memeorandum: Reid: Negotiators need highway bill deal by Wednesday to beat funding deadline (Keith Laing/The Hill)

9:40 AM ET, June 27, 2012

Top Items:

Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania Swinging To Obama, Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll Finds; Voters Back President On Immigration, Split On Economy — This compares to the results of a May 3 Swing State Poll by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University, showing Obama …

Discussion: GOP 12, New York Magazine, Outside the Beltway, CNN and Hotline On Call

Wall Street Journal:

Obama Clings to a Narrow Lead — New Poll Shows Him Doing Better Than Romney in Swing States; Both Candidates Face Challenges — President Barack Obama has managed to retain a narrow lead in his race for re-election despite a spate of bad economic news and surging GOP optimism …

Discussion: Washington Wire, Ballot Box, Washington Examiner, CANNONFIRE and Jared Bernstein

First Read / msnbc.com:

NBC/WSJ poll: Obama, Romney remain in dead heat — By NBC News Senior Political Editor Mark Murray — President Barack Obama and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney remain locked in a tight contest, with each candidate displaying significant strengths and weaknesses four months …

Discussion: The Maddow Blog, The Moderate Voice, Outside the Beltway, NewsBusters.org blogs, CNN, Hot Air, New York Magazine, No More Mister Nice Blog and Mediaite

Alexander Burns / Politico:

Quinnipiac: Swing states inch toward Obama — Quinnipiac University's latest three-state poll of 2012 battlegrounds shows modest improvement for President Barack Obama, after what's been perceived as a rough political month: … Obama is up, 45 percent to 41 percent, in Florida …

Discussion: Washington Wire

Charles McGrath / New York Times:

Nora Ephron | 1941-2012: Nora Ephron, Essayist, Screenwriter and Director, Dies at 71 — Nora Ephron, an essayist and humorist in the Dorothy Parker mold (only smarter and funnier, some said) who became one of her era's most successful screenwriters and filmmakers, making romantic comedy hits like …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Confluence, Roger L. Simon, The Huffington Post, Muckety, BuzzFeed, Althouse, Poynter, Connecting.the.Dots, Guardian, Mashable! and Truthdig, more at Mediagazer »

Adam Bernstein / Washington Post:

Nora Ephron, prolific author and screenwriter, dies at age 71 — View Photo Gallery — Nora Ephron dies: Ephron, who emerged over the past four decades as one of America's warmest and most acute chroniclers of contemporary culture and society, has died. She was 71.

Discussion: New Orleans Times-Picayune, The Daily What and Guardian, more at Mediagazer »

Liz Smith / wowowow:
Liz Smith on Nora Ephron

Discussion: TMZ.com, Mediaite, msnbc.com, Gothamist and Gawker

Investor's Business Daily:

Issa's Right: Tougher Gun Laws Fast And Furious Goal — Scandal: The head of the House oversight panel suggests the real reason for the administration's invoking executive privilege in the Fast and Furious case is to hide proof that the operation was part of a push for gun control.

Discussion: Questions and Observations and BizzyBlog

Larry Margasak / Associated Press:

Some Democrats may follow NRA and support contempt — WASHINGTON (AP) — Now that the politically potent National Rifle Association is keeping score, some Democrats may join House Republicans if there's a vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress in a dispute …

Discussion: Speaker.gov, Politico, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Political Carnival and The Right Scoop

Matt Canham / Salt Lake Tribune:
Matheson: Holder should be held in contempt

Discussion: Hot Air, Hotline On Call, Power Line and Influence Alley

Ryan Mauro / World Threats:
The Other Eric Holder Scandal

Discussion: Doug Ross, Weasel Zippers and Israpundit

Mhigginscbs / CBS DC:
Hoyer: Some Dems Will Vote To Hold Holder In Contempt For Fast And Furious

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Nice Deb and The Daily Caller

LZ Granderson / CNN:
Don't be nosy about Fast and Furious

Discussion: Hot Air and Hit & Run

Samuel P. Jacobs / Reuters:

Democratic campaign chair tells candidates to avoid convention — (Reuters) - The man responsible for getting Democrats elected to the U.S. Congress this fall has a message for his party's candidates: Stay away from the Democratic National Convention. — “If they want to win an election …

Discussion: Politico, Ballot Box, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Capital Tonight, Sweetness & Light and Jammie Wearing Fools

Pema Levy / 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com:

TPM2012 — Claire McCaskill Will Not Attend Democratic National Convention — Claire McCaskill will not be attending the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, a McCaskill aide confirmed to TPM Tuesday. McCaskill joins a list of vulnerable Democratic politicians whose home districts …

Pema Levy / 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPM2012 — Republicans: McCaskill Can Run From Convention, But Can't Hide From Obama

Discussion: New York Magazine, Weasel Zippers, CNN and Weekly Standard

Keith Laing / The Hill:

Reid: Negotiators need highway bill deal by Wednesday to beat funding deadline — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) warned Tuesday that a deal between the House and Senate on transportation funding needed to be finalized Wednesday to be approved by Congress in time to beat a June 30 deadline.

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Laura Bassett / The Huffington Post:
Rand Paul Fetal Personhood Amendment Stalls Flood Insurance Bill

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos, The Impolitic and Wall Street Journal

Annie-Rose Strasser / ThinkProgress:
Republican Senator Tries To Add Conception Amendment To Flood Insurance Bill

Discussion: Politico, Jesus' General, Addicting Info, The Political Carnival, Los Angeles Times, Balloon Juice and The Raw Story

Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
Reid vows to block vote on Paul's ‘life at conception’ amendment to flood bill

Discussion: Rumproast, Wonkette and Guardian

David Catanese / Politico:

Utah Senate primary 2012: Hatch wins in a landslide — Sen. Orrin Hatch won the Utah GOP Senate primary in a landslide over an ambitious but underfunded challenger Tuesday night, all but ensuring he'll win a seventh term this fall. — With 72 percent of precincts reporting …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Thomas Kaplan / New York Times:
Rangel Fends Off Challengers to Win Difficult Primary

Discussion: New York Post, City Room, The Gateway Pundit, New York Magazine and Gothamist

Rachel Rose Hartman / ABCNEWS:
Incumbents Rangel, Hatch win primary elections

Discussion: Politico

ABCNEWS:

Obama Hails The ‘Miami Heats’ — Unfazed by a partisan spat sparked by his comment on former Red Sox player Kevin Youkilis, President Obama tonight again opined on a professional sports team, publicly praising the NBA champion Miami Heat at a campaign fundraiser in the city.

Discussion: The Hill, Twitchy, Jammie Wearing Fools, The Spectacle Blog, American Spectator and JustOneMinute

Diana Marcum / Los Angeles Times:

Stockton to file for bankruptcy, will be largest U.S. city to fail — The Stockton City Council halts bond payments, slashes employee benefits and adopts an emergency budget as mediation ends. The Central Valley city becomes the largest in the U.S. to seek bankruptcy protection.

Discussion: Ed Driscoll

Shelby Grad / L.A. NOW:
Stockton braces for possible bankruptcy as key vote looms

Discussion: Sweetness & Light and The Glittering Eye

Dominic Patten / Deadline.com:

CNN Sinks To 21-Year Primetime Ratings Low In Second Quarter — Coming off its least-watched month in primetime in 20 years in May, CNN has taken another big ratings blow: The cable news network has registered to its lowest-rated quarter in primetime since 1991.

Discussion: Politico and Sweetness & Light, more at Mediagazer »

Michael O'Connell / Hollywood Reporter:
CNN Hits 21-Year Ratings Low in Second Quarter

Discussion: Media Decoder, Mediaite, New York Magazine and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

Adam Peck / ThinkProgress:

EXCLUSIVE POLL: Women's Health Issues Create Surprising Vulnerability For Eric Cantor's Reelection Bid — New polling from Virginia's 7th Congressional District, one of the more reliably conservative districts in the country, shows surprising vulnerabilities for Republican House Majority …

Discussion: The Political Carnival and Suburban Guerrilla

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

Barack Obama, Outsourcer — President Obama has decided to make the claim that Mitt Romney “outsourced” jobs as head of Bain Capital a major theme of his reelection campaign. Today in Waterloo, Iowa, Joe Biden repeated the “outsourcing” mantra. — I'm not sure that either Obama or Biden …

Discussion: Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier and Washington Free Beacon

Annie Linskey / Baltimore Sun:

Same-sex marriage foes owe $74K to GOP delegate — The group trying to repeal Maryland's new same-sex marriage law filed more than enough signatures to trigger a referendum, but their finances looked far less impressive. — The Maryland Marriage Alliance raised a mere $5,000 in the past month — and owes $88,000 to various vendors.

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay

Nicholas Confessore / New York Times:

New York Attorney General Enters Campaign Finance Fray — Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman of New York has begun investigating contributions to tax-exempt groups that are heavily involved in political campaigns, focusing on a case involving the U.S. Chamber of Commerce …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and The Caucus