memeorandum: Santorum endorses Ted Cruz in Texas Senate race (Rachel Rose Hartman/ABCNEWS)

2:05 PM ET, May 24, 2012

Top Items:

Mark Murray / msnbc.com:

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.

Discussion: Politico, ABCNEWS, Outside the Beltway, Marist Poll, CNN, Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, The Page, Hot Air, Daily Kos, The Hill, Naked Politics and Taegan Goddard's …

Tim Mak / Politico:
‘Stand Your Ground’ backed in Florida, poll shows

Discussion: ThinkProgress

First Read / msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: Mr. 48% — Mr. 48%: Obama at or near 48% …

Discussion: Yahoo! News and 2012 Decoded

Marist Poll:
5/24: Obama Leads Romney by Six Percentage Points in Ohio

Discussion: Firedoglake and The Caucus

Ann Althouse / Althouse:

“Has recall election made Scott Walker a GOP hero?” — Asks Politico: … The recall has put Walker in the position where he must advertise and promote himself, which might have been awkward before — and it was never his thing. TV viewers are getting barraged with Walker ads …

Discussion: Moe Lane, National Review and GayPatriot

Robin Bravender / Politico:

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.

Discussion: CNN, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Wisconsin Reporter and Mother Jones

weaskamerica.com:

Turnout — You have to hand it to Wisconsin's electorate: they are passionate about their politics. When we first polled the Dairy State's voters about Republican Gov. Scott Walker's plummeting approval ratings, many right-leaning types let the blogosphere know how We Ask America's minions …

Emily Ekins / Hit & Run:
Reason-Rupe Poll on Wisconsin Recall: Walker Leads Barrett 50-42, Obama Leads Romney 46-36

Discussion: Firedoglake, Wake up America, Ballot Box, National Review, Campaign 2012 and The PJ Tatler

Alexander Burns / Politico:

'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:

Discussion: Questions and Observations and Connecting.the.Dots

Darleen Click / protein wisdom: Hey, Barry ... who is this “we” you speak of?

TMZ.com:

Bill Clinton — SURROUNDED By Porn Stars in Monaco — SURROUNDED — By Porn Stars — EXCLUSIVE — Bill Clinton just out-Clinton'd himself — posing with two famous porn stars in Monaco moments ago ... and one of them's a real up-and-comer. — Clinton's in a Monte Carlo casino right …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, BuzzFeed, EBL, Moonbattery, The Daily Caller, ABCNEWS and CBS DC

Alexander Burns / Politico:

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.

Discussion: Arizona Daily Star, Weasel Zippers, Moe_Lane's blog, Weekly Standard, The Gateway Pundit and The PJ Tatler

Associated Press:
Competitive Senate race shaping up in North Dakota

Discussion: New York Times

Tim Mak / Politico:
Heidi Heitkamp, Democratic Senate candidate, knocks Obama

Discussion: Washington Post

Lanny Davis / The Hill:

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 …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, New York Times, Taylor Marsh, GOP.com, DownWithTyranny! and Politico

Jan Crawford / CBS News:
Attacks on Romney's business past not sticking

Discussion: Washington Post, Wake up America and Hot Air

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Romney defends Bain record, says Obama ‘attacking capitalism’

Discussion: CNN, Hot Air and CANNONFIRE

New York Post:

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.

Discussion: NY Daily News, msnbc.com, Guardian, Scared Monkeys, Runnin' Scared and Jammie Wearing Fools

City Room:

Man Confesses to Strangling Etan Patz, Police Say — A man in custody in Manhattan has confessed to strangling Etan Patz, the 6-year-old boy who vanished in SoHo on his way to school in 1979, wrapping his body in a bag and putting it in a box, a law enforcement official said on Thursday.

Discussion: Guardian, Outside the Beltway, New York Magazine, Mediaite and Newsy

Michael Levenson / Boston Globe:

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.

Discussion: American Spectator

George F. Will / Washington Post:
Elizabeth Warren's identity politics

Discussion: Hot Air and p m carpenter's commentary

David Catanese / Politico:
Poll: Elizabeth Warren unscathed by Cherokee flap

Discussion: New York Times, Daily Kos, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Page and Swampland

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Rachel Maddow fails the Carney test — Last night, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow attributed statements to Mitt Romney that he did not make. — In a segment pegged, ironically, to White House criticism of the Washington press corps, Maddow attempted to rise to the White House's challenge by calling …

Discussion: American Prospect, Weasel Zippers, Campaign 2012 and The Maddow Blog

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Maryland Polling Memo — A new Public Policy Polling survey in Maryland finds a significant increase in support for same-sex marriage among African American voters following President Obama's historic announcement two weeks ago. The referendum to keep the state's new law legalizing same-sex marriage …

Discussion: Runnin' Scared, New York Times, Conservative Commune, Towleroad News #gay and ABCNEWS

Michael K. Lavers / Washington Blade:
Poll: Majority of black Marylanders back same-sex marriage

Discussion: ThinkProgress, NOM Blog and The New Civil Rights Movement

Boston Globe:

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.

Discussion: msnbc.com, Outside the Beltway and newsfeed.time.com

David Rogers / Politico:

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.

Discussion: The Hill, ThinkProgress, Ezra Klein, Booman Tribune and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*

Sahil Kapur / tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPMDC — Dems Escalate Battle For Women Voters With Equal Pay Bill

Discussion: Firedoglake, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Politico, Taylor Marsh and Daily Kos

Dennis Cauchon / USA Today:

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.

Discussion: Conservative Commune, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers and The PJ Tatler

Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:

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 …

Discussion: American Prospect, Politico and Washington Monthly

CNN:

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.

Discussion: The Hill, Guardian and New York Magazine

Hannah Furness / Telegraph:

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.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, New York Magazine, nation.foxnews.com and The Daily Caller

Josh Lederman / Ballot Box:

Dem fundraiser honors 25th anniversary of Rep. Barney Frank's coming out — House Democrats will hold a fundraiser next week honoring the 25th anniversary of Rep. Barney's Frank (D-Mass.) coming out of the closet. — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Democratic Congressional …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Rachel Rose Hartman / ABCNEWS:

Santorum endorses Ted Cruz in Texas Senate race — Texas Senate candidate Ted Cruz on Thursday gained yet another high-profile endorsement, this time from Rick Santorum. — “Ted Cruz is spellbinding, a tremendous orator and principled,” Santorum said on Glenn Beck's radio show Thursday morning, according to Santorum's staff.

Discussion: CNN