memeorandum: Someday, Romney will pick a persona and stick with it (Steve Benen/Washington Monthly)

5:20 PM ET, June 2, 2011

Top Items:

First Read / msnbc.com:

Palin fires shot at Romney at Bunker Hill — By NBC's Shawna Thomas, Alex Moe, and Mark Murray — In remarks made at Bunker Hill in Massachusetts — of all places — Sarah Palin fired a shot at Mitt Romney over the health-care mandate that Romney signed into law in the state in 2006.

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, The Hill, No More Mister Nice Blog, Conservatives4Palin, Maggie's Notebook, Taylor Marsh, Associated Press, The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, GOP 12, The Daily Dish, The Political Carnival, Fox Nation and Public Policy Polling

Joshua Green / The Atlantic Online:

Why Going Rogue Won't Work — Sarah Palin is dominating the political conversation. But if she really wants to be president, she's going about it all wrong. — Even before donning biker leather and mounting a Harley-Davidson for a motorcycle rally in Washington last weekend …

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:

Palin attacks Romney's record on his announcement day — Boston (CNN) - Less than an hour before Mitt Romney was to announce his second bid for the White House in New Hampshire, Sarah Palin appeared in Romney's hometown and set about picking apart the health care plan he supported as governor …

Discussion: Associated Press, Washington Monthly, The Note, ThinkProgress and The Hill

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

Someday, Romney will pick a persona and stick with it — Any minute now, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) will stand on a New Hampshire stage and launch his second presidential campaign, following a third-place finish in 2008. He'll have a hard-hitting message to share, which we certainly haven't heard from Romney before.

Discussion: msnbc.com and Prairie Weather

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Romney, Palin lead the way

Discussion: GOP 12, Ben Smith's Blog, Barefoot and Progressive and Conservatives4Palin

The Note:
Romney Talks to ABC News About Health Care, Jobs, Ties and Red Sox

Discussion: ABCNEWS and AmSpecBlog

The Note:
Mitt Romney Targeted by Joe Miller's Tea Party Group

Discussion: Daily Kos

James Oliphant / Los Angeles Times:
Sarah Palin to collide with Mitt Romney rollout in New Hampshire

Discussion: The Politico, Reuters, Daily Kos and msnbc.com

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Romney will say Obama ‘has failed America’ in 2012 launch speech

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, CNN, The Note, PERRspectives, ABCNEWS, ThinkProgress, The Politico, New York Post, Pat Dollard, Connecting.the.Dots, unionleader.com and Taylor Marsh

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
Mitt Romney's strange counting of pages to distinguish ‘Romneycare’ from ‘Obamacare’

Discussion: ThinkProgress and americanthinker.com

Associated Press:
Romney opens presidential bid challenging Obama

Discussion: The Political Carnival and Weasel Zippers

Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
Romney Makes His Run for President Official

Discussion: Boston Globe, Pajamas Media, The Washington Independent, Wonkette and Guardian

The Smoking Gun:

The Wolfe At Anthony Weiner's Front Door — Paranoid Twitter mystery man fears pol's “Clinton connections” … The prescient Twitter provocateur who, weeks ago, somehow divined that a lewd photo scandal was looming for Rep. Anthony Weiner claims he is fearful that his leading role in …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, minx.cc, The Other McCain, Little Green Footballs, Joe Report, Joe. My. God., Simply Left BehindThe … and CANNONFIRE

Justin Elliott / Salon:

Embarrassing emails from Weiner tweeter leaked — The intrigue surrounding the Anthony Weiner crotch shot story, Andrew Breitbart and a mystery Twitter user deepens — Did Andrew Breitbart leak embarrassing personal emails sent to him by the mystery Twitter user at the center of the Anthony Weiner crotch shot scandal?

Discussion: Slate Magazine, The Daily Caller and UNCOVERAGE.net

CBS News: Probe could give Weiner more headaches: expert

Emily Miller / Washington Times:
(AUDIO) MILLER: Anthony Weiner's lewd jokes

Discussion: The Sundries Shack, National Review, The Powers That Be and Founding Bloggers

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
GOP's Cantor urges Weiner to ‘come clean’ on controversy

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and The Maddow Blog

Ace / Ace of Spades HQ:
The Curious Case Of Hayley Williams

Discussion: US News, STRANAHAN dot COM, Mediaite, The Politico, Wake up America, Founding Bloggers, RedState, New York Times, Pajamas Media, The Daily Caller, JustOneMinute, POWIP, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Washington Post

Binyamin Appelbaum / New York Times:

Employment Data May Be the Key to the President's Job — WASHINGTON — No American president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt has won a second term in office when the unemployment rate on Election Day topped 7.2 percent. — Seventeen months before the next election, it is increasingly clear …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, The Nation, ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Pirate's Cove, The Confluence, JustOneMinute, Salon, msnbc.com, The Daily Dish, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Associated Press and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Nile Gardiner / blogs.telegraph.co.uk:

Why Barack Obama may be heading for electoral disaster in 2012 — On a recent visit to London I was struck by how much faith many British politicians, journalists and political advisers have in Barack Obama being re-elected in 2012. In the aftermath of the hugely successful Special Forces operation …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, UrbanGrounds, Nice Deb, New York Magazine, Wake up America, Pajamas Media, Left Coast Rebel, Adrienne's Corner, Rasmussen Reports and White House Dossier

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
Presidents, unemployment rates, and context

Discussion: Rooted Cosmopolitan, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Washington Post and The Glittering Eye

New Jersey Online:

Christie refuses to reimburse N.J. for traveling by helicopter to see son's baseball game — TRENTON — Facing broad criticism for flying by helicopter to watch his son's high school baseball game in Bergen County, Gov. Chris Christie refused today to refund the state for Tuesday's $2,500-an-hour flight.

Discussion: USA Today, CBS New York, Taylor Marsh, Washington Monthly, New York Magazine, The Political Carnival and AMERICAblog News

Marie Diamond / ThinkProgress:

Gov. Christie Thinks A Family Making $6,000 A Year Is Too Rich To Qualify For Medicaid — Despite recent polls that show Americans are just as protective of Medicaid as they are of Medicare, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) is trying to gut the popular program in his state and prevent 23,000 people from receiving benefits.

Ginger Gibson / New Jersey Online:

Gov. Christie reimburses N.J. for use of state helicopter to attend son's baseball games — TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie and the state Republican Party will repay the state for two trips on a State Police helicopter to get to his son's baseball games. — The most recent ride, on Tuesday …

Discussion: The Hill, The Politico and Hot Air

The Star-Ledger Editorial Page:
Christie should pay for chopper ride to ballgame

Discussion: WyBlog and Washington Monthly

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

Abramson to Replace Keller as The Times's Executive Editor — Jill Abramson, a former investigative reporter and Washington bureau chief for The New York Times, will become the paper's executive editor, succeeding Bill Keller, who is stepping down to become a full-time writer for the paper.

Discussion: Felix Salmon, Mashable!, The Politico, The Daily Caller, Guardian, Gawker, Taylor Marsh, New York Magazine, Pajamas Media, Mediaite, Runnin' Scared, National Review, americanthinker.com, Feministing, Althouse and TalkLeft, more at Mediagazer »

The Note:

Moody's Will Review U.S. Credit Rating if No Debt Limit Progress in the Coming Weeks — ABC News' Dan Arnall (@abcmoneyguy) reports: In a release this afternoon, the Moody's ratings agency said it would put the U.S. credit rating under review if Congress and the Obama administration don't make progress on increasing the debt limit.

Discussion: National Review and Pajamas Media

Moody's:
Announcement: Moody's Updates on Rating Implications of US Debt Limit, Long-Term Budget Negotiations

Discussion: Washington Post and Political Punch

Colby Hall / Mediaite:

Exclusive: Glenn Beck's Last Day On Fox News Will Be June 30th — Mediaite has learned that Glenn Beck's last day on Fox News is currently scheduled to be June 30th. Fox News has confirmed this information to Mediaite. — In the past month, ratings for Beck's ratings saw a double digit decline …

Discussion: Gawker, The Political Carnival, Don Surber and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

John Bresnahan / The Politico:

GOP drafts alternative Libya resolution — House GOP leaders have scheduled a vote on Friday on U.S. participation in the NATO-led effort to topple Muammar Qadhafi, but what lawmakers will be voting on is still unclear. — Top House Republicans are drafting an alternative proposal …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Note, The Hill, Outside the Beltway, Eunomia, Booman Tribune and Reuters

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
Boehner says president must clarify U.S. military operations

Discussion: The Politico

Carolyn Hax / Washington Post:

Listen up, fellas: Naked man-parts? Not so sexy. — A general note for men: — Over the weekend, it was revealed that Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.), or someone pretending to be Weiner, allegedly sent a photo of his bulging briefs to one of his Twitter followers.

Discussion: Feministe and Moe Lane

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:

The Lame Justification For Debt Ceiling Hostage-Taking — John Taylor, the Hoover Institute economist who always supports the Republican position, has an op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal supporting the Republican position on the debt ceiling. How could an economist justify a policy …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Wall Street Journal and Washington Monthly

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
Making the hostage strategy explicit

Discussion: New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Reuters and Sky Dancing

Townhall.com:

Steve Breen Political Cartoons — Townhall Cartoons Steve Breen — Stephen Paul Breen (born April 26, 1970 in Los Angeles, California) is a nationally syndicated cartoonist. He twice won the Pulitzer Prize, in 1998 and 2009. — He graduated from Huntington Beach High School in 1988 …

Discussion: iOwnTheWorld.com

Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:

O'Donnell: FEC complaint dismissed — Former Delaware Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell says the Federal Elections Commission has dropped a campaign finance complaint filed against her last year by the state's Republican Party. — O'Donnell's attorney, Cleta Mitchell …

Discussion: National Review and Joe. My. God.

Mike Carter / Seattle Times:

Judge refuses to toss out lawsuit over gay softball — A federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by three men who claim they were disqualified from the 2008 Gay Softball World Series near Seattle for not being gay enough. — The men, members of a San Francisco softball team …

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay and Simply Left BehindThe …

Bloomberg:

Union Enthusiasm for Obama Re-Election Fades, AFL-CIO's Chief Trumka Says — President Barack Obama faces waning enthusiasm from union members as he prepares for his 2012 re- election bid, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said. — “It will be more challenging this time than it was last time to motivate …

Discussion: Questions and Observations, Weasel Zippers and Big Government

NationalJournal.com:

Price Tag of Official Time Spent on Union Activities Grows — The cost of official time used by federal employees participating in union activities increased nearly 7 percent between fiscal 2008 and fiscal 2009, according to a new report from the Office of Personnel Management.

Discussion: Hot Air and Weasel Zippers