From NBC's Shawna Thomas and Carrie Dann
It might have come with a favorable comparison to one of his main rivals, but here’s an endorsement that former Gov. Jon Huntsman probably won’t be touting on his website anyway.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, reviled by conservatives for ushering Democratic legislation through Congress during Obama’s first two years in office, told reporters Tuesday that he’d pick Huntsman over GOP rival and fellow Mormon Mitt Romney.

“If I had a choice, I would favor Huntsman over Romney,” said Reid, who like Romney and Huntsman belongs to the Church of Latter-Day Saints.

The Senate leader proceeded to take a broad swipe at the former Massachusetts governor, whom he described as a “a man who doesn't know who he is.”

Reid noted Romney’s policy switches on social issues and said that the health care bill that Democrats passed in the Senate was largely based on the one Romney signed into state law in 2006.

“We modeled our bill ... to a large degree about what he did in Massachusetts,” Reid said. “Now he's trying to run from that.”

“If someone doesn't know who they are, they shouldn’t be president of the United States.”

While Reid’s embrace of Huntsman may not do the presidential hopeful much good with Republican primary voters, the onetime ambassador to China may not mind Reid’s reminder about Romney’s health care plan.

In a Huntsman video released Tuesday, the newly-minted candidate took a similar shot at Romney – although without mentioning the other GOP contender by name.

“Took on the tough. Health care. Did it right. No mandates,” the video’s narrator says. “Free market-based, not government-run. Ah, if others had only chosen that path. What does it take to do things right, to never flip, never flop?” 

It’s worth noting that Huntsman was once open to the idea of an individual mandate, but it was ultimately not included in the health care bill passed in his home state.

NBC's Sarah Blackwill contributed.

Almost 50 days until the Ames Straw Poll, Tim Pawlenty is about to go up with TV ads in Iowa -- the first presidential candidate to do that this cycle, First Read confirms. Politico first reported the news.

The TV ads -- at a $50,000 buy, running from June 23 to July 3 -- will appear on FOX News in the Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Omaha, Ottumwa, Rochester, and Sioux City media markets.

Pawlenty spokesman Alex Conant tells NBC: "Gov. Pawlenty is well positioned to unite conservatives and do well in both Iowa and New Hampshire. The soon-to-be-unveiled TV ads will introduce the governor to Iowans about why he is the candidate with the strongest record and best results, not rhetoric."

From NBC's Gina Gentilesco and Carrie Dann
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has been in sore need of a positive news story after losing most of his top staff in a mass resignation earlier this month.

This isn’t it.

The Associated Press reports another round of resignations from the campaign, this time from the Republican presidential hopeful’s campaign finance team. A spokesman for Gingrich confirms to NBC News that fundraising director Jody Thomas and fundraising consultant Mary Heitman have stepped down.

UPDATE: Spokesman R.C. Hammond tells NBC: "Newt 2012 continues reorganization which is a grass roots driven, substantive solution orientated campaign. We wish the members of the finance team who chose to leave the best, and continue forward as committed as ever."

Hammond stressed that while the women who left were important members of the team, there are a number of other people on their finance staff who remain committed to the campaign. Basically, it shouldn't be read as the "entire finance team" leaving.

Gingrich has said he’s determined to stay in the race.

Appearing this morning on the Laura Ingraham radio program, Gingrich laid out plans for a stepped-up campaign effort in Iowa and noted that he will soon deliver a speech about inefficiency in the Environmental Protection Agency.

With the Statue of Liberty in the background, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman officially announced his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. 

Huntsman -- who most recently served as President Obama's ambassador to China -- used his announcement to introduce himself to the voters as a former governor, businessman, husband, and father.

But Huntsman's announcement was largely about the fiscal challenges facing the country. "Today, Americans are experiencing -- through no fault of their own -- something that is totally alien to them: a sense that the deck is stacked against them by forces totally beyond their control," he said. "No matter how hard they work, save and plan, the opportunities aren't there for them that were present for previous generations.

He cited his record as governor of Utah, where "we cut taxes, we flattened rates, we balanced our budget" to support his plan to create jobs.

"When the economic crisis hit, we were prepared," Huntsman said.  "By many accounts, we became the best state in America for business. We also were named the best-managed state in America."

Huntsman tied his foreign-policy strategy, which includes the "end of these conflicts," to fixing the financial situation in the United States.

"It's not that we wish to disengage from the world," he said. "We believe the best long-term national security strategy is rebuilding our core here at home."

Huntsman also said he would conduct his campaign "on the high road." He said there will be "disagreements" with the other candidates, but that he respects all the Republican candidates and his former boss.

"I respect the president," Huntsman said. "He and I have a difference of opinion on how to help the country we both love. But the question each of us wants the voters to answer is who will be the better president; not who's the better American."

With his presidential announcement today, just who is Jon Huntsman?... Where is he on the issues?... Who are his supporters?... What’s his message?... But with such an unsettled field, why not?... Huntsman makes his bid official from Liberty State Park, NJ at 10:00 am ET, then heads to New Hampshire… Obama to deliver Afghanistan troop-withdrawal speech on Wednesday… Update on the debt-ceiling fight… McCain doesn’t back down from claim that illegal immigrants are causing the Arizona wildfires… And Chris Christie hits a new low in the Quinnipiac poll.

*** Who is Jon Huntsman? Only two months since stepping down from his post as ambassador to China, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman today formally announces his presidential bid. And his candidacy raises this question: Just who is Huntsman? And we're not just talking about the folks who do NOT know him. Even among the folks who do, the same question is getting asked: Just who is he? Is he a real presidential contender, or is he more of an idea created in a focus group of swing voters? Right now, the evidence suggests more of the latter. Our recent national NBC/WSJ poll showed Huntsman dead last in a 10-candidate GOP trial heat. Where is he on the issues? Well, he backs the Ryan budget plan, but he also has called President Obama a “remarkable leader,” believes in climate change, and favors civil unions. (In fact, because of those civil-union views, a local Michigan GOP group disinvited him from headlining an event in early 2009.)

*** Who are his supporters? And he’s a man -- for now -- without a base or political home: He’s not the preferred candidates of Mormons and Utahans (that’s Romney); he’s launching his presidential bid from New Jersey; he’s basing his campaign headquarters in Florida; he owns a home in DC; and he just returned from Beijing. Indicative of this lack of a base or home is Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), who served previously served as Huntsman’s campaign manager and chief of staff, but who has said he’ll back Romney, though he hasn’t officially endorsed anyone yet. “Officially, I am keeping my powder dry at the moment,” Chaffetz said back in April. By the way, the Washington Post writes how both Huntsman and Romney are vying for Mormon fundraising cash.

*** What’s his message? So far, Huntsman has portrayed himself as the optimistic, non-confrontational Republican in the race. The question is if this is a message GOP primary voters want to hear this year. “I don't think you need to run down anyone's reputation to run for president,” Huntsman will say in his announcement speech, per excerpts. “Of course, we'll have our disagreements. I respect my fellow Republican candidates. And I respect the president. He and I have a difference of opinion on how to help the country we both love. But the question each of us wants the voters to answer is who will be the better president; not who's the better American.” More Huntsman: “We're not just choosing new leaders. We're choosing whether we are to become yesterday's story or tomorrow's. Everything is at stake. This is the hour when we choose our future.”

*** But why not? As it turns out, Huntsman’s biggest base seems to be the political media, which have showered attention on the Republican in his swings through New Hampshire and South Carolina.  And here’s the reason why: Beyond Romney (who’s the potentially vulnerable front-runner), Pawlenty (who hasn’t caught fire and has had a BAD past week), Bachmann (who just got into the race), and Rick Perry (who’s 50-50% on getting in), who else is there? As Huntsman told the New York Times’ Matt Bai, “If the marketplace works, if something is there, if it’s viable, if there’s a marketplace there for what we’ve done and our basic approach, then let’s see where it goes.”

*** Huntsman hits the road: Huntsman makes his bid official from Liberty State Park at 10:00 am ET and then holds a rally in Exeter, NH at 1:20 pm. On Wednesday, he heads to Columbia, SC, where he tours a small business and then makes a speech. On Thursday, it’s on to Florida. And on Friday, he hits Nevada and Utah. It's an old-school style presidential announcement, including a press charter to bring along folks who are covering him at Liberty Island to New Hampshire.

*** About Jon Huntsman, the bullet-point bio: He has seven children, including one adopted from China and one from India… He’s the oldest of nine children… He dropped out of high school to play in a rock band called Wizard… He attended the University of Utah before heading on his Mormon mission to China, where he learned to speak Mandarin; upon his return, he transferred to UPenn and graduated from there… His father is the wealthiest man in Utah with a net worth of $1.9 billion… The father’s company, Huntsman Corporation, is a multinational petrochemical company that invented the Big Mac clamshell and the plastic egg carton… Huntsman was an intern for Sen. Orrin Hatch (who’s backing Romney), a staff assistant in the Reagan White House, worked Bush 41’s Commerce Department, and was a deputy trade ambassador to Bush 43… In 2008, Huntsman backed McCain, though his father endorsed Romney. (More bio here)

*** Obama to deliver Afghanistan troop-withdrawal speech on Wednesday: As we hinted at yesterday, President Obama will deliver his speech on Afghanistan this week -- on Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal: “President Barack Obama will announce on Wednesday how fast he plans to pull 33,000 surge troops out of Afghanistan, rolling back a troop build-up that was intended to halt the Taliban's momentum, administration officials said... Military officials have proposed removing 3,000 to 5,000 of the surge troops in July and as many as 5,000 more after the current fighting season ends this fall. Mr. Obama is under pressure from key allies in Congress, including Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, to withdraw as many as 15,000 of the surge troops by year's end.” Aides with knowledge of the decision caution folks from over-reading some of the reports circulating this morning, saying they’re surprised at how inaccurate some of them are.

*** Debt-ceiling update: As for the debt-ceiling talks, it appears that the “grand bargain” -- marrying a ceiling increase with big deficit reduction and entitlement reform -- isn’t going to happen as expected. Instead, the objective seems to be raising the debt ceiling with agreed-to cuts attached. Politically, that the grand bargain probably won’t happen has to make both Democrats and Republicans smile. For Democrats, that means the Medicare card is on the table, and that the issue will be decided by the 2012 election. And Republicans are glad their incumbents don't have to eat their words about taxes.

*** Come on baby, light my fire: Over the weekend, GOP Sen. John McCain stirred up controversy by saying that there’s “substantial evidence” that illegal immigrants are partly responsible for the wildfires in Arizona. In an interview on “TODAY,” McCain didn’t back down from that statement, though he said he heard the charge first from the U.S. Forest Service. “People who come across our border illegally … that these fires sometimes have been caused by this,” he said, adding: “The Forest Service is on record for saying exactly what I repeated.”

*** Christie hits low in poll: A new Quinnipiac poll shows New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie with an upside-down approval rating, 44%-47%, which is his lowest-ever score in the poll. Per Quinnipiac, “Women disapprove of the job Gov. Christie is doing 54 - 36 percent, while men approve 53 - 39 percent, a 17-point gender gap… Approval is 76 - 15 percent among Republicans and 47 - 44 percent among independent voters, while Democrats disapprove 75 - 17 percent.”

*** On the 2012 trail: Gingrich attends a screening of “A City Upon a Hill” in Savannah, GA… Pawlenty’s wife keynotes a luncheon in New Hampshire… And Santorum’s in Iowa.

Countdown to Iowa GOP straw poll: 53 days
Countdown to NV-2 special election: 84 days
Countdown to Election Day 2011: 140 days
Countdown to the Iowa caucuses: 230 days
* Note: When the IA caucuses take place depends on whether other states move up

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BACHMANN: Bachmann’s campaign is advertising on the Des Moines Register’s Web site.

CHRISTIE: Christie’s approval is now just 44%-47% in the latest Quinnipiac poll, his lowest job approval yet. The reason: his approval among women is just 36%-54%.

GINGRICH: The campaign released excerpts of Gingrich’s Wednesday speech on the economy and the Federal Reserve. On Obama and the economy: “The jobs crisis is an historic national crisis and the Obama Administration has only made it worse by pursuing job-killing policy after job killing policy…We need to replace the ‘food stamp President’ with a ‘paycheck President.’”

On the Fed: "The Fed currently has a dual mandate: dollar stability and full employment. They are incompatible. As part of a thorough reappraisal of the role of the Federal Reserve System, Congress should immediately return the Fed to its original sole focus on dollar stability by repealing Humphrey-Hawkins."

Gingrich told Hugh Hewitt: "I must say that my book, 'A Nation Like No Other,' becomes dramatically more relevant after NBC’s decision that they will edit out 'Under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance.”

HUNTSMAN: “The former Utah governor and overseas ambassador for two presidents will launch his bid in New Jersey near the Statue of Liberty and then fly up to New Hampshire to do it again in the nation's first primary state,” the LA Times writes. “Wednesday Huntsman will do it a third time in South Carolina, apparently leaving Iowa to the homegrown Michele Bachmann and next-door neighbor Tim Pawlenty. It will be interesting to see how Huntsman, the only major GOP candidate with any real foreign policy experience, tries to differentiate himself from the possible candidates like Texas Gov. Rick Perry and the existing field, including fellow former governor and Mormon Mitt Romney.”

Mark McKinnon describes Huntsman as the “un-cola” GOP candidate.

Politico: “When Jon Huntsman announces his candidacy for president Tuesday at Liberty State Park in New Jersey, he’ll join a long list of politicians who have found the spot to be an exquisite backdrop for big campaign events. The park, located in Jersey City, offers a camera shot with dramatic views of the Manhattan skyline and, more important, a photo op with the iconic Statue of Liberty (located in nearby New York Harbor) in the background.”

The Democrats are trying to hit Huntsman for his shifting positions, and have created mock bumper stickers like this one: “Jon Huntsman: When one direction for America just isn’t enough.”

Anyone wanting to find out more about the Huntsman family fortune, their companies and their ties to China, should read these pieces from Bloomberg and Business Week.

Forbes in 2010 rated Huntsman’s father, who made a fortune for helping to create polystyrene egg cartons and the Styrofoam Big Mac container, the 937^th richest billionaire in the world.

A decade ago, he was the 47^th richest man in the world with a net worth of $6.6 billion, according to the Deseret News. And “in 2007, Huntsman gave $750 million in contributions and donations, placing him second on The Chronicle of Philanthropy's list of the nation's top 50 givers.”

By the way, today is Jon Huntsman Sr’s birthday.

PAWLENTY: Tim Pawlenty’s wife Mary was campaigning for her husband in New Hampshire yesterday. Did you know she’s a former district court judge from Minnesota (1994 to 2007). “She has since worked mediating civil disputes and helping Children’s HeartLink, a non-profit that works to prevent heart disease among children in developing countries,” the Boston Globe notes.

PERRY: Rich Lowry: “If Rick Perry thinks the 10th Amendment is going to have cachet with voters worried about their jobs, their wages, and the value of their homes, he’s been spending too much time at Federalist Society seminars.”

The Texas governor says you should follow him on “Tweeter.” Here’s the video.

ROMNEY: “Mitt Romney has long battled the perception that he has waffled on social policy issues crucial to Republican voters, such as abortion and gay rights,” the Boston Globe writes. “Now the former Massachusetts governor’s refusal to sign an antiabortion pledge that five other GOP contenders support has put him on the defensive again.” More: “Romney’s decision spurred a rebuke from the organization and quickly roiled the presidential waters. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, said she was disappointed in Romney, whom she considered an ally in the antiabortion movement. ‘I think there’s only one way of looking at it, and that is not signing it revealed a weakness in conviction,’ she said. ‘I don’t think there’s any other way of looking at it.’”

SANTORUM: Rick Santorum’s campaign is out with a video mocking Huntsman’s moto-cross videos, hitting Huntsman for not signing the Susan B. Anthony List pledge “just like Mitt Romney.” The rider in Santorum’s video wipes out after taking a leap.

The New York Times: “President Obama plans to announce his decision on the scale and pace of troop withdrawals from Afghanistan in a speech on Wednesday evening, an administration official said Monday. As he closes in on a decision, another official said, Mr. Obama is considering options that range from a Pentagon-backed proposal to pull out only 5,000 troops this year to an aggressive plan to withdraw within 12 months all 30,000 troops the United States deployed to Afghanistan as part of the surge in December 2009.”

More: “Under another option, a third official said, Mr. Obama would announce a final date for the withdrawal of all the surge forces sometime in 2012, but leave the timetable for incremental reductions up to commanders in the field — much as he did in drawing down troops after the surge in Iraq.”

The Wall Street Journal adds, “Military leaders have been wary of publicly voicing their drawdown recommendations for fear of antagonizing the White House, which has in the past accused commanders of trying to box in the president on earlier troop decisions. But Robert Gates, in his final month as defense secretary, has made clear his preference for a slow withdrawal, a view shared by many field commanders who privately say a precipitous pullout could endanger recent security gainsin southern Afghanistan.”

“A fund-raiser last night in Washington was the president's 30th since he declared his candidacy for re-election earlier this year,” the New York Post writes. “At this point in his first term, George W. Bush had held only three fund-raisers, according to statistics compiled by CBS White House correspondent Mark Knoller.” He’ll be at two fundraisers in New York Thursday and then attends, “Sister Act, the Musical.”

But one BIG difference between then and now: The McCain-Feingold campaign-finance law had just been signed into law in 2002, meaning that the presidential fundraising landscape wasn’t fully clear in early 2003.

“With no money to spend, lawmakers talking about job creation aren't likely to accomplish anything unless a plan is swept into the deficit talks dominating Capitol Hill,” Roll Call writes.

Per the Washington Post, “The White House and congressional leaders are accelerating negotiations over the biggest debt-reduction package in at least two decades amid mounting concern that the effort is running out of time. Over the next six weeks, negotiators must strike a bipartisan compromise to slice more than $2 trillion from the federal budget by 2021, reduce the complex plan to writing and persuade a bitterly divided Congress to support it.”

It’s official… Weiner’s no longer a member of Congress.

The New York Post continues its Weiner puns: “Weiner limps out.”

President Obama faces a bipartisan challenge in Congress this week over the NATO mission in Libya, a topic that has sparked debate between lawmakers about the president’s ability to use force (over a period of time) without congressional authorization.

In the House this week, members of Congress will vote on a bill proposed by Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich to cut funding for the Libya operation. In the Senate, Sens. John Kerry and John McCain also plan to introduce a Libya resolution, Sen. Dianne Feinstein told Andrea Mitchell today on MSNBC’s "Andrea Mitchell Reports." Feinstein, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, is one of 10 co-sponsors of the bill.

“You know, this is an age old problem -- does the executive have this authority or not?” Feinstein said. “And I don’t think anything is really solved by having a long discussion over it. Let's just do it.”

As lawmakers continue to dispute U.S. involvement in Libya, congressional leaders are also at odds regarding the July deadline to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.

Senator Feinstein, who met in person with General David Petraeus last week, said she thinks the president’s decision should be a military-based decision.

“What Gen. Petraeus said is ‘Look, I will give him several options. I may make a recommendation, and then the president will decide,’” Feinstein said.

It's official -- or it will be at midnight on Tuesday: Soon-to-be-former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) has sent his resignation letter to New York's governor and secretary of state. A copy of the letter also was delivered today to House Speaker John Boehner and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

In the letter, Weiner states:

I hearby resign as the Member of the House of Representatives for New York's Ninth Congressional District effective at midnight, Tuesday, June 21, 2011. It has been an honor to serve the people of Queens and Brooklyn.

Since House legislative business has finished for the day, it cannot be entered into the record until -- at the very earliest -- tomorrow. When that happens, the clerk will announce Weiner's resignation, as well as the new number of members of the House of Representatives.

Currently, there are 433 Members in the House. 

Mitt Romney, the presumed front-runner, is setting up a national, general-election message. But does he run the risk of alienating primary voters he needs to win the nomination?

As we wrote in First Thoughts this morning, he's taking flak on Afghanistan and abortion from his base. He's focused on the economy, is skipping the Iowa Straw poll, and he's struck out moderate positions on global warming and religious freedom.

From NBC's Pete Williams
The Supreme Court Monday shot down the largest class action lawsuit in US history, ruling that the huge lawsuit filed by past and present female employees of retail giant Wal-Mart cannot go to trial.

The court cited two reasons.  It was unanimous in saying that the women brought the wrong kind of class action suit, improperly mixing questions that can be decided in a class action -- such as whether to order the company to stop discrimination -- with issues that must be decided for each individual, such as how much back pay to award.

The court ruled 5-4 that the women failed to show that there's some glue to hold all these cases together, a demonstration that there's a common source of each case of discrimination.  In fact, the court said, the evidence seems to point in the opposite direction, that Wal-Mart had a corporate directive against discrimination and left decisions about pay and promotion policies to each individual store manager.

It's the court's ruling on the second point that will make it very difficult for the women to regroup and try to file another class action lawsuit against Wal-Mart.

Romney comes under GOP fire on Afghanistan and abortion… Questioning Romney’s conservative bona fides and whether he has friends in low (and high) places… Perry’s 50-50 on getting in the race, and he could affect it in two different ways… Obama rejected views of two top administration lawyers on Libya… What we saw at RLC in New Orleans… Newt’s schedule this week is based entirely near his homes in Georgia and the DC area… Romney’s in Colorado, while Santorum is in Iowa… And Hatch is in trouble in Utah.

*** Romney comes under GOP fire on Afghanistan…: Expect President Obama’s decision on the size/scope of the Afghanistan withdrawal this week. After all, if some troops are scheduled to come home starting in July, it only makes sense that announcement will come, um, before then. And any news on Afghanistan will only emphasize the heat that Mitt Romney is currently receiving from GOP hawks after saying “our troops shouldn’t go off and try to fight a war of independence for another nation” at last week’s GOP debate. Here was GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham on “Meet the Press” yesterday: “If you think the pathway to the GOP nomination in 2012 is to get to Barack Obama's left on Libya, Afghanistan, and Iraq, you're going to meet a lot of headwinds. Added John McCain on ABC: “I wonder what Ronald Reagan would be saying today… That’s not the Republican Party of the 20th century, and now the 21st century. That is not the Republican Party that has been willing to stand up for freedom for people all over the world.” Both Republican hawks criticized the entire field, but Romney was singled out.

*** … and also abortion: Of course, it’s worth wondering whether criticism from Graham and McCain -- two Republicans the GOP base hasn’t always trusted -- actually hurts him with conservative voters. On the other hand, criticism from Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum could. On Saturday, Romney said in a National Review op-ed that he wasn’t signing the Susan B. Anthony List’s pledge on abortion because it goes too far. "I am pro-life and believe that abortion should be limited to only instances of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother." But: "It is one thing to end federal funding for an organization like Planned Parenthood; it is entirely another to end all federal funding for thousands of hospitals across America." Both Bachmann and Santorum pounced. “Gov. Romney should reconsider his decision not to sign the pledge just as he reconsidered his position on the life issue during the last campaign,” Bachmann said in a statement. Ouch.

*** I’ve got friends in low (and high) places: The reason why Romney’s decision not to sign the Susan B. Anthony List’s abortion pledge has the potential to be an obstacle for the GOP front-runner is because -- like his comments on Afghanistan or his Massachusetts health-care law -- it brings into question his conservative bona fides. After all, in his 1994 Senate race and 2002 gubernatorial contest, he ran as a pro-choice candidate. It also raises this question: Who is defending Romney? National Review’s Kathryn Lopez rushed to Romney’s defense on abortion, but she’s always been a supporter. But what about Rush Limbaugh? Other conservative talk-radio hosts? The folks on FOX? As we learned with the Weiner scandal, it helps to have friends willing to back you up when the going gets tough. This is something to watch in the weeks and months ahead, because Romney has very few defenders in some key places inside the base of the party -- whether in the social-conservative, economic, and now foreign-policy wings of the party.

*** Perry’s 50-50: And the questions about Romney’s conservative bona fides bring us to Rick Perry, whose speech at the Republican Leadership Conference rocked the GOP house. Politico’s Martin reported that Perry’s top political adviser said that the Texas governor is “50-50” about whether he’ll run for the White House -- and that was before Perry’s speech on Saturday. If he runs, there are two ways it could affect the race: 1) it could give the field its true conservative warrior, with Perry having the potential to outduel Bachmann and the others; and 2) it could end up dividing the Tea Party/conservative vote, giving Romney an easier path to the GOP nomination. But Perry has this potential argument he can make against Romney: “I governed as a conservative in Texas; Mitt Romney governed like a liberal.” The Perry argument is as so: Marry the social and Tea Party conservatives and then trump Romney on his own message -- the economy, thanks to the jobs story Perry has to tell in Texas. Of course, Perry doesn't have a lot of friends in the establishment wing of the party, but if it's a choice between Perry and Bachmann for these folks…?

*** Dear Jon: A slew of "Who is Jon Huntsman?" and "Can Jon Huntsman win”? articles are percolating. And there's no greater head-scratcher of a candidate than Huntsman. On the one hand, he looks the part and he fits the mold of what a resume for a Republican presidential nominee would have looked like in the last 40 years. But so far, the premise of the campaign has been tactics. What does he believe? He begins answering that question tomorrow. Will his answers ring authentic? That's among his challenges.

*** Obama rejected views of two top administration lawyers on Libya: As we foreshadowed in Friday’s First Read, administration lawyers are split on whether the U.S. can continue to wage war in Libya without congressional approval. Saturday’s New York Times: “President Obama rejected the views of top lawyers at the Pentagon and the Justice Department when he decided that he had the legal authority to continue American military participation in the air war in Libya without Congressional authorization... But Mr. Obama decided instead to adopt the legal analysis of several other senior members of his legal team — including the White House counsel, Robert Bauer, and the State Department legal adviser, Harold H. Koh — who argued that the United States military’s activities fell short of ‘hostilities.’” Just askin’: Could a high-profile decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan at a quicker pace than folks thought would happen buy the president more time on Libya?

*** What we saw at RLC: Perry was the best-received speaker at the three-day Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans, followed closely by Bachmann and then Cain further back. This was a Perry-Bachmann crowd… Paul won the straw poll (as he’s done in past GOP straw polls), but Huntsman was a surprising second (his team appeared to work it), and Romney (who won it last year) finished fifth… Pawlenty, who like Huntsman and Romney didn’t speak at the event, finished ninth with just 18 votes… And regarding the racially tinged Obama impersonator, the Louisiana GOP clearly realized its mistake and yanked him off the stage -- but only after he made jokes aimed at the GOP field, NOT when his racially tinged jokes were directed at Obama.

*** The night the lights went out everywhere but Georgia: Want more evidence how Newt Gingrich is no longer campaigning in the early nominating contests? In his schedule this week, all of his events are within driving distance of his Georgia and DC-area homes. On Tuesday, he attends a screening of “A City Upon A Hill” in Savannah, GEORIGIA… On Wednesday, he delivers a speech on the federal regulations and the Federal Reserve at the Atlanta Press Club’s Commerce Club in GEORGIA… And on Thursday, he speaks at a Maryland Republican Party dinner in BALTIMORE. This is what a campaign looks like when it’s running on fumes.

*** On the 2012 trail: And these are what campaigns that have some money look like: Romney’s in Aurora, CO, where he meets with small business owners… And Santorum is in Iowa, where he makes four stops.

*** Hatch in trouble in UT: There are two big pieces of news in the Desert News/KSL-TV poll. One, Sen. Orrin Hatch is in trouble. “The poll … found only 38 percent of registered voters agree that it's important to re-elect Hatch in 2012 because of his seniority. Fifty-nine percent said after 36 years, it's time for someone new.” Two, Dem Congressman Jim Matheson is running even with Hatch in a hypothetical Senate match-up: “If Utah's lone Democrat in Congress, Rep. Jim Matheson, gets in the Senate race, voters would be evenly split, according to the poll, with 47 percent favoring Hatch and 47 percent for Matheson.” What this probably means: A bunch of Republicans might decide it's not worth the six-year risk of a Sen. Matheson, and they could decide to save his Salt Lake congressional seat during redistricting…

Countdown to Iowa GOP straw poll: 54 days
Countdown to NV-2 special election: 85 days
Countdown to Election Day 2011: 141 days
Countdown to the Iowa caucuses: 231 days
* Note: When the IA caucuses take place depends on whether other states move up

Click here to sign up for First Read emails.
Text FIRST to 622639, to sign up for First Read alerts to your mobile phone.
Check us out on Facebook and also on Twitter.

BACHMANN: Roll Call looks at Michele Bachmann spending $3,400 in taxpayer money to help pay for a Tea Party event in DC. “The money came from the Members' taxpayer-funded office accounts, despite House rules prohibiting the use of these funds for political activities. Bachmann's office insists the expense was a proper use of official funds,” the paper writes. “Bachmann billed the event as a ‘press conference,’ which can be funded from official accounts. But no questions were taken from the press and, unlike most press conferences, it opened with a prayer, the national anthem and a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.”

Bachmann appeared at the RightOnline conservative activist forum on Saturday in Minneapolis, CNN reports, giving a speech that was full of humor and anti-President Obama red meat, including a few lines meant for minorities, which she also said a day earlier in New Orleans at the Republican Leadership Conference: “The president promised the African-American community, he promised the Hispanic community, that he would make their lives better… He's failing the Hispanic community. He is failing the African-American community. He's failing all of us,” she said.

CAIN: Mitt Romney has garnered much of the attention for not signing the SBA List legislative pledge on abortion. But Cain also didn’t sign it. He said in a statement it’s because he, as president, can’t “advance” legislation.

GINGRICH: “Prominent Iowa Republicans say they have seen no evidence that Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign has made efforts to hire a new Iowa staff since its entire paid crew abruptly resigned almost two weeks ago,” according to the Des Moines Register.

HUNTSMAN: The New York Times tees up Huntsman’s presidential announcement that’s set for tomorrow. “Mr. Huntsman … is joining the presidential campaign scene as a relative unknown outside Utah. Yet he is among those who are being taken most seriously by Mr. Obama’s aides, who after working with him for more than two years say he could be formidable if — and they consider this a big ‘if’ — he can navigate a nominating contest likely to be decided by voters who may view him as too moderate.

A 57% surge in his family’s company’s revenue in China as Jon Huntsman served as ambassador to the country could serve as a target for rivals, Bloomberg writes, as unemployment is the biggest issue in the 2012 presidential race.

A now-defunct subsidiary of Huntsman Corp. in Iran sold polyurethane that could be used in solid fuel for Iranian missiles, Politico reports, which earned the company complaints by anti-Iran nuclear watchdog group United Against Nuclear Iran in 2010. 

PAUL: Paul won the presidential straw poll at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans, the AP writes. Paul, with 612 votes, bested Jon Huntsman who took second place with 382 votes even though he didn’t participate in the conference due to illness.

PERRY: “At this past weekend’s Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans, Perry’s speech certainly had all the elements of a man getting ready to run,” the Washington Post’s Cillizza and Blake write. “‘Our goal is to displace the entrenched powers in Washington, restore the right balance between state and federal government,’ Perry said, adding: ‘We now live in this strange, inverted version of what our founders intended.’”

The Wall Street Journal: “Aides to Texas Gov. Rick Perry said they are scrambling to determine the logistical challenges he would face in making a late entry to the fight for the Republican presidential nomination, the latest sign he is serious about joining the contest. Among their considerations is whether Mr. Perry has enough time to raise sufficient cash, which generally requires personal contact with donors and fund-raisers. Aides also have made inquiries in Iowa to assess his chances there in the first-in-the-nation caucuses.”

Dave Carney, Rick Perry’s chief consultant, told the AP on Friday he was making inquiries about the Iowa presidential landscape but cautioned the governor has not yet made a decision as to whether or not to seek national office.

ROMNEY: “One of the nation's most outspoken anti-abortion rights groups is putting an unwelcome spotlight on Mitt Romney's anti-abortion credentials,” Roll Call writes. Former Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, a SBA List project director, said, "The fact of the matter is that thus far he has refused to sign. When you look at the primary voter, they are overwhelmingly pro-life. We believe that it is politically advantageous, not to mention the right thing to do, to sign our pledge."

In an op-ed for National Review Online, Mitt Romney explained his decision not to sign the Susan B. Anthony List pledge, saying it was overly broad: “It is one thing to end federal funding for an organization like Planned Parenthood; it is entirely another to end all federal funding for thousands of hospitals across America. That is precisely what the pledge would demand and require of a president who signed it. 

If you’re looking for a good primer on Romney’s positions on abortion following his refusal to sign the SBA List pledge, the Boston Globe’s Johnson has a good one: “Mitt Romney added another chapter to his complicated history with abortion rights over the weekend.”

“Mitt Romney is getting some good news as he arrives to spend three days fundraising in California this week: He holds a solid lead over his 2012 GOP presidential rivals among the state's Republican voters, a new Field Poll shows,” the San Francisco Chronicle reports. “Romney is preferred by 25 percent of registered GOP voters, giving the former Massachusetts governor a double-digit lead over each of his challengers.”

On Sunday, the New York Times examined the president’s position on gay marriage. “Now President Obama says his views on same-sex marriage are ‘evolving,’ and as he runs for re-election he is seeking support from gay donors who want to know where he stands. This week, he will headline a $1,250-a-plate ‘Gala with the Gay Community’ in Manhattan, his first such event as president; on June 29, he will host a Gay Pride reception at the White House. He is doing so at time when the New York Legislature is considering whether to make same-sex marriage legal — a vote that the president will no doubt be asked about while in New York.”

More: “The White House would not comment on whether Mr. Obama was ready to endorse same-sex marriage. But one Democratic strategist close to the White House, speaking only on the condition of anonymity, said some senior advisers ‘are looking at the tactics of how this might be done if the president chose to do it.’”

“The golf summit on Saturday may not have resolved the partisan argument over the deficit and the debt ceiling or the legality of the U.S. military operation in Libya. But some good came of it, at least for the victors,” the Washington Post says. “The bipartisan pairing of President Obama and House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) won the 18th hole and the match against Vice President Biden, thought to be the strongest player in the group, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R). To the winners go the spoils, in this case $2 each.”

In the New York Times, John Harwood writes that Obama’s “political culpability exceeds his economic culpability.”

The Senate's top Republican is suggesting a short-term increase in the nation's borrowing limit unless there's deal soon that includes changes to big entitlement programs," the AP notes. "Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky says that if a deal doesn't include significant entitlement program changes, then legislation raising the borrowing limit for just a few months is likely."

“Latino activists accused U.S. Senator John McCain of ‘fanning the flames’ of intolerance Saturday after he blamed illegal immigrants for some of the massive wildfires sweeping Arizona,” the New York Daily News writes.

“The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee outraised its GOP counterpart in May but the National Republican Senatorial Committee paid off its debt, becoming the first campaign committee of the cycle to do so,” The Hill writes.

Per the DSCC, it outraised the NRSC in May by more than $1 million –- $3 million raised by the NRSC versus $4.1 million by the DSCC. "The game-changer this last month was the Republican plan to end Medicare. It is helping motivate Democratic donors in every corner of the country, helping us out raise the Republicans and surpass our own fundraising goals," said DSCC Executive Director Guy Cecil in a statement.

IOWA: The Strong America Now anti-waste summit in Des Moines on Saturday featured speeches by Herman Cain, Gary Johnson and Tim Pawlenty, while Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum made remarks via video, the Des Moines Register reports. 

At the summit, Tim Pawlenty defended the budget he put in place as governor of Minnesota before leaving office, saying that a current $6.2 billion deficit is a result of increased government spending after he left office, the Des Moines Register writes. “I’m not going to suggest that would have been under my watch,” he said.

The Tea Party bus tour making its way through Iowa devotes much of its time at each stop to a Power Point presentation about effective campaign organizing – essential as many Tea Partiers are relatively new to politics and may not have participated in a caucus before, NPR writes.

NEVADA: “The Nevada Republican Party nominated former Chairman Mark Amodei on Saturday for the 2nd district special election,” Roll Call writes.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Speaking at the Republican Leadership Conference on Friday, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) said his coveted endorsement would only go to a candidate who signs the “Cut, Cap and Balance” pledge not to raise the debt limit unless it is paired with spending cuts, caps and a balanced budget amendment, the Daily Caller writes. 

NEW ORLEANS -- Rick Perry delivered an unapologetically socially conservative speech before a friendly crowd here.

“We need to stop apologizing for celebrating life,” the Republican Texas governor bellowed at the Republican Leadership Conference in a finger-pointing, finger-wagging and, at times, bombastic, speech.

“Stop apologizing” for wanting to stem the tide of the “entitlement mindset,” he boasted.

“Our opponents on the left are never going to like us, so let’s stop trying to curry favor with them,” he said, before imploring the crowd to “stand up. Let’s speak with pride about our values. Let’s stop this American downward spiral.”

He acknowledged later with a smile, “I’m preaching to the choir here." 

Perry did not address the speculation surrounding his potential run for president and did not take questions after his speech. Instead, after bounding off the stage to chants of, “Run, Rick, run,” pumping his fists, and shaking hands with audience members, he headed backstage and did not reemerge in the hallways here.

Of all the speakers of the three-day confab, Perry was the best-received, even more so than Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), who was a close second. Perry got a standing ovation when he took the stage, several times during his speech, and at the end.

“He’s the man,” one man said to a woman right after Perry’s speech.

“Him and Bachmann,” she responded. “That’s the ticket.”

NEW ORLEANS -- Ron Paul won the straw poll here at the Republican Leadership Conference overwhelmingly with 612 votes, drawing big boos and some quieter chants of "Ron Paul." Jon Huntsman finished a surprising second with 382 votes, despite being a late scratch because of a "bad cold." Michele Bachmann was third with 191 votes.

Herman Cain was fourth with 104 votes. Mitt Romney, the presumed front runner, who won the straw poll here a year ago, faded to fifth with 74 votes. Tim Pawlenty finished with just 18 votes, fourth from the bottom of the 12-person ballot, just ahead of Gary Johnson (10), Buddy Roemer (9), and Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (2).

Paul’s ardent followers packed the ballroom here before, during, and just after his speech, but they were barely seen listening to other speeches. They have organized to win straw polls at many other conservative events as well.

Romney, who did not attend this year or last, was criticized here for not signing onto a legislative pledge from anti-abortion-rights group Susan B. Anthony List. The group released the list of presidential candidates who signed onto the pledge yesterday afternoon. Most signed on; Romney did not.

That drew an attack from Rick Santorum: 

"This past Monday night at the Republican Presidential Debate, I was asked about Governor Romney's pro-life conversion, and I gave him the benefit of the doubt," the former Pennsylvania senator running for president said in a statement."I apparently spoke too soon. It is incredibly disappointing that Governor Romney chose not to defend those who cannot defend themselves."

Romney's campaign responded in a statement to First Read this way:

"Governor Romney pledged in the last campaign that he would be a pro-life president and of course he pledges it today. However, this well intentioned effort has some potentially unforeseen consequences and he does not feel he could in good conscience sign it. Gov. Romney has been a strong supporter of the SBA List in the past and he looks forward to continue working with them to promote a culture of life."

A Romney adviser said on background that the SBA language goes too far, and would cut off funding to VA hospitals: 

"The language in the pledge is to 'permanently end all taxpayer funding of abortion' (which the Gov. supports) but then goes on to say 'and recipients of federal funds with affiliates that perform or fund abortions' -- which you can see is very over-reaching and would include hospitals across the country."

The results: 

Paul 612
Huntsman 382
Bachmann 191
Cain 104
Romney 74
Gingrich 69
Palin 41
Santorum 30
Pawlenty 18
Johnson 10
Roemer 9
McCotter 2

NEW ORLEANS – Michele Bachmann claimed here at the Republican Leadership Conference that President Obama secretly wants Medicare to go bankrupt, so it can be replaced with “ObamaCare.”

She claimed New Orleans had suffered similarly from Katrina as from President Obama. “You survived Katrina,” she said. “You survived President Obama’s oil moratorium. There is nothing you can’t survive.”

But don’t let the facts stand in the way. This crowd ate it up.

As much as she attacked President Obama, she demurred when talking about the Republicans she competing against for the presidential nomination.

She said she learned during the New Hampshire debate that on the stage were “leaders,” all of whom would serve as a “contrast to the current administration.” They were all “people who could lead this country,” she said.

When asked by First Read in a brief news conference after her speech -- that lasted less than 10 minutes – why she would be a better president than Mitt Romney, the presumed front runner, and if it was a mistake for him not to be here, she deflected.

“Well, I think it’s obvious,” she said, “because I’m shorter.”

And that was about as direct as she would get on Romney or any other candidate. She said she believed she would do a “very good job” as president and that it was – vaguely -- “about leadership.”

Republicans gather in New Orleans, Huntsman makes it official, Michelle Obama heads to Africa, and is it all quiet at First Read Manor?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Herman Cain lit up the crowd at Republican Leadership Conference, delivering the keynote address before the socially conservative crowd, and getting several standing ovations 

“I have a dream,” said Cain, who is African American, invoking Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and some friendly chuckles. “I have two dreams,” he added – (1) retain control of the House and and Senate, and (2) “You are looking at the next president of the United States of America.”

He took aim at conservatives who said he shouldn’t run.

“I didn’t get the memo,” he said, weaving it throughout the speech.

On substance, he laid out five tax-policy items that he said would improve the economy: a maximum 25% tax on corporations and individuals; make cap gains zero; sustain taxes on “repatriated foreign profits”; a payroll tax holiday of 6.2%; and make tax cuts permanent.

But there were also plenty of dog whistles with talk of American exceptionalism, Obama apologizing for the United States, not being Brazil’s best customer but “our own,” Israel (“You mess with Israel, you mess with the United States”), the Founding Fathers, spending, children and grandchildren, and taking American back.

He touched on his bio as well: “I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth, we didn’t even have a spoon to put in my mouth.”

He repeated his parents’ three lessons. Belief in: God, self, and the “greatest country in the world.”

“You don’t know how Washington works,” said Cain, who’s never held office, but has parlayed that into his biggest strength. “I know how it works. It doesn’t.”

He even got one shout with a twangy, “Yes, we Cain.”

In First Thoughts this morning, we wondered if Tim Pawlenty's decision to hit Mitt Romney on health care -- after refusing to do so at Monday's debate -- was a sign of panic or campaign disagreement.

A campaign official stresses to First Read, however, that any sign of disagreement isn't true. “The Pawlenty team is united and confident in our strategy to take the fight to Mitt Romney on health care," the official said.

The official went on to say that the campaign set up its challenge to Romney perfectly -- by playing up "ObamneyCare" on FOX the day before the debate, and by holding a health-care-related event hours before the debate.

But there was just one problem: Pawlenty didn't deliver in the debate.

"As he acknowledged, he missed," the official added. "And it's not going to happen again."

Reached for official comment, Pawlenty spokesman Alex Conant tells First Read, “Tim Pawlenty screwed up in the debate. Mitt Romney screwed up health care in Massachusetts."

So, does Mitt Romney have a Tea Party problem?

It’s easy to imagine that conservative small-government activists would be sour on the former governor, whose leadership in liberal Massachusetts yielded legislation characterized by compromise and front-page photos shared with a grinning Ted Kennedy. Romney’s support of the Obamacare-resembling Massachusetts health care law, his onetime embrace of abortion rights, and his coiffed New England image have earned him slaps from foes -- recently from the likes of former Gov. Tim Pawlenty and the anti-tax group Club for Growth.

But a peek into the most recent NBC/WSJ pollindicates that Romney’s favorability among Tea Party backers is fairly strong, and a plurality of them would support Romney for the GOP nomination.

Romney’s overall approval rating in the poll showed 27 percent of all respondents viewing him positively, 26 percent negatively, and 30 percent neutral.  

Among just Republican respondents, his net positive rating is 35 percent (46 percent positive/11 percent negative), with a strong thumbs up coming from men over 50, core GOP voters, and those who say the government is doing too many things that should be left to the private sector. No surprises there.

But among Tea Party supporters, his net positive rating is +40 percent. (53 percent positive, just 13 percent negative.)

That’s slightly BETTER than Sarah Palin’s approval among Tea Party supporters. Fifty-eight percent view her positively but her negative rating is also higher at 22 percent.

And while Romney may benefit from stronger name ID than some other declared candidates, he’s besting several of them with Tea Party types: Pawlenty (+22 percent with Tea Party supporters), Newt Gingrich (+4 percent), and Jon Huntsman (dead even).  

The one GOP figure more popular with Tea Partiers than Romney? New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (+49 percent) … who recently said that he is “100 percent certain” he’s not going to run for president.

The favorability of Tea Party-favorites Rep. Michele Bachmann and pizza magnate Herman Cain was not tested in the NBC/WSJ poll, but in horserace matchups, Romney still won a plurality of Tea Party supporters.

Among Tea Party backers who said they would vote in the GOP primary, Romney won the support of 28 percent, Palin was selected by 15 percent, Cain won 17 percent, and Bachmann clocked in at 4 percent.  

From MSNBC.com's Tom Curry
Saturday’s golf summit brings together the most famous smoker in American politics, House Speaker John Boehner, and its most famous ex-smoker, President Barack Obama. (Vice President Biden and Ohio Gov. John Kasich complete the foursome.)

Back in 1965, when Boehner was a teenager, 42 percent of American adults were smokers. As of 2009, about one-fifth of adult Americans were smokers.

“It’s a bad habit, I wish I didn’t have it, but I have it,” Boehner said in an interview last January with NBC’s Brian Williams. And when Fox News Chris Wallace asked the speaker about his smoking, he replied “I choose to smoke. Leave me alone.”

Although smokers are a shrinking minority of the population, they’re a small but reliable source of revenue for the states and for the federal government.

The federal government collected $16.6 billion in tobacco tax revenue in 2010, less than one percent of total revenues.

State sales taxes on tobacco products accounted for $16.8 billion in revenue in 2010, which was 2.4 percent of the states’ total tax collections. Fiscal distress led seven states to increase cigarette taxes last year, after 18 states did so in 2009.

If Boehner buys his cigarettes in the District of Columbia, he pays a $2.50 per pack tax on top of the $1 federal tax. If he crosses the Potomac to Virginia he can pay one of the lowest cigarette taxes in the nation, 30 cents per pack.

Increasingly, the states’ tobacco tax hikes are at odds with their reliance on the billions that tobacco companies are scheduled to give them under the Master Settlement Agreement negotiated in 1998.

Under that deal, states gave cigarette makers immunity from state lawsuits in return for annual payments in perpetuity from the companies. The payments are pegged to cigarette consumption and other factors.

The deal was estimated to be worth about worth $200 billion over the first 25 years.

But several states didn’t want to wait for the money, so they designed “securitization” deals in which they sold bonds backed by the future revenue streams from the tobacco settlement.

Last year, for instance, Illinois floated a six-year, $1.5 billion securitization deal. The state used the proceeds to pay its backlog of bills. In 2007, Ohio sold a $5.5 billion, 45-year securitization deal.

Last year, due to a decline in cigarette consumption, the tobacco-settlement payments to the states fell 16.4 percent to $6.4 billion, nearly $2 billion less than originally forecast.

This underscored the risk to bond buyers: that cigarette consumption will decline more sharply than forecast, which would mean tobacco firms’ payments to the states under the settlement would fall, leaving insufficient revenue and causing the bonds to default.

Not the kind of default that Obama and Boehner may be discussing Saturday, but a reminder that in government, sometimes creative financing doesn’t go exactly as planned.