memeorandum: Dems, Axelrod plan Massachusetts presser to slam Romney (Maggie Haberman/Politico)

11:40 AM ET, May 31, 2012

Top Items:

Mark Murray / msnbc.com:

NBC-Marist polls: Obama, Romney deadlocked in three key states — President Obama phones Mitt Romney to congratulate him for locking up the GOP nomination. NBC's Steve Handelsman reports. — President Barack Obama and presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney are deadlocked …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Shakesville, Washington Post, Taegan Goddard's …, National Review, PoliPundit.com, ABCNEWS and New York Times

Jim Vandeheiand Mike Allen / Politico:

To GOP, blatant bias in vetting — On the front page of its Sunday edition, the New York Times gave a big spread to Ann Romney spending lots of time and tons of money on an exotic genre of horse-riding. The clear implication: The Romneys are silly rich, move in rarefied and exotic circles, and are perhaps a tad shady.

Discussion: American Prospect, Weekly Standard, New York Magazine and Balloon Juice, more at Mediagazer »

Steven Shepard / NationalJournal.com:
Obama, Romney Neck-and-Neck in Swing-State Polls

Discussion: Hot Air, Marist Poll, 2012 Decoded and Washington Free Beacon

Maggie Haberman / Politico:
Dems, Axelrod plan Massachusetts presser to slam Romney

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The PJ Tatler, CNN and The Page

Marist Poll:
5/31: Obama and Romney Vie for Lead in Colorado

Discussion: Firedoglake and CNN

Marist Poll:
5/31: Obama and Romney Tied in Iowa

Discussion: Politico

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

Bloomberg Plans a Ban on Large Sugared Drinks — New York City plans to enact a far-reaching ban on the sale of large sodas and other sugary drinks at restaurants, movie theaters and street carts, in the most ambitious effort yet by the Bloomberg administration to combat rising obesity.

NY1.com:
Mayor Bloomberg Seeks Ban On Large Sugary Drinks In City Eateries

Discussion: NY Daily News, Weasel Zippers, Joe. My. God. and Connecting.the.Dots

Boston Globe:

Warren says she told schools of heritage — Acknowledges identifying as Native American after hirings — Governor Deval Patrick (right) endorsed Elizabeth Warren's Senate candidacy at a campaign event on Wednesday. (Yoon S. Byun / Globe Staff) — Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Weekly Standard, Ballot Box, The Caucus, Washington Post, Weasel Zippers, msnbc.com, Politico and Washington Free Beacon

Joshua Roberts / ABCNEWS:

Warren Admits Telling Harvard of Cherokee Heritage — After weeks of controversy, Massachusetts Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren said on Wednesday night that she did indeed tell the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University that she was Native American.

Discussion: Guardian and National Review

Mj Lee / Politico:
Elizabeth Warren: I told Harvard about my heritage

Discussion: Boston Globe, The Volokh Conspiracy and iOwnTheWorld.com

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

BREAKING: Two Republican Judges Declare DOMA Unconstitutional — A three judge panel of The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit just handed down a decision declaring the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. Notably, the panel included Judges Juan Torruella and Michael Boudin …

Discussion: Hot Air, Moe Lane and The New Civil Rights Movement

David Jackson / USA Today:

Obama team bashes Romney record as governor — President Obama's re-election team kicks off its campaign against Mitt Romney's term as governor of Massachusetts today with a new video and anti-Romney testimony from state Democrats. — The four-minute film notes that Romney raised state fees …

Discussion: The Reaction

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
Obama hits Romney's ‘broken promises’ as Mass. governor

Discussion: New York Magazine and GOP 12

CNN:
Romney's Massachusetts record under scrutiny in Obama campaign video

Discussion: Boston Globe, The Caucus, Politico, The Hill and Connecting.the.Dots

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis:

National Income and Product Accounts Gross Domestic Product, 1st quarter 2012 (second estimate); Corporate Profits, 1st quarter 2012 (preliminary estimate) — Real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States …

Discussion: Reuters, Ezra Klein, Daily Kos, Hot Air, msnbc.com, Calculated Risk, Business Insider and BizzyBlog

Allison Hayward / Politico:

Jail for Edwards over Bunny money? — As the John Edwards jury deliberates, we should focus not just on his potential incarceration, but on what a guilty verdict could mean for all campaign finance regulation. — If Edwards is successfully prosecuted, we may be entering an “Alice in Wonderland” …

New York Times:
On Edwards Jury's Eighth Day, Alternates Are Sent Home

Discussion: The Page and WHNT-TV

Wall Street Journal:

Wisconsin Unions See Ranks Drop Ahead of Recall Vote — Public-employee unions in Wisconsin have experienced a dramatic drop in membership—by more than half for the second-biggest union—since a law championed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker sharply curtailed their ability to bargain over wages and working conditions.

Discussion: Power Line, americanthinker.com, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Firedoglake

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Republican's abortion bill risks alienating Asian Americans — Republicans long ago lost African American voters. They are well on their way to losing Latinos. And if Trent Franks prevails, they may lose Asian Americans, too. — The Arizona Republican's latest antiabortion salvo …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and The Daily Caller

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Video: Fox's “Four years of hope and change”; Update: “Not authorized at the senior executive level of the network” — Considering the source. — I don't disagree with much, if anything, in this video presented earlier today on Fox & Friends. Neither, I suspect, will many of our readers.

TMZ.com:

Puts Church on Lockdown Pastor Gets Death Threats — Members of an Indiana church say they've been flooded with death threats since video of a 3-year-old proudly singing, “Ain't no homos gonna make it to heaven” ... was posted on the Internet. — Multiple members of the Apostolic Truth Tabernacle Church …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, PinkNews.co.uk and Joe. My. God.

Dan Savage / The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper:
O They Will Know We Are Christians...

Discussion: Rock Beyond Belief, LGBTQ Nation, The New Civil Rights Movement, Crooks and Liars, ThinkProgress, Wonkette, Religion Dispatches, Gawker, Truth Wins Out and Towleroad News #gay

Annie-Rose Strasser / ThinkProgress:

BREAKING: Walmart Ends Financial Support For ALEC — The world's largest retailer, Walmart, has become the nineteenth group to leave the American Legislative Exchange Council. Walmart's departure from the right-wing legislation-crafting group is particularly salient because the big box chain …

Discussion: Reuters and We Party Patriots

David Ariosto / CNN:

Porn actor suspected of dismembering acquaintance still on the loose — (CNN) — The search continued Thursday for a gay porn actor suspected of dismembering his acquaintance, posting the video of the incident online and mailing the severed limbs to different locations in Ottawa …

Discussion: The Jawa Report and Towleroad News #gay

Laurie Goodstein / New York Times:

In Milwaukee Post, Cardinal Authorized Paying Abusers — Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York authorized payments of as much as $20,000 to sexually abusive priests as an incentive for them to agree to dismissal from the priesthood when he was the archbishop of Milwaukee.

Discussion: The New Civil Rights Movement, CNN, Box Turtle Bulletin, New York Magazine and Joe. My. God.

Alexander Burns / Politico:

Buddy Roemer quits 2012 race — Former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer announced in a statement this morning that his quixotic independent campaign for president has come to an end. — After failing to get access to the GOP primary debates last year, Roemer had decided to run as an independent …

Discussion: CNN, Indecision Forever and Taegan Goddard's …

Chris Moody / ABCNEWS:

Gingrich on Super PAC ad war: 'It's going to be a mess' — Former presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, who during the Republican primaries found himself on the blunt end of brutal attack ads paid for by a super PAC supporting his rival Mitt Romney, predicted Thursday that the slew of negative ads …

Discussion: CNN and Yahoo! News

Richard A. Oppel Jr / New York Times:

Republican Foreign Policy Establishment Slow to Embrace Romney — Henry A. Kissinger gave his endorsement to John McCain more than a year and a half before the last presidential election, explaining in April 2007 that Mr. McCain's “record, character, and belief that America's best days lie ahead” …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Los Angeles Times, The American Conservative, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, msnbc.com, Outside the Beltway, The Caucus, CNN, A plain blog about politics, The Moderate Voice, The Page, Towleroad News #gay and Campaign 2012

John McCormick / Bloomberg:
Condoleezza Rice Endorses Romney Citing His Leadership

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Mediaite and The Hill

Brendan Sasso / The Hill:

Lawmakers introduce measure to fight UN regulation of the Net — A bipartisan group of lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee introduced a resolution on Wednesday urging the Obama administration to oppose efforts to give the United Nations more control over the Internet.