The New Hampshire Democratic Party delivered a "pre-buttal" to tonight's GOP presidential debate in the Granite State. Per the AP:

Ahead of Monday night's debate in Manchester, state Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley stood in a driveway near the debate site criticizing some of the seven Republicans who will share the stage.

Buckley acknowledged that unemployment remains high under the Obama administration but said Republicans want to return to the policies that created the nation's economic problems.

Though he singled out Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty, Buckley said it's impossible to say which Republican would be the strongest candidate against Obama. He compared the Republicans to mosquitoes flying around the news conference - irritating but not dangerous.

From NBC's Athena Jones
Jobs, jobs jobs. That was the focus of President Barack Obama's trip to the battleground state of North Carolina today.

At a stop at Cree, Inc., a manufacturer of energy-efficient LED lighting, the president toured the factory and met with his Jobs and Competitiveness Council to talk about ways to spur economic growth and jump-start hiring. 

"Today the single most serious economic problem we face is getting people back to work," Obama said. "I will not be satisfied 'til everyone who wants a good job that offers some security has a good job that offers some security."

Jobs top the list of Americans' concerns as a slew of recent economic data suggest the recovery could be slowing down and polls show the public is not impressed with the president's handling of the economy.

In light of the disappointing May jobs numbers -- when unemployment ticked up to 9.1 percent and the economy added a lower-than-expected 54,000 jobs -- the White House has been especially eager to show Obama is doing everything he can to promote job creation even in the face of what he has called strong "headwinds" like high gas prices, concerns about the debt crisis in Europe and instability in the Middle East.

With the two parties struggling over a deal to reduce the deficit and raise the limit for how much the county can borrow, there's no appetite for new stimulus from the GOP-controlled House.

To drive any significant job growth, private companies must invest and hire, which explains today's focus on the Jobs Council headed by General Electric Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt. Immelt and American Express CEO Ken Chenault -- another council member -- wrote an op-ed that appeared in the Wall Street Journal this morning  in which they laid out what they called "fast-action" steps -- like training workers, cutting red tape and getting more loans to small businesses -- that they say could help create a million new jobs in two years.

At today's meeting, Jobs Council participants gave brief presentations to the president on topics ranging from the need to boost agricultural exports and update the air traffic control system, to changing immigration laws to help high-tech companies and training the manufacturing workforce. Immelt said the council was working on about 30 ideas and their focus over the next few months would be on infrastructure, small business financing and creation and encouraging more foreign direct investment in America.

While promising to act on some of these recommendations, Obama said it was wise of the group to focus on steps the private sector and the administration could take without legislation, but added that it "sends a message to Congress."

"We shouldn't have to work around Congress; they should be part of this process," Obama told the group at the end of the discussion, which lasted over an hour.

In the speech to Cree employees, Obama announced "an all hands on deck strategy to train 10,000 new American engineers every year" -- an idea that came up at the afternoon meeting.

North Carolina important to Obama's electoral prospects

It's no accident that Obama made this stop in North Carolina, where the unemployment rate in April was 9.7 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It's a state he was able to swing to the Democratic category in the last election and one his party hopes to hold onto in 2012, when the Democratic convention will be held a couple hours away from Cree in Charlotte.

Then-candidate Obama visited Cree during the primary campaign in May of 2008 and Vice President Joe Biden returned to the firm last year to talk about how to help the middle class. With its focus on energy efficiency, the company fits in well with one of the president's top agenda items.

Today's trip is also an attempt to get ahead of the president's Republican critics who are using the May jobs data to criticize him. Sunday on "Meet the Press", Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus accused him of not doing enough to address the economy's most pressing issue.

"We've got crushing unemployment in this country," Priebus said. "We've got a president that's whistling past the graveyard, we've got families that are struggling."

The RNC also sent out a release criticizing Cree for shipping jobs to China. The company received a $39 million Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit (48C) from the stimulus bill and a spokesman from House Speaker John Boehner's office said the event highlighted Obama's failure on the jobs issue.

"Each of these events is a fresh reminder of the President's failure to deliver the job creation he promised," Brendan Buck wrote in an email. "Photo-ops with business leaders only reinforce that no one in this administration has ideas to create the private sector jobs our economy desperately needs. Republicans have a Plan for American Job Creators, and we hope the President will work with us to implement it."

The two-day trip was not all policy. The president was headed to Miami to attend three DNC fundraisers on Monday night, before traveling to Puerto Rico on Tuesday in what will be the first presidential visit to the commonwealth since John F. Kennedy was in office.

In addition to Immelt and Chenault, among the other Jobs Council members at today's meeting were Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly, DuPont CEO Ellen Kullman, former Proctor and Gamble CEO A.G. Lafley, Intel CEO Paul Otellini, UBS President Robert Wolf, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, Eastman Kodak CEO Antonio Perez, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Pritzker Realty Group's Penny Pritzker -- who was also a fundraiser for Obama in 2008.

On the day of Republican presidential debate in Manchester, N.H., former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) gave reporters a preview of what to expect.

"The object isn't to stir some internal rift in the Republican Party. The focus here is to get Barack Obama out of the White House," Pawlenty said. "He broke just about every major promise he made when he was running for president of the United States.  And he needs to leave."

On how this debate will be different than the last debate in South Carolina when Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich did not participate, Pawlenty said, "Well, there'll be more people."

"So everybody brings a little something different to the race and to the debates," he added. "And so we'll have a robust and good debate about the future of the country."

Pawlenty added that his recent talk about the similarities of the federal health care law and the program Romney started in Massachusetts "wasn't to take a swipe at Mitt Romney."  He said that pointing out policy differences during a debate is "fair game."

"I don't think contrasting policy difference between candidates during a debate is out of bounds in a debate," Pawlenty said. "The American people want to know what do you stand for, what do you believe.  And if you get asked a question about how that differs from other proposals, I think that's fair game."

From NBC's Kelly O'Donnell
Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi has not yet received any formal request yet from Rep. Anthony Weiner concerning a leave of absence.

Various aides have sorted out details on how this works and say that Pelosi would be required to sign the request. The Speaker's Office or Republican Leader would not be involved.

Weiner sources say they expect the request by day's end and referred to it as a "form" rather than a letter. It would be a perfunctory step rather than an explanation of Weiner's intentions.

Sources close to Weiner will not provide information about his location but did rule out Washington, D.C.

Second GOP presidential debate tonight presents us with a few firsts… Pay attention to the topic of health care, after Pawlenty’s “ObamneyCare” broadside yesterday… Debate starts at 8:00 pm ET from Manchester, NH… New Hampshire Dem Party pre-buts the debate with noon ET press conference… Obama’s next two (very political) days in NC, FL, and Puerto Rico… Weiner’s distraction for Democrats… Santorum’s “Meet” appearance… And 2012 GOP presidential candidates embrace the Tea Party’s language.

*** Manchester United: Although tonight's GOP presidential debate in Manchester, NH is the second debate of the primary season, it presents us with a few firsts. It’s the first debate featuring Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Michele Bachmann, none of whom participated at last month’s GOP debate in South Carolina. It’s the first debate after last week’s Gingrich “Newtiny.” It’s the first debate since much of the economic news turned south. (By contrast, the South Carolina debate was right after Osama bin Laden’s death). And it’s the first debate since Tim Pawlenty took his first true jab at Romney on health care, telling FOX yesterday: “President Obama said that he designed ObamaCare after RomneyCare, and basically made it ObamneyCare.”

*** Pay attention to the topic of health care: It’s a legitimate question to ask: Who will come under more fire at tonight’s debate -- President Obama or Romney? Early presidential debates rarely include direct attacks or heated exchanges, because the candidates all are trying to make a good first (or second) impression. That said, time is a-wastin’, and Pawlenty yesterday telegraphed what could be a more aggressive debate strategy than we're used to seeing this early in the process. If Pawlenty starts in on him, will the rest of the field pile on? As we learned in the ’08 cycle (think that famous Philly debate when the issue of drivers licenses for illegal immigrants came up), the pile-on is the only effective way to stop a front-runner. What’s more, Pawlenty makes a health-care-related stop before the debate at Next Step Orthotics & Prosthetics, Inc. in Manchester at 11:00 am ET. And the liberal Dem Super PAC group Protect Your Care is airing a TV ad (being broadcast in the Boston market and on WMUR in New Hampshire) hitting the Ryan budget’s plan on Medicare. Pawlenty, of course, has his own challenges heading into this debate, including making sure he's not overshadowed by the other candidate from Minnesota making her OWN debate debut: Bachmann.

*** Debate 411: Tonight’s two-hour debate starts at 8:00 pm ET, and it’s co-hosted by CNN, WMUR, and the New Hampshire Union Leader. It takes place from St. Anselm College in Manchester. The moderator is CNN’s John King. The seven Republicans participating at the debate: Bachmann, Herman Cain, Gingrich, Ron Paul, Pawlenty, Romney, and Rick Santorum. Jon Huntsman, who has not yet announced his presidential bid, is NOT participating. The New Hampshire Democratic Party pre-buts today’s with a news conference near St. Anselm at noon ET.

*** Obama’s next two (very political) days in NC, FL, and Puerto Rico: President Obama’s visits to North Carolina, Florida, and Puerto Rico over the next two days is all about presidential politics in NC and FL, even the trip to Puerto Rico. At 1:45 pm ET, Obama delivers remarks at Cree Inc. in Durham, NC. Per the White House, Cree Inc. is a “leading manufacturer of energy-efficient LED lighting.” Then he heads to Miami to attend two DNC fundraisers and overnights down there. On Tuesday, the president travels to Puerto Rico, the native land of plenty of Latino voters who live (and vote in) the Sunshine State. By the way, NBC’s Ann Curry interviews the president today in North Carolina, and the interview will air on “TODAY” tomorrow morning. For those who love looking at the electoral map, realize that Team Obama views FL and NC as their OH insurance policy. Privately, more and more Democrats are nervous about holding Ohio and most of the strategic decisions by the Obama campaign involve making sure they don't get fall into the Kerry trap from 2004 where it's Ohio or bust.

*** Weiner’s distraction: Want to know why Rep. Anthony Weiner’s (D) decision not to resign from Congress -- after calls by top party leaders to do so -- has become a distraction for Democrats? David Gregory’s first 10 questions in yesterday’s “Meet the Press” debate between DNC Chair Debbie Wassermann Schultz and RNC Chair Reince Priebus were about Weiner. Not the Ryan budget plan. Not the economy. Not the war in Afghanistan. “At the end of the day, a member of Congress makes their own decision,” Wasserman Schultz said. And that's certainly going to be up to Anthony Weiner. But we have made clear that he needs to resign.” The Weiner news also led “TODAY” this morning. Weiner has perhaps one friend left in the New York delegation who isn't calling for him publicly to resign. Other than that, he's politically as alone as ever.

*** On Santorum’s “Meet” appearance: Rick Santorum also appeared on “Meet” yesterday as part of the program’s “Meet the Candidates” series. Santorum said, if elected president, he would repeal the health-care law, even its provisions prohibiting denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions. About his 18-point Senate loss in ’06, he said: “I learned from that race is that losing isn't the worst thing that can happen to you.” He said he favors raising Social Security’s retirement age, and he agreed with the characterization that he’s the true conservative in the GOP field. “I'm someone who's been out there for 16 years, having the courage to lead on a variety of conservative issues when they weren't popular.” When asked if Romney and Huntsman are true conservatives, Santorum replied, “I think they have held positions in the past that have not been conservative. And I think they have to account for those.”

*** The GOP and the Tea Party: As one of us will report on MSNBC’s “Daily Rundown” this morning, the early GOP rhetoric on the 2012 presidential campaign trail has been dominated by language associated with the Tea Party. “Conservative values had come to dominate Republican presidential primaries in recent years. But after the election of 2010, on the Republican side, EVERYONE'S Tea Party now.” Roll Call also runs with this theme today: “2012 Race Steeped in Tea Party.”

Countdown to Iowa GOP straw poll: 61 days
Countdown to NV-2 special election: 92 days
Countdown to Election Day 2011: 148 days
Countdown to the Iowa caucuses: 238 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.

“Republicans eyeing their party's presidential nomination in 2012 are preparing for the first debate to include former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney,” the AP says. Romney and six of his rivals are scheduled to meet Monday night at St. Anselm's College in Manchester. It will be the first time Romney will share a stage with the contenders who are looking to take away his frontrunner status.”

The Boston Globe: “The thrust of their fiscal proposals won’t necessarily surprise the New Hampshire and national viewers who tune into the CNN forum at 8 p.m.: Cut taxes, cut spending — standard Republican doctrine. But the candidates will probably differ significantly in approach, level of detail they provide, and emphasis.”

“Most of the candidates have seized on the days leading up to [tonight’s] debate as a chance to refine their opening pitch to an electorate that is only beginning to focus on the 2012 race,” the Wall Street Journal adds.

Ahead of the debate, a new USA Today/Gallup national poll has Romney in the clear lead. 

“Newt Gingrich's campaign defections are just the latest tremor in a constantly shifting GOP presidential landscape that craves some steadiness as a big, early New Hampshire debate nears,” the AP writes of the week that was. Between the Gingrich defections and Romney’s decision not to participate in the Ames straw poll, not to mention the non-candidate Sarah Palin email dump, “[I]t was a typical week in the GOP's free-wheeling nominating process. The field is anything but set, and there's no clear picture of who will emerge to challenge President Barack Obama in 2012.”

BACHMANN: Michele Bachmann’s not-yet-official campaign will announce the addition of Alice Stewart, who worked on Mike Huckabee’s 2008 campaign, as national press secretary, Fox reports.

CHRISTIE: Another group of Republicans from an influential primary state are launching an effort to draft New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie into the presidential race, CNN reports, noting that about a dozen South Carolina lawmakers will hold a rally on the steps of the state house next Wednesday to let Christie know he has supporters there.

GINGRICH: The Christian Science Monitor asks “Is Newt Gingrich’s campaign the worst ever?” concluding that he has some pretty stiff competition, including Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, and those of Phil Gramm and Gary Hart.

“Speaking Sunday night to the Republican Jewish Coalition in Los Angeles, Gingrich tried to reset his White House bid, roiled by a rocky rollout and crippled in recent days by the mass exodus of top staff and advisers,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. “He reflected that his decades in public life have left him accustomed to the rigors of hard-fought elections. ‘In fact, I have had some recent reminders,’ he quipped to appreciative chuckles from the audience of 600.”

“A commanding performance in the debate could help change the narrative that Gingrich’s campaign is essentially dead after last week when the top echelon of his campaign staff resigned out of frustration with the candidate,” the Daily Caller writes. “A weak performance could solidify the conventional wisdom that his campaign is nearing the end of its short-lived existence.”  

HUNTSMAN: Jon Huntsman, who is not participating in tonight’s debate, said that he is close to announcing a decision on running for president, according to Reuters. Huntsman said that all the elements of a campaign – fundraising, organization and boots on the ground – are ready to go, but “We need to check the family 'box,' to sit down with the family one last time," Huntsman said. 

Huntsman’s campaign yesterday had to walk back a report that FedEx founder Frederick W. Smith agreed to support Huntsman if he ran for president. According to a FedEx executive, “Fred Smith has not committed any financial or other support to Gov. Huntsman. He is not supporting any particular candidate for the Presidency and does not plan to do so until later in the election process, if at all.” The two men had a “brief” call, the Washington Post writes.

JOHNSON: Supporters of former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson’s presidential campaign placed full-page newspaper ads in the New Hampshire Union Leader, Concord Monitor and New Hampshire Sunday News protesting Johnson’s exclusion from tonight’s Republican debate, the Union-Leader writes.

PAWLENTY: On Friday, Tim Pawlenty picked up the support of Al Hubbard, former President George W. Bush’s National Economic Council director, the AP reports.

Tim Pawlenty was among Republicans throwing harder rhetorical blows yesterday than they have previously, the San Francisco Chronicle writes. Taking a swipe at Mitt Romney’s Massachusetts health care plan, he combined Romney’s plan with that of President Obama’s and called it, “Obamneycare.”

ROMNEY: Politico’s Ben Smith writes that Romney -- with aid from campaign manager Matt Rhoades – is winning the “Drudge primary.” From the article: “A survey of the past 13 months of Drudge headlines found only one debatably negative reference to the 2002 Olympics CEO (‘Bachmann Outraises Romney’) — and a survey of aides to his rivals found a rising level of frustration at what one described as ‘favoritism’ by one of the most important, if also one of the quirkiest, referees.

A University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll, released by the Boston Globe, gave Mitt Romney 41 percent over his fellow Republican candidates, Fox News reports. The next closest candidate is Rudy Giuliani, who has not yet said whether or not he will run, who garnered 9 percent of the vote.

Meanwhile, Romney has a new Web video hitting President Obama on the economy.

SANTORUM: The New Hampshire Union-Leader’s DiStaso on Santorum’s release of the first campaign ad of the 2012 presidential cycle, which will air in the first three primary states, Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina: “It's not surprising that Santorum is the first to air an ad in New Hampshire, a state he has visited 18 times but has yet to score above the low single-digits in polling. The ad is aimed at increasing his name recognition and identifying him as a staunch fiscal conservative.”

Rick Santorum suggested that his 18-point loss in the 2006 Senate race was an anomaly, due mostly to the national attitude towards Republicans, Roll Call writes. “2006 was probably the worst year for Republicans in Pennsylvania history,” Santorum said on Meet the Press.

The AP: “Congress returns to work on Monday, but at least one lawmaker won't be there. Rep. Anthony Weiner starts this week on a temporary leave of absence, in treatment for an undisclosed disorder at an undisclosed location. He spent most of last week embroiled in a sexting scandal.:

More: “Weiner has acknowledged exchanging messages and photos that ranged from sexually suggestive to explicit, with several women online. The latest to surface appeared on the gossip website TMZ... The photos posted Sunday were purportedly taken in the House members' gym and show a shirtless Weiner with a towel around his waist and his hand on his crotch. TMZ said the photos were sent online to at least one woman."

The New York Post: “New Weiner photos taken in House gym could be an ethics breach.”

The New York Daily News’ cover today: “Gym randy.”

“The stock market fell again Friday, marking a six-week slump. That’s bad news for investors — and bad timing for Dallas Rep.Pete Sessions and others who want to transform Social Security by creating investment accounts for workers,” the Dallas Morning News writes.

Over the weekend, "top Democratic leaders -- including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Steve Israel -- … called for embattled Rep. Anthony Weiner's (D) to resign from Congress."

Politico: “It seems like the climate is right for No Child Left Behind to move through Congress this summer, and yet the law is still on a course, itself, to be left behind in 2011. Even though House Speaker John Boehner is a longtime champion of the law, President Barack Obama recently has pushed for reform and Senate negotiators have made progress on a tentative deal, a series of political realities make reauthorization unlikely anytime soon.”

“Bedeviled by a bleak employment picture, President Barack Obama is pushing for more private sector hiring while seeking to protect his own job during a two-day domestic trip that aims to raise his political profile in two key states and with an important Hispanic constituency,” per the AP. “In North Carolina on Monday, the president will press for more jobs in targeted industries, including tourism and green energy sectors. Later in the day, he will attend three fundraisers in donor-rich Miami. He will end his travels Tuesday in Puerto Rico, a visit considered essential as he courts the Puerto Rican vote in the mainland, especially in Florida.”

The New York Times writes how Obama is trying to woo back Wall Street, as it relates to 2012 and fundraising. “The president’s top financial industry supporters say they are confident that the support Mr. Obama needs will ultimately be there, despite the financial industry’s unhappiness over his efforts to tighten regulation of their businesses. But it is clear that those supporters will have to work much harder to win over the financial services industry than they did in 2008, before Wall Street’s bust, the subsequent clashes over policy and the sometimes bitter personal differences that lingered afterward.”

“Profits at American companies are poised to be one of the few bright spots in the U.S., helping to steady the faltering recovery,” Bloomberg writes. “Earnings will climb an average 10 percent a year through 2013, more than three times quicker than the economy, after what has already been the fastest rebound since the late 1940s, JPMorgan Chase & Co. projects.”

Tee time: The golf foursome later this week will be President Obama, Vice President Biden, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

ARIZONA: “The shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in January has left Democrats in Arizona without a candidate for next year's U.S. Senate race even though party officials in Washington have declared the state a tremendous opportunity to pick up a seat,” the AP writes. “Giffords would be the unquestionable favorite to represent the Democrats if she were able to run. As she undergoes therapy to recover from the January shooting, an alternative candidate has yet to emerge -- in part, because of the uncertainty surrounding her political future.”

“Supporters of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords are getting mixed messages about the Arizona Democrat’s political future,” Roll Call writes. “Just a day after Giffords’ chief of staff offered a blunt assessment of the Congresswoman’s recovery from being shot in the head Jan. 8, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz painted a far rosier picture.”

CALIFORNIA: A 14-member citizens commission charged with drawing new Congressional and legislative districts in the state announced its first proposed district maps on Friday, the New York Times reports. “Across the state, members of Congress or state legislators found themselves thrown into the same district, or representing districts that went from safe to perilous.”

Second GOP presidential debate tonight presents us with a few firsts… Pay attention to the topic of health care, after Pawlenty’s “ObamneyCare” broadside yesterday… Debate starts at 8:00 pm ET from Manchester, NH… New Hampshire Dem Party pre-buts the debate with noon ET press conference… Obama’s next two (very political) days in NC, FL, and Puerto Rico… Weiner’s distraction for Democrats… Santorum’s “Meet” appearance… And 2012 GOP presidential candidates embrace the Tea Party’s language.

*** Manchester United: Although tonight's GOP presidential debate in Manchester, NH is the second debate of the primary season, it presents us with a few firsts. It’s the first debate featuring Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Michele Bachmann, none of whom participated at last month’s GOP debate in South Carolina. It’s the first debate after last week’s Gingrich “Newtiny.” It’s the first debate since much of the economic news turned south. (By contrast, the South Carolina debate was right after Osama bin Laden’s death). And it’s the first debate since Tim Pawlenty took his first true jab at Romney on health care, telling FOX yesterday: “President Obama said that he designed ObamaCare after RomneyCare, and basically made it ObamneyCare.”

*** Pay attention to the topic of health care: It’s a legitimate question to ask: Who will come under more fire at tonight’s debate -- President Obama or Romney? Early presidential debates rarely include direct attacks or heated exchanges, because the candidates all are trying to make a good first (or second) impression. That said, time is a-wastin’, and Pawlenty yesterday telegraphed what could be a more aggressive debate strategy than we're used to seeing this early in the process. If Pawlenty starts in on him, will the rest of the field pile on? As we learned in the ’08 cycle (think that famous Philly debate when the issue of drivers licenses for illegal immigrants came up), the pile-on is the only effective way to stop a front-runner. What’s more, Pawlenty makes a health-care-related stop before the debate at Next Step Orthotics & Prosthetics, Inc. in Manchester at 11:00 am ET. And the liberal Dem Super PAC group Protect Your Care is airing a TV ad (being broadcast in the Boston market and on WMUR in New Hampshire) hitting the Ryan budget’s plan on Medicare. Pawlenty, of course, has his own challenges heading into this debate, including making sure he's not overshadowed by the other candidate from Minnesota making her OWN debate debut: Bachmann.

*** Debate 411: Tonight’s two-hour debate starts at 8:00 pm ET, and it’s co-hosted by CNN, WMUR, and the New Hampshire Union Leader. It takes place from St. Anselm College in Manchester. The moderator is CNN’s John King. The seven Republicans participating at the debate: Bachmann, Herman Cain, Gingrich, Ron Paul, Pawlenty, Romney, and Rick Santorum. Jon Huntsman, who has not yet announced his presidential bid, is NOT participating. The New Hampshire Democratic Party pre-buts today’s with a news conference near St. Anselm at noon ET.

*** Obama’s next two (very political) days in NC, FL, and Puerto Rico: President Obama’s visits to North Carolina, Florida, and Puerto Rico over the next two days is all about presidential politics in NC and FL, even the trip to Puerto Rico. At 1:45 pm ET, Obama delivers remarks at Cree Inc. in Durham, NC. Per the White House, Cree Inc. is a “leading manufacturer of energy-efficient LED lighting.” Then he heads to Miami to attend two DNC fundraisers and overnights down there. On Tuesday, the president travels to Puerto Rico, the native land of plenty of Latino voters who live (and vote in) the Sunshine State. By the way, NBC’s Ann Curry interviews the president today in North Carolina, and the interview will air on “TODAY” tomorrow morning. For those who love looking at the electoral map, realize that Team Obama views FL and NC as their OH insurance policy. Privately, more and more Democrats are nervous about holding Ohio and most of the strategic decisions by the Obama campaign involve making sure they don't get fall into the Kerry trap from 2004 where it's Ohio or bust.

*** Weiner’s distraction: Want to know why Rep. Anthony Weiner’s (D) decision not to resign from Congress -- after calls by top party leaders to do so -- has become a distraction for Democrats? David Gregory’s first 10 questions in yesterday’s “Meet the Press” debate between DNC Chair Debbie Wassermann Schultz and RNC Chair Reince Priebus were about Weiner. Not the Ryan budget plan. Not the economy. Not the war in Afghanistan. “At the end of the day, a member of Congress makes their own decision,” Wasserman Schultz said. And that's certainly going to be up to Anthony Weiner. But we have made clear that he needs to resign.” The Weiner news also led “TODAY” this morning. Weiner has perhaps one friend left in the New York delegation who isn't calling for him publicly to resign. Other than that, he's politically as alone as ever.

*** On Santorum’s “Meet” appearance: Rick Santorum also appeared on “Meet” yesterday as part of the program’s “Meet the Candidates” series. Santorum said, if elected president, he would repeal the health-care law, even its provisions prohibiting denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions. About his 18-point Senate loss in ’06, he said: “I learned from that race is that losing isn't the worst thing that can happen to you.” He said he favors raising Social Security’s retirement age, and he agreed with the characterization that he’s the true conservative in the GOP field. “I'm someone who's been out there for 16 years, having the courage to lead on a variety of conservative issues when they weren't popular.” When asked if Romney and Huntsman are true conservatives, Santorum replied, “I think they have held positions in the past that have not been conservative. And I think they have to account for those.”

*** The GOP and the Tea Party: As one of us will report on MSNBC’s “Daily Rundown” this morning, the early GOP rhetoric on the 2012 presidential campaign trail has been dominated by language associated with the Tea Party. “Conservative values had come to dominate Republican presidential primaries in recent years. But after the election of 2010, on the Republican side, EVERYONE'S Tea Party now.” Roll Call also runs with this theme today: “2012 Race Steeped in Tea Party.”

Countdown to Iowa GOP straw poll: 61 days
Countdown to NV-2 special election: 92 days
Countdown to Election Day 2011: 148 days
Countdown to the Iowa caucuses: 238 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.

“Republicans eyeing their party's presidential nomination in 2012 are preparing for the first debate to include former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney,” the AP says. Romney and six of his rivals are scheduled to meet Monday night at St. Anselm's College in Manchester. It will be the first time Romney will share a stage with the contenders who are looking to take away his frontrunner status.”

The Boston Globe: “The thrust of their fiscal proposals won’t necessarily surprise the New Hampshire and national viewers who tune into the CNN forum at 8 p.m.: Cut taxes, cut spending — standard Republican doctrine. But the candidates will probably differ significantly in approach, level of detail they provide, and emphasis.”

“Most of the candidates have seized on the days leading up to [tonight’s] debate as a chance to refine their opening pitch to an electorate that is only beginning to focus on the 2012 race,” the Wall Street Journal adds.

Ahead of the debate, a new USA Today/Gallup national poll has Romney in the clear lead. 

“Newt Gingrich's campaign defections are just the latest tremor in a constantly shifting GOP presidential landscape that craves some steadiness as a big, early New Hampshire debate nears,” the AP writes of the week that was. Between the Gingrich defections and Romney’s decision not to participate in the Ames straw poll, not to mention the non-candidate Sarah Palin email dump, “[I]t was a typical week in the GOP's free-wheeling nominating process. The field is anything but set, and there's no clear picture of who will emerge to challenge President Barack Obama in 2012.”

BACHMANN: Michele Bachmann’s not-yet-official campaign will announce the addition of Alice Stewart, who worked on Mike Huckabee’s 2008 campaign, as national press secretary, Fox reports.

CHRISTIE: Another group of Republicans from an influential primary state are launching an effort to draft New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie into the presidential race, CNN reports, noting that about a dozen South Carolina lawmakers will hold a rally on the steps of the state house next Wednesday to let Christie know he has supporters there.

GINGRICH: The Christian Science Monitor asks “Is Newt Gingrich’s campaign the worst ever?” concluding that he has some pretty stiff competition, including Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, and those of Phil Gramm and Gary Hart.

“Speaking Sunday night to the Republican Jewish Coalition in Los Angeles, Gingrich tried to reset his White House bid, roiled by a rocky rollout and crippled in recent days by the mass exodus of top staff and advisers,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. “He reflected that his decades in public life have left him accustomed to the rigors of hard-fought elections. ‘In fact, I have had some recent reminders,’ he quipped to appreciative chuckles from the audience of 600.”

“A commanding performance in the debate could help change the narrative that Gingrich’s campaign is essentially dead after last week when the top echelon of his campaign staff resigned out of frustration with the candidate,” the Daily Caller writes. “A weak performance could solidify the conventional wisdom that his campaign is nearing the end of its short-lived existence.”  

HUNTSMAN: Jon Huntsman, who is not participating in tonight’s debate, said that he is close to announcing a decision on running for president, according to Reuters. Huntsman said that all the elements of a campaign – fundraising, organization and boots on the ground – are ready to go, but “We need to check the family 'box,' to sit down with the family one last time," Huntsman said. 

Huntsman’s campaign yesterday had to walk back a report that FedEx founder Frederick W. Smith agreed to support Huntsman if he ran for president. According to a FedEx executive, “Fred Smith has not committed any financial or other support to Gov. Huntsman. He is not supporting any particular candidate for the Presidency and does not plan to do so until later in the election process, if at all.” The two men had a “brief” call, the Washington Post writes.

JOHNSON: Supporters of former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson’s presidential campaign placed full-page newspaper ads in the New Hampshire Union Leader, Concord Monitor and New Hampshire Sunday News protesting Johnson’s exclusion from tonight’s Republican debate, the Union-Leader writes.

PAWLENTY: On Friday, Tim Pawlenty picked up the support of Al Hubbard, former President George W. Bush’s National Economic Council director, the AP reports.

Tim Pawlenty was among Republicans throwing harder rhetorical blows yesterday than they have previously, the San Francisco Chronicle writes. Taking a swipe at Mitt Romney’s Massachusetts health care plan, he combined Romney’s plan with that of President Obama’s and called it, “Obamneycare.”

ROMNEY: Politico’s Ben Smith writes that Romney -- with aid from campaign manager Matt Rhoades – is winning the “Drudge primary.” From the article: “A survey of the past 13 months of Drudge headlines found only one debatably negative reference to the 2002 Olympics CEO (‘Bachmann Outraises Romney’) — and a survey of aides to his rivals found a rising level of frustration at what one described as ‘favoritism’ by one of the most important, if also one of the quirkiest, referees.

A University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll, released by the Boston Globe, gave Mitt Romney 41 percent over his fellow Republican candidates, Fox News reports. The next closest candidate is Rudy Giuliani, who has not yet said whether or not he will run, who garnered 9 percent of the vote.

Meanwhile, Romney has a new Web video hitting President Obama on the economy.

SANTORUM: The New Hampshire Union-Leader’s DiStaso on Santorum’s release of the first campaign ad of the 2012 presidential cycle, which will air in the first three primary states, Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina: “It's not surprising that Santorum is the first to air an ad in New Hampshire, a state he has visited 18 times but has yet to score above the low single-digits in polling. The ad is aimed at increasing his name recognition and identifying him as a staunch fiscal conservative.”

Rick Santorum suggested that his 18-point loss in the 2006 Senate race was an anomaly, due mostly to the national attitude towards Republicans, Roll Call writes. “2006 was probably the worst year for Republicans in Pennsylvania history,” Santorum said on Meet the Press.

The AP: “Congress returns to work on Monday, but at least one lawmaker won't be there. Rep. Anthony Weiner starts this week on a temporary leave of absence, in treatment for an undisclosed disorder at an undisclosed location. He spent most of last week embroiled in a sexting scandal.:

More: “Weiner has acknowledged exchanging messages and photos that ranged from sexually suggestive to explicit, with several women online. The latest to surface appeared on the gossip website TMZ... The photos posted Sunday were purportedly taken in the House members' gym and show a shirtless Weiner with a towel around his waist and his hand on his crotch. TMZ said the photos were sent online to at least one woman."

The New York Post: “New Weiner photos taken in House gym could be an ethics breach.”

The New York Daily News’ cover today: “Gym randy.”

“The stock market fell again Friday, marking a six-week slump. That’s bad news for investors — and bad timing for Dallas Rep.Pete Sessions and others who want to transform Social Security by creating investment accounts for workers,” the Dallas Morning News writes.

Over the weekend, "top Democratic leaders -- including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Steve Israel -- … called for embattled Rep. Anthony Weiner's (D) to resign from Congress."

Politico: “It seems like the climate is right for No Child Left Behind to move through Congress this summer, and yet the law is still on a course, itself, to be left behind in 2011. Even though House Speaker John Boehner is a longtime champion of the law, President Barack Obama recently has pushed for reform and Senate negotiators have made progress on a tentative deal, a series of political realities make reauthorization unlikely anytime soon.”

“Bedeviled by a bleak employment picture, President Barack Obama is pushing for more private sector hiring while seeking to protect his own job during a two-day domestic trip that aims to raise his political profile in two key states and with an important Hispanic constituency,” per the AP. “In North Carolina on Monday, the president will press for more jobs in targeted industries, including tourism and green energy sectors. Later in the day, he will attend three fundraisers in donor-rich Miami. He will end his travels Tuesday in Puerto Rico, a visit considered essential as he courts the Puerto Rican vote in the mainland, especially in Florida.”

The New York Times writes how Obama is trying to woo back Wall Street, as it relates to 2012 and fundraising. “The president’s top financial industry supporters say they are confident that the support Mr. Obama needs will ultimately be there, despite the financial industry’s unhappiness over his efforts to tighten regulation of their businesses. But it is clear that those supporters will have to work much harder to win over the financial services industry than they did in 2008, before Wall Street’s bust, the subsequent clashes over policy and the sometimes bitter personal differences that lingered afterward.”

“Profits at American companies are poised to be one of the few bright spots in the U.S., helping to steady the faltering recovery,” Bloomberg writes. “Earnings will climb an average 10 percent a year through 2013, more than three times quicker than the economy, after what has already been the fastest rebound since the late 1940s, JPMorgan Chase & Co. projects.”

Tee time: The golf foursome later this week will be President Obama, Vice President Biden, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

ARIZONA: “The shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in January has left Democrats in Arizona without a candidate for next year's U.S. Senate race even though party officials in Washington have declared the state a tremendous opportunity to pick up a seat,” the AP writes. “Giffords would be the unquestionable favorite to represent the Democrats if she were able to run. As she undergoes therapy to recover from the January shooting, an alternative candidate has yet to emerge -- in part, because of the uncertainty surrounding her political future.”

“Supporters of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords are getting mixed messages about the Arizona Democrat’s political future,” Roll Call writes. “Just a day after Giffords’ chief of staff offered a blunt assessment of the Congresswoman’s recovery from being shot in the head Jan. 8, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz painted a far rosier picture.”

CALIFORNIA: A 14-member citizens commission charged with drawing new Congressional and legislative districts in the state announced its first proposed district maps on Friday, the New York Times reports. “Across the state, members of Congress or state legislators found themselves thrown into the same district, or representing districts that went from safe to perilous.”

ARIZONA: “The shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in January has left Democrats in Arizona without a candidate for next year's U.S. Senate race even though party officials in Washington have declared the state a tremendous opportunity to pick up a seat,” the AP writes. “Giffords would be the unquestionable favorite to represent the Democrats if she were able to run. As she undergoes therapy to recover from the January shooting, an alternative candidate has yet to emerge -- in part, because of the uncertainty surrounding her political future.”

“Supporters of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords are getting mixed messages about the Arizona Democrat’s political future,” Roll Call writes. “Just a day after Giffords’ chief of staff offered a blunt assessment of the Congresswoman’s recovery from being shot in the head Jan. 8, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz painted a far rosier picture.”

CALIFORNIA: A 14-member citizens commission charged with drawing new Congressional and legislative districts in the state announced its first proposed district maps on Friday, the New York Times reports. “Across the state, members of Congress or state legislators found themselves thrown into the same district, or representing districts that went from safe to perilous.”

In a coordinated response, top Democratic leaders -- including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Steve Israel -- today called for embattled Rep. Anthony Weiner's (D) to resign from Congress.

That call came amid other news from Weiner's office that the New York congressman was taking a "short leave of absence" after going into treatment today to "become a better husband and healthier person."

In a statement, Pelosi said, "Congressman Weiner has the love of his family, the confidence of his constituents, and the recognition that he needs help. I urge Congressman Weiner to seek that help without the pressure of being a member of Congress."

Added Wasserman Schultz: "The behavior he has exhibited is indefensible and Rep. Weiner's continued service in Congress is untenable."

Democrats told First Read that the coordinated call for Weiner's resignation had been the works for days, and the DNC and DCCC had decided on an internal Saturday morning deadline for him to resign on his own.

That was decided, these Dems said, before the news broke about Weiner's correspondence with a 17-year-old girl, though it appears those conversations weren't lewd.

Edited by Jason Seher

Here come the ads by the GOP presidential hopefuls...

Rick Santorum becomes the first Republican presidential candidate to air an ad -- a 60-second radio one.

The ad's message is on government spending. "Someone has to have the courage to tell the American public, 'We can't afford the government we have right now, and we need to cut it back across the board."

Per the campaign, it will begin airing on Monday on satellite radio, and then later in the week in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

Santorum will appear at Monday's GOP debate in New Hampshire.

Here come the ads by the GOP presidential hopefuls...

Rick Santorum becomes the first Republican presidential candidate to air an ad -- a 60-second radio one.

The ad's message is on government spending. "Someone has to have the courage to tell the American public, 'We can't afford the government we have right now, and we need to cut it back across the board."

Per the campaign, it will begin airing on Monday on satellite radio, and then later in the week in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

Santorum will appear at Monday's GOP debate in New Hampshire.

With polls showing frequent, sometimes daily fluctuations in President Obama's ratings, just what purpose do public opinion polls really serve? Mark and Domenico discuss the value of polls and the utility of electoral match-ups so far out from the 2012 presidential elections.

Thanks to David Walker for the question!

New pro-Palin documentary attacks GOP establishment and sees parallels between Reagan in 1976 and Palin now… The movie will have a limited regional release on July 15… 24,000 Palin emails get dumped today… Making sense of Team Newt’s mass exodus… How it’s different from McCain’s in ’07… How it potentially benefits Rick Perry, if he runs… And after the news, Romney announces he won’t compete in Ames straw poll… But Romney sang a different tune about it in ’07… Dems, including Bill Clinton, are furious at Weiner… Rubio’s maiden speech on Tuesday… And Santorum to appear on “Meet the Press” this Sunday.

*** Palin vs. the GOP establishment: Much of the upcoming documentary on Sarah Palin, “The Undefeated,” which First Read screened yesterday, is unsurprising. It portrays her reforms in Alaska as heroic, it paints her as a victim of Hollywood liberals and the media (though not as many shots at the media as we expected), and it elevates her as the leader of the Tea Party movement. In short, Palin supporters will love it; Democrats won’t. But the most striking part of the film is its attack on the Republican establishment. “To hell to the establishment,” says conservative activist Andrew Breitbart near the end of the movie. Then come pictures of Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, and Eric Cantor. Breitbart’s beef with the GOP establishment: It didn’t defend Palin from the attacks she received after the ’08 campaign. “I see eunuchs,” he added in the "CODA" of the nearly two-hour movie. (Yes, he said eunuchs, we'll refrain from the obvious Weiner reference, but we digress…)

*** Tonight I’m going to party like it’s 1976: In fact, the film compares the GOP establishment’s attitude toward Palin to how it received Ronald Reagan’s primary challenge against Gerald Ford in 1976. Conservative filmmaker Stephen K. Bannon, who made “The Undefeated,” said in an interview with reporters after the screening that he believes the Republican Party and conservative movement need another 1976. And: “It’s very important for [Palin’s] voice to be in it.” Indeed, Bannon said that the Palin documentary is “the story of a woman who always goes up against the establishment” -- whether it the Alaska establishment, the Democratic establishment, the media establishment, or the GOP establishment. Of course, the potential implication here is that Tea Party supporters still want a fight -- in 2012 -- against the GOP establishment. Bannon is most animated about starting this fight inside the party. Asked whether he wants Palin to run outside the party in some third-party capacity, he quickly ruled that out. Instead, he reinforced his belief -- says he's channeling talk radio host Mark Levin, who appears in the movie as well -- about this need for the conservative movement to have another 1976 moment.

*** Coming to theaters near you in July-August: According to Bannon, the Palin documentary will have a limited regional release by AMC on July 15. And his hope is that strong ticket sales during the limited release will lead to a larger pick-up across the country throughout July and August. It's in the hands of movie-goers to see what kind of interest the movie sparks before AMC decides on a wider release. Back to the plot of the movie… Perhaps the biggest contradiction in the movie: It hails her bipartisan accomplishments in Alaska (on ethics reform, the budget, and key oil and gas measures), but then transitions to her no-holds-barred rhetoric against Democrats and President Obama. As the Atlantic Monthly's Josh Green recently wrote, "Since 2008, Sarah Palin has influenced her party, and the tenor of its politics, perhaps more than any other Republican, but in a way that is almost the antithesis of what she did in Alaska." The movie plays down significantly that she worked more with Democrats in Alaska than many inside the Republican Party.

*** One giant Friday news dump: Speaking of Palin, NBC’s Michael Isikoff reported on “TODAY” this morning that the state of Alaska today will release more than 24,000 Palin emails from her two years as governor, many of them business she conducted from her personal email accounts. The Anchorage Daily News has more: “The emails were first requested during the 2008 White House race by citizens and news organizations as they vetted a vice presidential nominee whose political experience included less than one term as governor of Alaska and a term as mayor of the small town of Wasilla. The nearly three-year delay has been attributed largely to the sheer volume of the release and the flood of requests.”

*** Newt: All by myself: Yes, we know that John McCain still won the GOP nomination after his own campaign exodus in 2007. But there’s one big difference between McCain’s departures and Newt Gingrich’s yesterday: McCain actually FIRED folks in his high command after finding his campaign running low on money, while Newt’s top staffers QUIT. And they quit because it became clear to them that Gingrich wasn’t willing do the things needed to actually win the GOP nomination. One reported complaint was his recent vacation to the Greek isles. Another, per the New York Times, was the promotion of his documentaries. “During a conference call on Wednesday, top strategists confronted Mr. Gingrich over what they believed was a lack of focus. They demanded that he spend 90 percent of his time in three early-voting states and curtail distractions like screenings of his documentaries.” If top campaign aides are questioning the fire in the belly, what does that tell donors and voters?

*** Gingrich’s discipline and judgment: As we wrote earlier, this Gingrich quote from his “Meet the Press” interview last month sums up the state of Gingrich’s campaign: “I think it's fair to say that I'm going to have -- one of the tests on this campaign trail is going to be whether I have the discipline and the judgment to be president. I think that's a perfectly fair question.”

*** The eyes of the Beltway are upon you: So who benefits from this Gingrich news? As we said yesterday, it’s potentially Rick Perry. Two aides who left the campaign -- campaign manager Rob Johnson and strategist Dave Carney -- have previously worked for Perry. And for many of the same reasons we said to take Michele Bachmann seriously, the same holds true for Perry if he runs. The “Summer of Speculation” will turn to Austin, TX for the next few weeks… 

*** Romney says no to the Ames straw poll: Also after the so-called “Newtiny,” Mitt Romney’s campaign announced that the candidate would not be participating in the Ames (IA) straw poll in August, as well as other straw polls in Florida and Michigan. “We respect the straw poll process,” campaign manager Matt Rhoades said in a statement. “In the last presidential campaign we were both strengthened as an organization and learned some important lessons by participating in them. This time we will focus our energies and resources on winning primaries and caucuses.” Of course, critics will point to this as yet another change from Romney 2.0 to Romney 3.0, because Romney’s ’08 campaign cared A LOT about the Ames straw poll.

*** What Romney said about the straw poll in ’07: For instance, he said this on FOX in August ’07, per NBC’s Sarah Blackwill: “[I]f you can't compete in Iowa in August, how are you going to compete in January when the caucuses are held, and how are you going to compete in November of '08?” In 2007, moreover, Romney posted a video on his Web site, titled, “Why the Ames Straw Poll is important.” After he won it, his campaign team sent one of those glowing post-straw poll emails, headlined: “What they’re really saying about Governor Mitt Romney winning Iowa Republican Straw Poll.” And in his speech after his straw-poll victory, he said, “Well, it’s too bad the other guys weren’t competing here; if they thought they’d have been successful, they’d have been here. Their decision not to compete here was not a position based on a position of strength… I’m pleased as punch that I won.” While this will give Romney flip-flop headaches, it seems smart strategically because it keeps Pawlenty -- or anyone else -- from getting a big organizational win from the straw poll. In fact, the decision to skip the straw poll ramps up pressure on Pawlenty to win it.

*** Dems furious at Weiner: While embattled Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner seems intent about staying in his job -- and he’s been bolstered by a poll showing that a majority of his constituents say he shouldn’t resign -- we can report that Democratic leaders, including former President Bill Clinton, are frustrated and some even furious at him. The reason: He isn’t doing his party any favors by staying in his job. The VERY few folks advising him to stay are the only folks he is listening to. Monday will be intense for him ,because the House is back and the Democratic caucus may speak as a group. By the way, even Mark Foley is saying he should resign.

*** Rubio’s “maiden” speech: After five months in the Senate, GOP Sen. Marco Rubio is set to deliver his first official speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday, NBC’s Libby Leist reports. The Florida senator will be the last of the freshman class to make his/her debut on the floor. He plans to announce the speech today to his supporters via Web video, and he will tell them: "Since our nation's founding, the Senate floor is where our leaders have stood, debated and ultimately made consequential decisions to address the great challenges of their time. Next week, I will have my first chance."

*** Meet’s Sunday lineup: On “Meet the Press” this Sunday, NBC’s David Gregory will interview GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum, as well as host a debate between RNC Chairman Reince Priebus and DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. On the program’s weekly “Press Pass,” Gregory interviewed the New York Times’ David Sanger on Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Countdown to Iowa GOP straw poll: 64 days
Countdown to NV-2 special election: 95 days
Countdown to Election Day 2011: 151 days
Countdown to the Iowa caucuses: 241 days
* Note: When the IA caucuses take place depends on whether other states move up

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GINGRICH: The Boston Globe’s front page: “Gingrich campaign hit by defections.”

Among the aides who fled Gingrich’s campaign were two key campaign aides to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, fueling another round of speculation as to whether Perry will in fact run for president, the Houston Chronicle says. The two campaign aides were Dave Carney, Perry’s lead political consultant, and Rob Johnson, who managed Perry’s 2010 re-election campaign.

The New York Times: "Mr. Gingrich’s senior strategists confronted him on Thursday after he returned from a two-week vacation with his wife, Callista, which included a cruise through the Greek isles. Mr. Gingrich defended his holiday as a chance to “get away and think,” but aides chastised him, they said, for lacking the discipline to run a focused presidential campaign that could overcome rising doubts about his candidacy."

More: "During a conference call on Wednesday, top strategists confronted Mr. Gingrich over what they believed was a lack of focus. They demanded that he spend 90 percent of his time in three early-voting states and curtail distractions like screenings of his documentaries. To underscore their complaint, Mr. Gingrich was taking the call from New Hampshire, where he was not introducing himself to voters who will take part in the nation’s first primary next year, but rather promoting a documentary on Pope John Paul II that he made with his wife." 

Gingrich’s first public appearance after his campaign staff departed will be on Sunday at the Republican Jewish Coalition dinner in Beverly Hills, the Los Angeles Times points out. Gingrich released a terse statement yesterday saying, “The campaign begins anew Sunday in Los Angeles.”

GIULIANI: “Buzz is building around a possible White House run by Rudy Giuliani, who is considering a second bid for the GOP nomination,” The Hill writes, citing recent statements from New York Rep. Pete King and The Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol as indications that the former New York City mayor might run. 

HUNTSMAN: “Jon Huntsman’s decision to skip the first New Hampshire presidential debate on Monday has Republicans in the state confused — and predicting that he’ll suffer politically for it,” Politico reports. ‘As a guy who has said publicly he’s going to skip Iowa, it seems like he’d want to be here for that debate,’ said Fergus Cullen, a former New Hampshire GOP chairman who met Huntsman at one of his early events in Durham. ‘It’s the first real debate and for a guy who seems to be all-in in New Hampshire.’”

Unlike Mitt Romney, Huntsman will participate in the Florida straw poll in September, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

“Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman (R) is courting former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge's support for his presumed campaign for the presidency,” Roll Call reports.

PALIN: On the email dump: “Political observers hope that the documents, which will be released at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, will reveal new insights and behind-the-scenes details about Palin’s at-times controversial governorship as she contemplates a run for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination,” The Hill writes of coming emails of Palin’s tenure as governor.

PAWLENTY: Former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, Newt Gingrich’s former national campaign co-chair, has signed on to join Tim Pawlenty’s “national efforts,” Fox reports.

ROMNEY: The Boston Globe: “Romney takes heat over stance on auto industry bailout.”

And: “Romney is planning to forgo the Iowa straw poll — a political tradition that is often seen as an early barometer of a candidate’s organizational strength — as he continues to downplay his chances in a state that was seen as vital to his campaign four years ago,” the Globe writes, adding that Romney’s position “could damage his chances by irking the party faithful.” And it “goes against comments that Romney himself made during his last campaign, when he was trying to goad other GOP hopefuls to spend more time in Iowa.” He said, “If you’re going to participate in the Iowa process, then you better get in the straw poll,’’ he said at the time. “If you don’t think you can participate and win in Iowa in August, how are you going to win in November of ’08?”

“Presidential candidate Mitt Romney does not plan to compete in the Iowa Republican straw poll in August, an event he spent more than $1 million to win four years ago but that would divert time and money from a 2012 campaign designed to present him as a national candidate, aides confirmed to The Associated Press on Thursday.” Romney is also not planning to participate in the nonbinding straw polls in many other states including Michigan and Florida.

Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman has endorsed Mitt Romney, as he did in 2008, the Omaha World-Herald reports. 

The New York Times previews the president’s trip on Tuesday to Puerto Rico. “When President Obama arrives here on Tuesday — becoming the first American leader to visit officially since John F. Kennedy in 1961 — his feet will be planted firmly in San Juan’s historic district but his words will be aimed mostly at Puerto Ricans in Florida, New York and Pennsylvania. Not that there is anything wrong with that, many Puerto Ricans say. After five decades of cold shoulders from a succession of presidents, most Puerto Ricans are primed for a presidential visit, even if it is brief and unlikely to sway the longstanding debate over Puerto Rico’s identity as a United States territory.”

Defense Secretary Gates, on his farewell tour, made this warning to NATO: “In his final policy speech as Pentagon chief, Gates questioned the viability of NATO, saying its members' penny-pinching and lack of political will could hasten the end of U.S. support. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed in 1949 as a U.S.-led bulwark against Soviet aggression, but in the post-Cold War era it has struggled to find a purpose.”

“‘Future U.S. political leaders - those for whom the Cold War was not the formative experience that it was for me - may not consider the return on America's investment in NATO worth the cost,’ he told a European think tank on the final day of an 11-day overseas journey.

Even Mark Foley is saying Weiner should resign.

The New York Post’s cover: “Weiner: I’ll stick it out.”

Roll Call notes that the key player if Weiner resigns is New York Congressman Joe Crowley.

The Times on Weiner: “The scandal swirling around him has revealed a truth about his personality and his place in the Capitol: He does not care much about those he serves with, and they do not care too much about him.”  

“Senior Senate Democrats are growing frustrated by what they see as President Obama’s passivity on the economy, and are beginning to discuss a large infrastructure package funded by tax increases,” The Hill writes.

“Some House Republicans who supported Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) budget are wary of voting to increase the nation’s debt ceiling, fearing a barrage of campaign ads in the 2012 election,” The Hill reports.

Rep. Pete King announced a second hearing on “radicalization within the American-Muslim community,” to be held Wednesday.

“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s chief spokesman, Jon Summers, will announce Friday that he is departing the Nevada Democrat’s leadership office, sources confirmed Thursday evening,” Roll Call reports.

IOWA: Des Moines Register columnist Kathie Obradovich takes on members of the nationwide and local media for trotting out the provincial stereotypes about Iowa, now that Jon Huntsman has decided he won’t campaign there. “They assume that Iowans have no knowledge or interests beyond their immediate demographic. Iowans are predominantly white and older than the national average, so we must not care about minority issues or the concerns of young families, right?... People who want to draw conclusions about Iowa may find it instructive to pay us a visit. They may find one cliché that actually holds up: Iowans are friendly, even to our critics.”

The Des Moines Register condemns Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz for releasing a politically charged statement criticizing Jon Huntsman for saying he won’t campaign in Iowa. The news release, which had the headline “Huntsman Not Ready for the Big Dance,” was deemed “completely out of line” by the Register.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Former New York Governor George Pataki, who founded the group No America Debt, said he would watch Monday’s Republican presidential debate at Saint Anselm College specifically to see which candidate offers the best debt reduction plan. “I’ll be watching to see which candidates have the courage to go beyond focus group-tested sound bites and the fortitude to address the debt in something other than politically safe rhetoric. I’ll be listening for specifics,” Pataki wrote in an op-ed for the New Hampshire Union-Leader.

Tim Pawlenty, Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman will all be in the first primary state this weekend, The Hill reports.