CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- The First Vice President of the Iowa Federation of Republican Women (IFRW), Joni Scotter, told NBC News before a Linn Eagles luncheon with Newt Gingrich, that she has been contacted by Texas Gov. Rick Perry called her asking for her support for a presidential run.

"He asked me for his support," she said, "and he said that he would call me when he decided to run. I know he will [run]."

Scotter also explained that all campaigns have contacted her with the exception of Michele Bachmann. She declined to say who she would be supporting, but thinks the Ames Straw Poll next weekend will be "dynamic."

Bloomberg noted this morning that Perry, "spent 20 minutes last month talking with Iowa retiree Joanie Scotter about jobs, border security and President Barack Obama. The chat with Scotter is one of many calls made by Perry, 61, to voters, politicians and media figures in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, states where the first votes of the 2012 presidential campaign will be cast. His effort signals he intends to run, according to Jim Henson, head of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas in Austin.”

Video shot by Alex Moe; edited by Domenico Montanaro

SALEM, N.H. -- Jon Huntsman reacted to reports of campaign infighting, telling reporters, "We've got our campaign up and running. It is retooled. It's firing on all cylinders, and we're preparing to win here in New Hampshire."

As for his relationship with his long-time friend and now-ousted David Fischer, who went on the record slamming the campaign, Huntsman says he's not looking back.

"Let's just say this campaign is moving in the right directions that will allow us to win New Hampshire," Huntsman said.

Huntsman gave chief campaign strategist John Weaver a vote of confidence, calling him an "indispensable part" of the campaign.

"John Weaver is a critically important part of our team," Huntsman said. "He's our strategist, has been from Day One, and he will be.  He's a great friend."

Huntsman also addressed the 260-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average this morning, saying, "There's no confidence in the economy right now. The Dow has fallen steadily over the last eight to nine days."

He added, "This is direct result of very little confidence in the marketplace. The marketplace is crying out for confidence."

Huntsman is headed next to Derry, N.H., where he will meet with more voters. He wraps up in New Hampshire tomorrow and travels to South Carolina this weekend.

In an interview yesterday with the Christian Broadcasting Network, Gov. Rick Perry -- without naming names -- appeared to trash the health-care law that Mitt Romney signed into law in Massachusetts in 2006, dubbing it "kind of like this Obama thing." 

The comment came as Perry was outlining his belief that states should be laboratories for policy innovation, but that some states don't always get it right. "If some state decides to do something like pass a health-care plan that, you know, is kind of like this Obama thing and it's a failure then we kind of go, 'Ooh, we don't want to do that," he said. "And that state may have been harmed by it, but the whole nation was not."

There's certainly no love for Romney -- whose health bill has been widely compared to Obama's -- in that statement.

The criticism takes on an added sting as Perry threatens to crash Romney's frontrunner status as he mulls entering the 2012 race, but it's consistent with what Perry has said in the past. Perry wrote something similar in his book "Fed Up," which was published last year. Here's what he wrote then about federalism and health care.

"On the other side of the coin, Massachusetts is free to experiment with state run health care. If federalism is respected, the people of Massachusetts are free to try it while the rest of the nation sits back and watches to see if they have any success, and whether any success they do have is worth the price of losing liberty. Now, we in Texas are not too excited about the prospect of government-run anything, much less health care, and the federal health care legislation - known to most as ObamaCare - is a direct result on the principle of federalism."

David Walker, the former head of the Government Accountability Office, called out the leaders in Washington, who he said "punted" on the debt deal.

"The tough choices will probably not be made until after the 2012 elections," he said.

In a conversation with David Gregory on this week's midweek "Press Pass," the former US Comptroller General (1998-2008) warned that the U.S. is close to a similar situation that led to major budget crisis in Greece. The difference is, he said, is that "Greece has got somebody to bail it out. We don’t."

Walker also said that he’s thinking about a Senate run in Connecticut, adding that he’s not going to rush into a decision. “I don’t run unless I believe I’ll win,” he said.

NBC News has received a copy of former Congressman David Wu's (D-OR) letter to Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber announcing his resignation. Kitzhaber, as governor is responsible for setting the date of the special election to replace him, which will take place Jan. 31 (with a primary Nov. 8).

The hand-written, two-page, letter is on Wu's congressional letterhead and was received by the governor yesterday. In it, Wu writes, "However great the honor and engaging the work, there comes a time to hand on the privilege of office. That time has come. With gratitude to the people of Oregon and confidence that our best days are yet to come, I hereby resign as their United States Congressman for the First Congressional District of Oregon, effectively immediately."

Wu also sent a letter of resignation to House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), which Boehner's office says it has received. It will be laid before the House tomorrow during the pro forma session.

Below is the text of the letter. (Attached is a PDF of the letter.)

August 3, 2011

Dear Governor Kitzhaber,
Serving as a United States Congressman has been the greatest honor of my life.  There is no other job where you get up every day and ask, "How can I try to make the world a better place today."

Of particular significance to me in this effort to improve the world is investing in more and better science and education.  Also, I believe my support of people around the world who are struggling for human rights and civil liberties will ultimately bear fruit in a world which is more just and peaceful.

PAGE 2
However great the honor and engaging the work, there comes a time to hand on the privilege of office.  That time has come.  With gratitude to the people of Oregon and confidence that our best days are yet to come, I hereby resign as their United States Congressman for the First Congressional District of Oregon, effectively immediately.

God bless the people of Oregon and the United States of America.

I am, very gratefully yours,
David Wu

AP

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman (R)

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Scenes of internal tensions, tears and disorganization within Jon Huntsman's campaign spilled into plain view before dawn this morning, with a new report from Jonathan Martin at Politico detailing internal discord among senior staffers and campaign strategist John Weaver.

According to Politico, David Fischer (a long-time family friend of Huntsman and Huntsman's father) who was asked to exit the campaign by Weaver, said Huntsman's early failures were rooted in Weaver's problematic management style and "verbal abuse." Fischer recounted worry among family and staffers at Florida headquarters and disclosed previously unknown staff resignations.

When NBC News asked about overall campaign strategy here yesterday, Huntsman said it is not his responsibility.

"Listen I am not going to get into strategy," Huntsman said. "I don't do strategy for a living; I am the candidate. I have a message and I have a vision, and that's my job."

This morning, spokesman Tim Miller called the new developments mere "inside-the-beltway banter."

"Gov. Huntsman is very confident in the campaign's leadership, including John Weaver," Miller told NBC News in an email and phone conversation. "The campaign is on a path to victory with trusted advisers, the right message, and most importantly, the most-prepared and most-accomplished candidate in the field. He's focused on solving this nation's problems, not inside-the-beltway banter."

Today, Huntsman continues campaigning through New Hampshire with a meeting at the Salem Chamber of Commerce and a speech to the Derry Republican Committee.

*** UPDATE *** Miller contacted First Read to clarify that Huntsman is confident in the campaign's leadership and that includes Weaver.

*** CORRECTION *** Miller did not misspell John Weaver's name. That was First Read's mistake.

At Chicago fundraiser last night, Obama tried to turn the page from the debt debate, and tried to turn towards jobs… At a second fundraiser last night, he said: "I give the other side credit. They are single-minded in their focus in wanting to cut programs and shrink government."… USA Today/Gallup polls the debt deal… More evidence of the toll it’s taken on Obama… Turning to Ames and the expectation game there… Trouble in Huntsman Land… Perry meets with former Bush ambassador to Iraq and Afghanistan… And the Wu special election dates are set.

*** Turning the page: There’s no place like home. And for President Obama, there’s no place like being outside of Washington. At last night’s fundraisers in Chicago -- tied to his birthday today -- Obama tried to turn the page on the debt deal he signed into law earlier this week. “When the American people join together, we cannot be stopped,” he said at his bigger, celebrity-studded fundraiser. “We say to ourselves, ‘Yes we can.’ It doesn't matter how tough a week I have in Washington, because I know you've got my back. When I come to Chicago, when I travel across the country I know we can't be stopped.” He also turned to the economy. “We know we’ve still got a lot of work to do on the economy. Now, I hope we can avoid another self-inflicted wound like we just saw over the last couple of weeks, because we don’t have time to play these partisan games. We’ve got too much work to do.”

*** “We still got some more work to do”: At a second fundraiser, a private dinner, Obama also talked about the debt deal. "Obviously we've just gone through an extraordinary week in Washington, an extraordinary two weeks in Washington. It's not the kind of extraordinary the American people are looking for," he said, per the pool report. "I think this episode was just a severe example of what's been going on for quite some time. And it's part of what led me to run for president; it's part of what led Rahm to get into public service; and it's part of the reason why, hopefully, all of you are here tonight, because you recognize we still got some more work to do.” He also uttered this striking line: "I give the other side credit. They are single-minded in their focus in wanting to cut programs and shrink government." (It's also a reminder that he’s not been as single-minded as his opponents.)

*** Polling the debt deal…: The first poll to be released after the debt deal is USA Today/Gallup, which finds 39% approving of the agreement that Obama signed into law, and 46% opposing it. And get this: Just 33% of independents backed the deal, while 50% disapproved. But if you want evidence that conservative opinion leaders (Limbaugh, Red State, DeMint) might have more sway over Republicans and conservatives than liberal opinion leaders (Krugman, Daily Kos, Bernie Sanders) have over Democrats and liberals, check out these numbers. According to the poll, 64% of Republicans and 64% of conservatives opposed the deal. By comparison, 58% of Democrats and 51% of liberals supported it. Bottom line, at least per this poll: More Democrats and liberals sided with Obama. than with the liberal opinion elite.

*** … And the toll it’s taken on Obama: Want more proof of the toll that the debt debate has taken on Obama? Just days after a Quinnipiac poll showed Obama’s numbers dropping in Pennsylvania, another Q-poll shows some bad news for the president in Florida. Before the debt deal (the part of the poll conducted from July 27-31), Obama was leading Romney in the Sunshine State, 46%-41%, but afterward (Aug. 1-2), Romney was tied with the president, 44%-44%. In both the “before” and “after” segments, Obama’s approval rating was just 44% in the state. Politico tries to cement the narrative: Obama’s re-election prospects are in serious trouble; there are a lot of fundamentals that don’t support him getting re-elected. Then again, it’s just three months after Osama bin Laden’s death, when all the punditry signaled that he’d be formidable in 2012. And we don’t know who his opponent will be. Folks, we have a LONG WAY to go…

*** Turning to Ames: Exactly one week until the GOP presidential debate taking place there, and nine days before the straw poll, all eyes are turning to Ames. The best way to judge next Saturday's Ames Straw Poll is: 1) as a way to measure organizational strength, and 2) a way to winnow the field. Call it the Glengarry Glen Ross rule: First place gets you a Cadillac El Dorado; second place gets you a set of steak knives; and third place -- you're fired. In fact, per NBC's John Bailey, the last two third-place finishers (Sam Brownback in '07 and Liddy Dole in '99) dropped out two months after Ames. Given this winnowing process, the stakes are higher than with your usual straw poll. And no one has more riding on Ames than Tim Pawlenty.

*** Pawlenty needs a strong showing: Although his campaign has downplayed expectations (suggesting that he just needs to improve on his sixth-place showing in the June Des Moines Register poll), it's hard to envision Pawlenty winning the GOP nomination without an impressive showing in Ames. Yes, performance in this straw poll doesn't determine who will win the Iowa caucuses or the GOP nomination (Romney won the straw poll four years ago), but Pawlenty needs a good story to tell, especially after his June debate showing and his 2^nd quarter fundraising haul. In that respect, his situation isn’t all that dissimilar from Obama’s right before his November ‘07 J-J Dinner. The good news for Pawlenty: It appears he has a good organization going into Ames -- and more (see the outside groups in Iowa that have ties to his campaign).

*** Bachmann does, too… And don’t sleep on Romney: If Pawlenty has a lot riding on Ames, so does Bachmann, who’s looking to keep her front-runner status in the Hawkeye State, particularly with the strong likelihood that Rick Perry gets into the race. Both Bachmann and Pawlenty have been airing TV ads in Iowa in advance of the straw poll, and have been mixing it up verbally. Next come the candidates who have the potential to fare well: Ron Paul (who expects no less than third), Herman Cain (who has a strong following, though there are doubts about his organization), and Rick Santorum (who’s made more stops in Iowa than any other candidate, including 22 this week). And then there’s Mitt Romney. While he’s not making a major play for Ames, don’t overlook him here. He’s had the ability to pull off strong straw poll showings in past, even when it appears his organization isn’t making a strong play -- but really is (see the Southern Republican Leadership Conference results in ’06 and ’10).

*** Trouble in Huntsman Land: If you’ve been following American politics over the past several years, you could see this story about Huntsman strategist John Weaver coming a mile away. “A blistering internal feud in the Jon Huntsman presidential campaign is erupting into public view, with dueling camps trading charges and an exodus of campaign officials,” Politico’s Martin writes. “And now, a longtime family friend tells POLITICO that Huntsman’s wife and father fret that his presidential prospects have been threatened by the turmoil — and he places the blame on John Weaver, Huntsman’s controversial chief strategist.” More from the piece: “The problem for Huntsman, of course, is that all this high-decibel public squabbling undercuts his main rationale for winning the GOP nomination — that the former Utah governor offers the level-headed competence and executive experience needed to unseat President Barack Obama.” Who had Aug. 4 in the pool that we’d see the “There’s trouble in Huntsman Land” story?

*** Funny money? NBC’s Michael Isikoff reports: “A mystery company that pumped $1 million into a political committee backing Mitt Romney [the Restore Our Future Super PAC] has been dissolved just months after it was formed, leaving few clues as to who was behind one of the biggest contributions yet of the 2012 presidential campaign. The existence of the million-dollar donation — as gleaned from campaign and corporate records obtained by NBC News — provides a vivid example of how secret campaign cash is being funneled in ever more circuitous ways into the political system.” The former Federal Election Commission’s general counsel is quoted in the piece as saying this could create a "serious" legal issue as well as being a new post-Citizens United "roadmap" for funneling huge gobs of secret money into Super PACs.

*** Perry meets with former Bush ambassador to Iraq and Afghanistan: Another sign that Rick Perry is about to enter the GOP race: “Mr. Perry just posted a picture of himself at a meeting with Zalmay Khalilzad, who had served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Afghanistan and Iraq,” the Wall Street Journal writes.

*** On the 2012 trail: Cain, Gingrich, and Santorum all campaign in Iowa… And Huntsman continues his swing through New Hampshire.

*** Replacing Wu: We now have the dates for the special election to replace ex-Democratic Rep. David Wu in Oregon: primary election on Nov. 8 and the general on Jan. 31.

***Thursday’s “The Daily Rundown” line-up with guest host Andrea Mitchell: Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood on the FAA fight… TIME’s Bobby Ghosh on the latest in Syria… Former White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton, the Washington Post’s Nia-Malika Henderson and the Wall Street Journal’s Carol Lee on what President Obama had to say in Chicago last night… And one of us (!!!) looks at the state-of-play one week away from the GOP straw poll in Ames.

*** Wednesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: John Heilemann on his Romney profile, National Journal’s Ron Fournier, Jeremy Konyndyk from Mercy Corps to talk about the famine in Africa.

Countdown to Wisconsin recall general for GOP senators: 5 days
Countdown to Iowa GOP straw poll: 9 days
Countdown to Wisconsin recall general for Dem senators: 22 days
Countdown to NV-2 and NY-9 special elections: 40 days
Countdown to Election Day 2011: 96 days
Countdown to the Iowa caucuses: 186 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. Follow us @chucktodd, @mmurraypolitics, @DomenicoNBC, @brookebrower

Politico: “The politics of the debt fight were a drag for President Barack Obama, yanking his popularity to new lows. Here’s an even bigger drag: Obama emerges from the months-long fracas weaker – and facing much deeper and more durable political obstacles – than his own advisers ever imagined.”

The New York Times says it’s likely that Treasury Secretary Geithner will stay in his job, despite an earlier suggestion that he might leave after the debt debate was over. “Mr. Obama and his chief of staff, William M. Daley, have been urging Mr. Geithner to stay, administration officials say, not only for continuity when the economy has weakened and to avoid an all-but-certain confirmation fight in the Senate over a successor, but also because Mr. Obama has developed a close rapport with Mr. Geithner.”

“Although Obama doesn’t turn 50 until Thursday, his visit [to Chicago] symbolized presidentially and politically a need to turn the corner following weeks of bruising debate over raising the nation’s debt ceiling and cutting the country’s deficit,” the Chicago Tribune writes, adding, “The toll of that fight on Obama’s presidency, particularly in light of his 2008 election mantra of change in Washington, gave a special emphasis to what has become a standard in his early re-election campaign — a request for patience.”

“President Barack Obama told supporters at a hometown fundraiser last night that the debt ceiling debate in Washington ‘sets the stage’ for the 2012 election,” Bloomberg reports. “ ‘This episode was just a severe example of what has been going on for quite some time, and it’s part of what led me to run for president,’ he told about 100 donors at a dinner on the eve of his 50th birthday at a Chicago concert hall. The events of the past two weeks, he said, illustrate ‘not only how tough it’s going to be, but exactly what’s at stake.’”

Valerie Jarrett, a senior advisor to President Obama, will visit Columbia, South Carolina next week for a fundraiser for Gen44, the under-40 branch of the Obama fundraising effort, The State newspaper reports. Obama defeated Hillary Clinton to win the state in the 2008 primary but lost to John McCain by 10 points in the general election. 

“Congress moved no closer to ending a partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday, with frustrations boiling over from the White House to the Capitol and the majority of lawmakers away on August recess,” Roll Call reports. “The finger-pointing — by Senate Democrats, House Republicans and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood — played out like a bizarre epilogue to a months-long, sometimes vitriolic debate over extending the nation’s debt ceiling. At a news conference Wednesday, Senate Democrats bemoaned being ‘held hostage’ by House Republicans in the standoff over extending the FAA’s authorization, which expired July 22.”

“Congressional leaders have until Aug. 16 to name the 12 members of the newly created ‘supercommittee’ to deal with reducing the deficit, but special interest groups are wasting no time in pushing their choices for the panel,” The Hill writes.

Grover Norquist, of Americans for Tax Reform, told First Read in an interview he was confident the committee would not raise taxes, because House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell wouldn’t appoint people who would consider revenues. "The one thing that committee won't do is raise taxes," Norquist deadpanned.

BACHMANN: Bachmann resumes campaigning in Iowa Friday.  On Saturday, she will sign the Strong America Now debt-reduction pledge.  Signing the pledge means that her supporters will be able to ride busses provided by the Texas-based issue group: an advantage the Bachmann campaign acknowledges.  "We came into Iowa months later than others," Bachmann campaign spokesperson Alice Stewart says, NBC’s Jamie Novogrod reports. "Any help we can get, we can use it."

CAIN: The Herman Cain campaigns released the first of a series of video profiles on individual Cain supporters, called “Herman Cain Stands With Us.” The clip features Kent Short, a butcher from Santa Paula, California, who says the economy is “in the tank,” and that Cain “understands what we need to do to get to the next level.”  

HUNTSMAN: “A blistering internal feud in the Jon Huntsman presidential campaign is erupting into public view, with dueling camps trading charges and an exodus of campaign officials,” Politico’s Martin writes. “And now, a longtime family friend tells POLITICO that Huntsman’s wife and father fret that his presidential prospects have been threatened by the turmoil — and he places the blame on John Weaver, Huntsman’s controversial chief strategist.”

NBC’s Jo Ling Kent reports that Huntsman yesterday didn’t reject the notion that President Obama should be impeached for his involvement in Libya. "My position in Libya is pretty simple, we shouldn't be there," Huntsman said in Dover, NH, last night. Asked directly, "Do you think it’s an impeachable offense?" Huntsman said, "I'll let Congress make that decision.

On abortion, per Kent, he was asked to clarify his position by an Ob-Gyn: "Rape incest and the life of the mother are my exceptions," Huntsman said. "That's where I am, that's where I have always been my entire life." And what would be “the greatest contribution to this nation’s competitiveness that I can think of,” per Huntsman? Tax reform.

Huntsman has yet to catch on, but he joked about forcing voters to like him and his family: “If you don't like my wife Mary Kaye, well, then you're down right crazy. But if some reason you don't, we have seven kids to choose from. You're certainly going to like one of the seven. So just the mathematical odds are that we are going to win you over at some point."

PAWLENTY: Per Politico, “Tim Pawlenty will be pulling his radio and television ads off the air in the 72 hours before next Saturday’s straw poll in Ames. The former Minnesota governor’s presidential campaign says it’s not short on cash, but simply planning to divert money into turning out supporters at the Aug. 13 event that’s a traditional test of campaign strength.”

PERRY: “When Gov. Rick Perry emerged from back surgery on July 1, he tweeted that his ‘little procedure’ — a spinal fusion and nerve decompression designed to treat a recurring injury — had gone ‘as advertised.’ The possible presidential contender didn’t reveal that he’d undergone an experimental injection of his own stem cells, a therapy that isn’t FDA approved, has mixed evidence of success and can cost upwards of tens of thousands of dollars,” the Texas Tribune reports. More: "The doctor who performed a controversial adult stem cell infusion on Rick Perry during a July spinal surgery said Wednesday night that he’d never done the procedure before he did it for the governor, who could announce a run for the presidency any day. Meanwhile, the lab that cultured Perry’s stem cells is the Texas branch of a South Korean company that has made international headlines for commercialized dog cloning, ‘regenerative’ beauty products and allegations of so-called ‘stem cell tourism.’”

The Washington Post's Karen Tumulty delves into Perry's attempts to reform higher education in Texas, an effort that has rankled academics, alumni, and philanthropists. "Critics — many of them longtime political supporters of the governor — accuse Perry and his allies of being on an ideological quest that will demolish the quality of the institutions and scare off the kind of faculty they must recruit to take their place among world-class centers of learning and research."

ROMNEY: NBC’s Michael Isikoff reports: “A mystery company that pumped $1 million into a political committee backing Mitt Romney has been dissolved just months after it was formed, leaving few clues as to who was behind one of the biggest contributions yet of the 2012 presidential campaign. The existence of the million-dollar donation — as gleaned from campaign and corporate records obtained by NBC News — provides a vivid example of how secret campaign cash is being funneled in ever more circuitous ways into the political system.” The former Federal Election Commission’s general counsel is quoted as saying this could create a "serious" legal issue as well as being a new post-Citizens United "roadmap" for funneling huge gobs of secret money into Super PACs.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s former chief of staff, took a shot at Mitt Romney’s Web video that uses Chicago as a backdrop to his Obama on the “sorry state of the economy.” Per NBC’s Lauren Selsky, Emanuel said, “Because of the tough decisions the president made discarding all conventional wisdom that was then spewed around, 1.2 million people today have a job, because he didn't listen to conventional wisdom drafted by the ex-governor Mitt Romney, who suggested that Detroit -- meaning the auto industry -- and all the related industrial base of America should just go bankrupt. … Mitt Romney wanted to see them go bankrupt and also I'd just like to note to the governor in case he needs a rendezvous with his record. When he was governor, Massachusetts was 47th out of 50 in job production. In case he forgot that, I'd like to remind him of that. So when he comes to Chicago I’ll make sure I get him a Groupon discount on the seats of the idea festival.”

Congress may have solved the debt limit debate, but its work is far from finished if you ask Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

Today, LaHood made a surprise appearance (his second in as many weeks) at the White House daily press briefing, where he lashed out at lawmakers for starting their summer recess without ending the partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration.  “Come back to Washington,” LaHood implored Congress. “Leave your vacation. Come back to Congress. Help your friends and neighbors get back to work!”

LaHood said the impasse, which started on July 23, has left 4,000 federal employees furloughed and more than 70,000 construction workers out of a job because airline construction projects have been halted.  

At issue is a financing proposal that would cut subsidies at rural airports, as well as a GOP-backed proposal making it more difficult for airline and railroad workers to unionize.

The Republican-sponsored FAA bill easily passed the House, but it stalled in the Senate, where Democrats say the legislation is harmful to workers’ rights and makes it almost impossible for some small airports to remain open. “Senate Democrats have no one to blame but themselves for this partial shutdown of FAA programs and airport projects," charged U.S. Rep. John Mica (R-FL), chairman of the House Transportation Committee. 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid fired back; “So many people desperate for work are being told they can’t because once again the house Republicans, rather than legislate the way we’ve done around here for a long time, feel they have the empowerment to hurt individual people.”  Senate leaders urged Republicans to come back to Washington to pass a short-term extension that would at least approve funding for the FAA past the legislative summer recess.

President Obama also called on Congress to act. “This time Congress has decided to play some politics ... and as a consequence, they left town without getting this extension done.” The president warned that the federal government was in danger of losing $200 million a week due to the suspension of airline tax revenues during the partial shutdown.

“This is a self-inflicted wound that is unnecessary,” Obama said. According to White House officials, the president spoke with House Speaker John Boehner about the FAA stalemate Tuesday. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters the administration was looking at the “measures the president may be able to take” to bring an end to the impasse.

During his appearance at the press briefing, LaHood emphasized the urgency of the situation. “When I went to LaGuardia [airport], I met with unemployed construction workers. These people are hurting... They don't know at the end of the day whether they're going to be able to make their next mortgage payment, car payment.” 

He also pointed to the fact that dozens of airline inspectors are working without pay.  Insisting that safety will not be compromised, LaHood still warned time has run out. “I'm focusing my attention like a laser beam on Congress... End your vacation for a couple days... Come back to Washington... Pass a bill.” His fiery remarks led one reporter to ask Carney if the White House would have liked to have the Transportation secretary working with the President to end the debt limit debate.

“He does have a full time job,” Carney quipped.

At a Michele Bachmann rally in Fort Dodge, IA, last Sunday, a volunteer from Strong America Now -- a nonprofit group pushing to eliminate the federal debt -- handed out flyers alerting the crowd to a debt-reduction pledge the group is asking GOP presidential candidates to sign.

But the address on the back of the flyers didn’t match that of the Texas-based advocacy group. Instead, it listed the Brooklyn, IA, PO Box of a political firm called Campaign Headquarters – whose president, Nicole Schlinger, is an adviser to Tim Pawlenty’s presidential campaign.

Strong America Now is looking to play a large role in the Ames Straw Poll on Aug. 13 by busing voters to the event and buying their tickets. Schlinger’s connection with the issue group -- and Pawlenty --  is drawing criticism from Bachmann’s campaign, which believes the connections are unethical.

Schlinger, whose company oversees Strong America Now’s grassroots effort in Iowa, is among a small group of Pawlenty advisers with links to outside issue groups. Two other Pawlenty campaign advisers -- Chuck Larson Jr. and Karen Slifka -- work as P.R. consultants with the Iowa Energy Forum, an energy-independence group sponsored by the American Petroleum Institute. The group is enticing Iowa voters to attend straw poll with an “air-conditioned igloo” and a chance to win an iPad 2.

A fourth Pawlenty adviser, Ed Failor Jr., also works with the Iowa Energy Forum, according to an article Tuesday in the Iowa Republican.

These outside groups’ links to the Pawlenty campaign, first reported by the Des Moines Register, are raising the question of how close candidates and issue groups should be. And they’ve become the focal point for a brewing fight between the Pawlenty and Bachmann campaigns.

The charge from Team Bachmann: These outside groups are aiding Pawlenty in next week’s Ames Straw Poll.

In an interview with the Des Moines Register, Michele Bachmann’s Iowa campaign chair, Kent Sorenson, accused Pawlenty of “trying to hijack nonprofit organization for his own political gain.”

Sorenson, an Iowa state senator, added that Pawlenty had “sunk to desperate and unethical attempts to win the Ames Straw Poll.”

In response to a question about the connection between the Pawlenty campaign and these outside groups, Pawlenty spokesman Alex Conant told NBC News “There is none. That would be illegal.”

Conant added, “'We have consultants and voluntary advisers who have multiple clients, which is not unusual.”

Instead, Conant says, the real story is an example of political posturing by a rival campaign. “I think the Bachmann campaign's accusations are malicious, and so much of what they say is made up," he said.

In a statement to NBC News, Joe Shannahan, spokesman for Larson and Slifka’s firm LS2Group, said: “Any suggestion that our firm or IEF [Iowa Energy Forum] coordinates with any candidate is absolutely false. LS2group is familiar with and fully compliant with FEC rules.”

Schlinger could not be reached for comment by NBC. But she told the Des Moines Register in an e-mail, “We know what the rules are in regard to coordination, and operate within them.”

Since the news surfaced about Schlinger’s ties to the Pawlenty campaign, her firm, Campaign Headquarters, has been pulled from its responsibility coordinating Strong America Now's activities for the Ames Straw Poll. Campaign Headquarters, however, will continue to do other work for Strong America Now, such as managing field staff and phone calls in Iowa.

Strong America Now promises a plan to reduce 25% of waste across the federal government. Its pledge has been signed by six candidates, including Pawlenty. Among the major figures in the Republican field who have not signed the pledge: Bachmann, Mitt Romney, and Jon Huntsman.

*** UPDATE *** Strong America Now says that Campaign Headquarters has been pulled from a majority of its responsibilities coordinating the group's straw poll efforts. But Campaign Headquarters will continue to do other work for Strong America Now, such as managing field staff and phone calls in Iowa.

At President Obama’s birthday fundraiser in Chicago tonight his supporters can see and be seen at a dinner and concert (featuring pianist Herbie Hancock, among others) at a cost of up to $35,800 per person.  The money will be divided between the president’s re-election campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

But this event is different from Obama’s 2008 fundraisers in that it’s part of the first presidential campaign conducted under the freewheeling rules set by the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision – a ruling Obama denounced, saying would “open the floodgates for special interests.”

That decision allows donors to give undisclosed amounts of money to groups that run TV and radio ads calling for a candidate’s defeat or election.  It also allows corporations, trade associations and labor unions to directly spend money on ads calling for a candidate's election or defeat.

The law prohibits these groups from coordinating their activities with a candidate’s campaign.  (In July, NBC's Domenico Montaro took a look at the Super PAC impact, watch here).

Aided in part by the Citizens United ruling and prior ones, independent groups unconnected with a particular candidate or political party spent than $300 million in the 2010 midterm elections. They’re likely to play a big role in 2012 as well.

So do such fundraisers such as Obama’s Wednesday night event at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago fade in importance in the 2012 campaign because so much money will likely be spent by those outside groups operating under the Citizens United ground rules?

Short answer: Not at all.

Here’s why: as a presidential candidate, “you want to have control of your message, you want to call the shots and be able to spend the money where you want to spend it,” said Michael Beckel, an analyst with the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington group that tracks money in campaigns.

And in the era of Citizens United, a robust campaign treasury is needed to provide a shield or counterstrike capability when the outside group suddenly unleashes a barrage of negative ads in a decisive state. “Any candidate will be fearful that outside groups will spend money against him, and therefore he’d want to be able to have enough money to defend himself,” Beckel said.

Larry Noble, the former general counsel at the Federal Election Commission who’s now in private practice at the Skadden, Arps law firm in Washington, said, “I’m sure they (those running the presidential campaigns) are very happy that there are independent groups out there supporting them. The practical reality is that it’s not hard for those independent groups to know what the campaign is doing and to make sure their activities are supportive of the campaign. But at the same time, the campaigns would rather have control of the money themselves.”

But he added that independent groups can do what the campaigns themselves are sometimes reluctant to do: run caustically negative ads attacking an opponent. “They can say things the campaign wants to keep a distance from,” Noble said.

This may be especially true in Obama’s case since he appealed to some independent voters in 2008 as the man who said he wouldn’t engage in “the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.” independent groups can dispense those three Ps -- petty, partisan poison -- as much as they’d like.

But consider this hypothetical under the current campaign finance law: a strategist working for the Obama campaign has a discussion at the local Caribou Coffee with a strategist working for a well-funded outside group supporting Obama.

If the Obama strategist were to casually mention, “We don’t anticipate we’ll be investing in TV and radio in Missouri or Georgia….” and if the outside group then went ahead and spent money on TV ads in those states, would that be considered coordination – which is prohibited by campaign finance law?

“As hard it may be to understand why, that may not be coordination,” said Noble. “There’s still some disagreement at the FEC over exactly what that means…. Under the new FEC coordination rules that may not be coordination. You’d have to look at timing and whether you are talking about specific ads and what those ads said.”

NBC's Alex Moe

DES MOINES, Iowa -- The Newt Gingrich campaign has denied recent allegations that more than 90% of the former House Speaker’s Twitter followers are not real.

Gingrich’s handle, @newtgingrich, has more than 1.3 million Twitter followers, more than 20 times the number of followers for Mitt Romney, the next closest with more than 63,000 followers. In fact, Gingrich's followers are more than six times the entire field of announced candidates combined and double Twitter star Sarah Palin's number of followers.

Campaign spokesman R.C. Hammond wrote in a statement that Gingrich is not responsible for the legitimacy of his followers.

“Twitter alone is the authority on counting followers and policing their legitimacy," Hammond wrote. "At no time has the campaign or Gingrich Communications employed an outside group to inflate the number of followers of @newtgingrich. Any accusation of the kind is a lie, a smear and unsubstantiated.”

The response comes after a New York based search company, PeekYou, announced yesterday that it had analyzed Gingrich’s followers and found a ‘consumer ratio’ of 8% (or about 106,055 accounts). According to PeekYou, “A Consumer Ratio measures the percentage of a Twitter audience that is identified as a “consumer” or “voter” in Newt’s case, vs business, private/anonymous and spam accounts.”

“We have seen some pretty low ‘Consumer Ratios’ in our testing, but Newt Gingrich’s was the lowest we had ever seen. At first, we actually thought it might have been a bug on our side, but a quick manual look at the data showed our analysis was true,” Michael Hussey, CEO and founder of PeekYou, said on the website.

Ben Smith at Politico reported, per Hussey, "Gingrich's place on Twitter's now-defunct suggested user list was also a good explanation for the data he found." Smith also linked to a Tweet by Hussey, in which he wrote, "@peekyou is not accusing @newtgingrich of buying followers. Spammy followers could be related to being on the suggested user list."

Here is a breakdown as of today of the follower counts for those campaigning (or possibly going to campaign):

@newtgingrich 1,326,122
@MittRomney 63,824
@TeamBachmann 24,205
@JonHuntsman 8,030
@timpawlenty 45,786
@RickSantorum 13,714
@RonPaul 20,008 
@THEHermanCain 52,576
@SarahPalinUSA 621,037
@TexGov 13,880

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), who dramatically returned to the House for a critical vote this week for the first time since she was shot in the head in January, has recovered well enough to run for re-election, her doctors said, according to televised news reports. 

C.J. Karamargin, a spokesman for Giffords, told NBC station Tucscon affiliate KVOA that Giffords had made no decision yet. The deadline to file for the 2012 ballot isn't until May, "and that's still a while off," he said, adding, "The congresswoman is focusing her efforts on recovery. She wants to return to work full time, and when she's able, she will." 

Peter Rhee, the neurosurgeon who operated on Giffords' brain  at University Medical Center in Tucson after she was shot at a public appearance Jan. 8, told KVOA that Giffords still had obvious physical limitations, but that her mental faculties had fully recovered.

"There's no real reason she wouldn't be able to hold office," Rhee said, adding, "It's not about her capabilities. It's purely [a decision] that is personal and what her desires are. I'll support her in whichever way she goes."

Rainer Gruessner, chief of surgery at the hospital, told NBC's Lee Cowan on Nightly News that there was always "light at the end of the tunnel" and that when Giffords cast her vote, "we saw the light." 

Giffords' Tucson district director, Ron Barber, told KVOA Giffords proved her fitness with her vote for compromise legislation raising the national debt ceiling Monday. He said Giffords had the bill emailed to her before she left for Washington, and "she read the whole thing on the plane to D.C., so she [could] walk in there and absolutely say she knew what was in it.”

"Plus, she had studied the main points before she went," added Barber, who was shot twice himself in the January attack, in which six people were killed and 10 other people were injured.

Friends and other supporters, saying they expect Giffords to run, have raised nearly $800,000 for another campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), a close friend of Giffords', told NBC's Kelly O'Donnell on Nightly News that she was eager to help. 

Mentally, Giffords "understands everything," said Gillibrand, who, also said on Nightly News that she had lunch with Giffords this week. "She has opinions on everything."

The challenge, should Giffords return to Congress, will be "to be able to fully articulate her thoughts the way she did before this awful crime," Gillibrand said.

Giffords has returned to Houston for further rehabilitation, but she had a private lunch with her staff in Washington this week, aides told Nightly News.

If she runs again, she will have strong support from constituents like Louise Brockway of Tucson, who said she was inspired by Giffords. 

"I think she epitomizes getting along in the political world," Brockway said on Nightly News.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry isn't holding any public events this week, but he's hard at work here gauging financial support for a potential presidential run, doing a handful of media interviews, and burnishing his foreign policy and social-conservative credentials.

In the latest interview -- this one with the Christian Broadcasting Network -- Perry touted his economic record and also extended his support for a constitutional amendment on same-sex marriage to one banning abortion.

"I support the federal marriage amendment," Perry said, "and I also support the same with the issue of abortion."

Perry riled social conservatives last month when he said he was "fine with" a new same sex marriage law in New York, describing the issue as one best left up to the states.

"If you believe in the 10th Amendment," he said at the time, "stay out of their business."

He walked that notion back in an interview last week via another Christian outlet, the Family Research Council. But the correction drew attention to Perry's attempts to reconcile his strong support of states' rights with the desire of many potential GOP primary voters to push social issues at the federal level.

Perry, who is widely expected to announce a presidential run in the coming weeks, also appears eager to polish his foreign-policy credentials. On Wednesday, he Tweeted a photo of himself meeting with former ambassador to Iraq and Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad.

He also has been meeting with potential donors this week.

In an interview NBC's Andrea Mitchell, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi acknowledged that the debt deal -- which she voted for -- was a "bad deal," but that it's now time to move on. 

"It’s a bad deal but it’s a done deal, and it’s time for us to move on," Pelosi said in the interview, which aired on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports." "It’s the basis on which we are going to proceed and we have to get on with it."

Could President Obama have done a better job negotiating? Pelosi's answer:

I think the president was great. But, again, what is the point of talking about what is finished? On anything that happens around here, any one of us could have done it better, right? We could have written it better, we could have, whatever it is. But the fact is the president wanted a balanced, bipartisan agreement at the end of the day.

MITCHELL: But he didn’t get a balance. There’s no taxes in it.

PELOSI:  That’s right, nobody knows that better than I or perhaps some do, but I fully appreciate that. But again, this is about how we go to the next steps: jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs. 

Another interesting exchange came when Mitchell asked if Congress was broken.

PELOSI: This is the marketplace of ideas. This is where people come and represent their constituents on the short term, every two years. And so it’s always been a contentious people. People had duels in those days, canings, and the rest.

MITCHELL: But how do you feel now to have people saying things like Congress is ridiculous, it’s messy?

PELOSI: Well, I agree with that. I think that the whole process has been -- makes people angry, makes people disgusted. And I don’t think that we should have the legitimate debate about budget priorities with the sword of Damocles over our head. If not, we’re going to default. I don’t think that that was the appropriate dynamic, but that’s done, and now we’re moving on. 

And Congress for its whole entirety has been an institution that has been mocked. The real -- the difference now is in communication, real time, in fact, quicker than real time, before anybody has a chance to process what’s going on, people have formed an opinion and gone on. It’s a very healthy, good thing. 

The Bachmann campaign released its third television ad today. It will air statewide in Iowa. In the ad, entitled “Believe It,” Bachmann stresses her votes against raising the debt ceiling. 

The ad is set on a street corner in Ames. Bachmann addresses the camera as music plays.   “Back in Washington,” Bachmann begins, “politicians are looting the Treasury and bankrupting our nation. And Barack Obama has driven our economy into a ditch.” 

Bachmann says she voted against raising the debt ceiling because “someone needs to say ‘no.’ ”

The ad ends with a plea to come to Ames for the straw poll. 

Full text of ad below.

Full text of the ad: “Back in Washington, politicians are looting the treasury and bankrupting our nation. And Barack Obama has driven our economy into a ditch. Someone needs to say ‘no.’ I voted against raising the debt limit because it’s time to balance the budget and pay down the debt. I mean it… and you can believe it. I’m Michele Bachmann, candidate for President, and I approve this message. Won’t you join me here in Ames for the Straw Poll, and let’s send a message to Washington.”

Even while Mitt Romney's on vacation, his campaign is continuing to bracket President Obama when he hits the road.

In advance of the president's fundraisers in Chicago tonight, the Romney camp has produced a Web video noting how unemployment is up in Chicago and home prices are down there since Obama took office. "Obama isn't working," the Web video concludes.

But a rival campaign sends over opposition research that plays the Bain Capital card: The private equity firm that Romney once headed bought a Chicago-area-based medical diagnostics company -- renamed Dade International, which later became Dade Behring -- that ended up firing and relocating workers.

As Politico wrote in Jan. 2008 during Romney's first run for president:

Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs bought Dade International for about $450 million in 1994.

The firm quickly fired or relocated at least 900 workers. Over the next several years, it sunk increasingly into debt and laid off 1,000 workers.

In 2002 — after Romney had left Bain — it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

When FOX's Chris Wallace, in '08, asked Romney about these Dade International job losses, the Republican replied, "[I]f you're in the business world and you're trying to save a business that's in trouble, that you're not going to be successful 100% of the time." He added:

"And I'm very proud of the fact that we were successful many, many times. We grew jobs quite dramatically in many settings. But oftentimes, when an enterprise is in real trouble, you have to try and cut back to save it."

As he highlights his business background and zeroes in on Obama's economic record, Romney's work at Bain Capital -- a private equity firm that often made money by buying up companies and then laying off their workers -- has the potential to counter his perceived strength, just like it did in his failed 1994 Senate campaign against Ted Kennedy.

AP

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R)

AUSTIN, Texas -- As Gov. Rick Perry appears more and more likely to answer conservatives' clamoring for a breakout candidate in the GOP presidential field, the Texas governor himself will be seeking a breakthrough for the nation -- through prayer at a football stadium.

About 8,000 attendees have registered for “The Response,” an event envisioned by Perry and billed as a day of prayer and fasting. Organizers expect that number to jump as the day approaches. Reliant Stadium, where the Houston Texans play, holds more than 70,000.

As Perry described it in his initial promotion of the day-long event, "On August 6, thousands will gather to pray for a historic breakthrough for our country and a renewed sense of moral purpose."

But despite his embrace of “The Response,” the level of Perry's participation in the event has become less clear as some of its other backers, including groups and pastors opposed to "the homosexual agenda," have been more deeply scrutinized. Originally intended to underscore his connection to evangelical Christians, the prayer celebration could become fodder for opponents' political ads if any of the attendees make controversial statements that could be affixed to Perry's own presidential run.

A Perry spokesman said Tuesday that the governor will be at the seven-hour event throughout the day, but that a final program of events, including any remarks by the potential 2012 candidate, has not been finalized. Perry joked to reporters last week that he may "be ushering" at the gathering.

The low profile could be meant to duck a barrage of criticism from opponents, who label the event an inappropriate overlap of church and state with participants known for their hostility toward advocates of gay rights.

The event is hosted by the American Family Association, a 501(c)3 organization that opposes pornography and abortion and describes homosexuality as the product of "a sinful heart."

"We believe the core goal of the homosexual movement is to abolish the traditional, Judeo-Christian view of human sexuality, marriage and family," the group writes on its website. Opponents of the Reliant Stadium event have pointed out that the association is classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Also listed as a "national endorser" on the event's website is Pastor John Hagee, the San Antonio religious leader from whom 2008 presidential candidate John McCain (R-AZ) distanced himself due to Hagee's past controversial statements about Jews and gays.

In an interview with rally participant Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council aired over the weekend, Perry continued to promote “The Response,” but downplayed the expected low attendance by other elected officials, saying that he "understands" if the governors of the nation's other 49 states do not accept his invitation to attend.

The only other governor, who had confirmed his attendance to organizers, had been Gov. Sam Brownback (R) of Kansas, but it is now unclear whether he will appear at the rally.

A Brownback spokesman said the governor is on vacation this weekend and that it is "left to his discretion" whether to attend.  His office also underscored that, if Brownback does attend, he will do so on his own dime. Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) is expected to appear via video.

Back to (non-debt) business… Obama hits two DNC fundraisers in Chicago tonight; he’s embarking on a bus tour across the Midwest later this month; and he makes three visits tied to the 9/11 anniversary… What will Obama’s tone be at tonight’s fundraisers?... Town hall madness or exhaustion?... Hatch and Lugar take different paths… Palin once again jabs Romney… Santorum’s in Iowa; Huntsman campaigns in New Hampshire… And Bryant wins the GOP gubernatorial primary in Mississippi, while Dems are headed for an Aug. 23 run-off.

*** Back to (non-debt) business: Over the last several weeks, the White House, Congress, and the political world were singularly focused on the debt ceiling. Indeed, in just over a month, President Obama held four news conferences, delivered one primetime address, held one town hall, gave five other televised statements, and participated in countless meetings -- all of them tied to the debt debate. Now? He gets back to non-debt business. Tonight, he attends two DNC fundraisers in Chicago that are tied to his birthday (which is tomorrow) and tied to a series of satellite events around the country. Later this month, he’s embarking on a bus tour though the Midwest. (The states are TBA, but don’t be surprised if they’re states like Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin -- states that his re-election campaign CAN’T afford to become battlegrounds in 2012.) And yesterday, the White House announced that Obama will visit the Pentagon, Lower Manhattan, and Shanksville, PA to commemorate the 10^th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

*** What will Obama’s tone be tonight? As for Obama’s DNC fundraisers in Chicago -- which take place at 8:15 pm ET and 9:25 pm ET -- the thing to watch is his tone. How does he frame the debt deal to his friendly hometown audience? Does he express anger? (Unlikely.) Does he express disappointment mixed with hope? (Probably.) Whatever his reaction is will be fodder for tomorrow morning. As far as liberal reaction to the debt deal, the Washington Post’s Cillizza has this take: It could dampen some enthusiasm and fundraising for Team Obama in the short run. But where else are these folks going to go in 2012? “It’s hard to imagine even the most embittered liberal choosing to vote for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (or whoever else Republicans nominate) over Obama.”

*** Town hall madness or exhaustion? While Obama gets back to (non-debt) business, Congress returns home for the rest of August, with little else to show constituents other than the debt deal -- and an economy that's gotten worse since the Republican House pushed its austerity agenda. And guess what takes place in August? Constituent town halls. The question is whether we see town hall madness (like we saw in the summer of ’09), or if we see exhaustion (after the long and frustrating debt debate).

*** Hatch and Lugar take different paths: Two Senate Republicans -- Orrin Hatch and Dick Lugar -- will face contentious GOP primary fights next year, and they took two different paths in yesterday’s debt-deal vote in the Senate. Hatch voted “no,” while Lugar voted “yes.” Other senators facing key contests in 2012: Republican Scott Brown voted yes; Republican Dean Heller voted no (while his likely general-election opponent, Shelley Berkley, voted yes); Democrats Claire McCaskill, Jon Tester, and Debbie Stabenow voted yes; and so did Republican Olympia Snowe, who faces her own challenge from the right. And in your 2012 Veep Watch, Republican Marco Rubio voted no.

*** Palin once again jabs Romney: We’re probably not the only ones who now realize that Sarah Palin will be a thorn in Mitt Romney’s side -- whether or not she makes a White House bid. “Bless his heart, I have respect for Mitt Romney,” Palin said on FOX last night. “But I do not have respect for what he has done through this debt increase debate. “He did this:” -- as she licked her finger and pretended to hold it up to the wind -- “He waited until it was a done deal.” Palin added, “And then he came out and he made a statement that, aw, he didn't like the deal after all.” Of course, earlier this summer, Palin criticized Romney’s health-care law just before his presidential launch in New Hampshire.

*** On the 2012 trail: Santorum makes several stops in Iowa… Huntsman continues his swing through New Hampshire… And Gingrich again holds a talk-radio interview.

*** Bryant wins in Mississippi; Dems headed for run-off: As expected, Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant won the GOP gubernatorial primary in Mississippi for the right to replace term-limited Gov. Haley Barbour (R). Meanwhile, Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree and lawyer Bill Luckett will have to face off in an Aug. 23 primary for the Democratic nomination. The Jackson Clarion Ledger says that Bryant "will be the candidate to beat" in the general election in this now GOP-leaning state. "A half century ago, winning the Democratic primary for governor meant a cakewalk in November. Now the reverse is playing out. Whichever Democrat wins the Aug. 23 runoff ... will face an uphill struggle to beat Phil Bryant, the unofficial Republican nominee."

*** Wednesday’s “Daily Rundown” line-up: Former Obama White House Communications Director Anita Dunn on the president’s pivot… Former Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA) on how the mood this August compares to 2010 & 2009… The latest on Syria with Council on Foreign Relations President Richard Haass… Pre-Ames straw poll tension building with the Washington Post’s Perry Bacon, USA Today’s Susan Page and Politico’s Jonathan Martin.

*** Wednesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Countdown to Wisconsin recall general for GOP senators: 6 days
Countdown to Iowa GOP straw poll: 10 days
Countdown to Wisconsin recall general for Dem senators: 23 days
Countdown to NV-2 and NY-9 special elections: 41 days
Countdown to Election Day 2011: 97 days
Countdown to the Iowa caucuses: 187 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. Follow us @chucktodd, @mmurraypolitics, @DomenicoNBC, @brookebrower

“Having ceded considerable ground to Republicans in the debt ceiling fight, President Obama set out Tuesday to reclaim the initiative on the economy, promising a new effort to spur job creation while seeking to position himself as a proven voice of reason in an era of ideological overreach,” the New York Times reports. “After being cloistered in Washington for a month haggling with Congressional leaders, Mr. Obama will embark on a bus tour of the Midwest the week of Aug. 15 — a chance to show his commitment to reviving the economy in a region of important electoral battlegrounds, and to turn the page from the tangled, often toxic, debate in the capital.”

In a Washington Post op-ed, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner writes, "This week, I spoke to business leaders across the country. Not surprisingly, their relief that Congress has finally acted was tempered by concern about the damage caused to confidence by the months-long spectacle of threats of default. These business leaders, like many Americans, want to see Congress build on this moment of compromise."

"It is not enough for Congress to have prevented a disaster it brought on itself. Lawmakers should return in September prepared to act to strengthen the economy and get more Americans back to work. Doing so will help repair the damage this fractious debate inflicted on an economy that was already slowing, not just here but around the world."

“President Barack Obama’s signature on a bill raising the debt limit sealed a compromise that averted a U.S. default even as it did nothing to narrow the gulf between Republicans and Democrats over tax increases and spending cuts,” Bloomberg reports. “The measure postpones the thorniest fiscal dilemmas for later this year when the 2012 election campaign will intensify. A panel of lawmakers must push through a $1.5 trillion debt-reduction package by year’s end -- or risk automatic spending cuts across the government, including defense and Medicare.”

“The massive federal spending cuts that will follow the deficit reduction deal could further weaken a national economy that has been rapidly losing momentum, economists said,” the Boston Globe writes.

“The Senate approved a sweeping package yesterday that allowed the United States to begin borrowing more money, and President Obama signed the legislation just hours before the country would have faced default on its obligations,” the Boston Globe writes before previewing the fight over revenue and the required 12-member committee: “A 12-member joint congressional committee will be formed over the next two weeks to find up to another $1.5 trillion in savings. A key question is whether the committee, which must make its recommendations by Thanksgiving, will address increased tax revenue - something Democrats say is imperative but Republicans have opposed.”

The Washington Post adds, “The bipartisan panel, to be named this month, is likely to confront the same ideological divide that caused an almost crippling impasse in the debt-limit debate. Republican leaders are warning that they will not include anyone on the panel who is willing to raise taxes, prompting Democrats to threaten a hard line against cuts to Social Security and Medicare benefits.”

“The push to reduce the U.S. debt is shifting to the makeup of the special congressional panel charged with finding further spending cuts and whether its 12 members can consider rewriting the tax code,” Bloomberg writes. “Republican leaders at the Capitol are pledging to appoint members who oppose tax increases. Their Democratic counterparts make clear they will name lawmakers who’ll fight to raise new revenue and protect entitlement benefits Republicans say should be targeted.” But Republicans will not.

Roll Call also notes that the fight already brewing is over the 12-member panel.

More Roll Call: “While Congress wrestled with the debt ceiling, plenty of other issues languished — including energy, education reform, consideration of the war in Libya, trade deals and more — to the chagrin of rank-and-file lawmakers who spent much of the past few months waiting for a handful of leaders to hash out a deal.”

HUCKABEE: “Mike Huckabee wants to teach kids about 9/11 and he's ready to earn a few bucks off of it,” the New York Daily News writes. “Just in time for the 10th anniversary of the deadliest terror attack on American soil, the former Arkansas governor is marketing a new history DVD as part of his ‘Learn Our History’ series meant to teach young children about important events in American history… In the preview clip, cartoon like figures depict a plane hit the World Trade Center as an American kid asks ‘who would do something like this?’ After a quick look at a cartoon-version of Osama Bin Laden yelling ‘death to America’, the children then learn how America came together quickly after the attacks by ‘Muslim terrorists’ and how the US and its allies went after Al Qaeda.”

HUNTSMAN: Per NBC’s Jo Ling Kent, Huntsman has been meeting with state legislators and party leadership hoping to drum up more New Hampshire support, according to campaign sources. And he began hitting Romney on health care yesterday. At a campaign stop at electronics manufacturer Cirtronics in Milford, N.H., yesterday, Huntsman was asked by an employee about his thoughts on healthcare, Huntsman said he would immediately repeal the health-care plan that passed last year. “You can either look at the heavy-handed government-centric mandate enforcing people’s behavior, which in cases like Massachusetts, we have seen premiums rise substantially,” he told about 50 people gathered, “or you can create a free-market based exchange, which we chose in Utah.”

In 2007, though, Huntsman asked if he’d support a mandate on health care, he said (via Verum Serum), “I’m comfortable with a requirement. You can call it whatever you want, but at some point we’re going to have to get serious about how we deal with this issue.”

PALIN: She railed for a second straight day about Vice President Biden reportedly calling Tea Partiers “terrorists,” this time pivoting to President Obama. “[I]f we were real domestic terrorists, shoot, President Obama would be wanting to 'pal around with us, wouldn't he?” she said, per GOP 12. Then, she invoked Bill Ayers and shaking hands with Hugo Chavez.

PAWLENTY: Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty was in Florida yesterday when he was asked if his campaign is preparing for the prospect that Texas Gov. Rick Perry might jump in. “Rick is a friend,” Pawlenty said, according to NBC’s Lauren Selsky. “I've traveled internationally with him. I know him well and I assume in fact am counting on the fact he's going to get in the race and for awhile that will be the buzz, as it is with all these new entrants or potential entrants into the race, but all of us bring different strengths and weaknesses to the race, and we'll welcome him to the race and look forward to the debate about who's best to lead this country.”

The St. Petersburg Times reports that - despite lagging numbers in the polls - Pawlenty is racking up support from influential Florida Republicans. In a campaign stop in Tampa, FL, yesterday he called the debt deal "a fiscal aspirin" to treat a chronic problem, the AP reports.

PERRY: In an interview with the Nashua Telegraph (that’s in New Hampshire, folks), the potential presidential candidate blasted Obama's "class warfare" and said he has the "stomach" for a tough race. "I wouldn’t get in if I didn’t have the stomach for it. Running three times for governor of Texas, six times statewide, if I step in, they can bet it will be all-in. There will be plenty of vinegar and whatever else needs to be in the recipe."

The Texas Observer profiles senior Perry adviser Dave Carney. "If there is a hallmark of a Carney race, it’s his creative strategies. He’s also dabbled with unscrupulous tactics, having once run a corporate-funded nonprofit that spent untold amounts of money criticizing certain candidates in the name of “voter education.” What’s clear is that he’ll try almost anything that will give him good odds to win."

Pressure from outside groups is mounting against the Perry-backed day of prayer planned for Aug. 6. The Houston Chronicle: "On Tuesday, more than 50 Houston-area religious and community leaders disseminated a signed statement drafted by the Anti-Defamation League expressing ‘deep concern’ about a prayer rally ‘not open to all faiths.’”

ROMNEY: “Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney released the names of his new justice advisory committee today, which will be co-chaired by former Supreme Court nominee Judge Robert Bork,” the Boston Globe writes.

SANTORUM: NBC’s Alex Moe notes that Santorum continued his jam-packed Iowa tour Tuesday; he stumped in Indianola, Perry, Jefferson, Carroll, and Atlantic.  Santorum, who wore cowboy boots, jeans, and a rolled-up long sleeve shirt, told Iowans he really needed their help to “shock the political establishment” by finishing strong at the Ames Straw Poll next weekend. NBC has covered Santorum at his last 10 events in the Hawkeye State, where he criticized the national media for “ignoring him.” (At stop 10, however, he acknowledged that NBC was there covering him and thanked us for the coverage.) In Indianola, Santorum said he is running because of “Obamacare.”

NBC’s Carrie Dann, Jo Ling Kent, Alex Moe, Andrew Rafferty, and Lauren Selsky and contributed to this report.