ohio — He had received a phone call just that morning from a supporter furious about yet another newspaper story suggesting that he was boring.  It was not the best of days for Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio …

Europe Girds for Greek Exit  —  Leaders Plot Contingencies as They Find Little Compromise; Euro at 2-Year Low  —  BRUSSELS—European officials are stepping up contingency planning for a possible Greek exit from the euro zone, even as Europe's leaders struggled to overcome differences …

Reason-Rupe Poll on Wisconsin Recall: Walker Leads Barrett 50-42, Obama Leads Romney 46-36  —  Gov. Scott Walker leads Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett 50-42 among those likely to vote in Wisconsin's June 5 recall election, according to a new Reason-Rupe poll of 708 Wisconsin adults on cell phones and landlines.

Ukip's new deal  —  /article_images/articledir_15729/ 7864578/1_listing.jpg  —  Nigel Farage is relishing the chance to sow discord in Tory ranks  —  Nigel Farage looks round with mild disgust at the antiseptic Westminster restaurant in which we're meant to be having lunch.

Obama: We need five more years  —  ATHERTON, Calif. - President Barack Obama told an intimate crowd gathered at the family estate of the heir to the Levi Strauss & Co. fortune that he has started to steer the ship in the right direction.  —  “We've set a path and a target,” he said …

New Orleans Paper Said to Face Deep Cuts and May Cut Back Publication  —  The New Orleans Times-Picayune, which distinguished itself amid great adversity during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, is about to enact large staff cuts and may cut back its daily print publishing schedule …

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 …