So far, we’ve seen statements on Libya from Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Jon Huntsman, and Rick Santorum. Santorum also spoke on it yesterday in New Hampshire. Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul, and Herman Cain have not released statements.

ROMNEY: He takes the stance of telling the new Libyan government what to do. NBC’s Garrett Haake with the statement:

"The world is about to be rid of Muammar el-Qaddafi, the brutal tyrant who terrorized the Libyan people. It is my hope that Libya will now move toward a representative form of government that supports freedom, human rights, and the rule of law. As a first step, I call on this new government to arrest and extradite the mastermind behind the bombing of Pan Am 103, Abdelbaset Mohmed Ali al-Megrahi, so justice can finally be done."

PERRY: He says the news “is cause for cautious celebration,” per NBC’s Carrie Dann:

"The crumbling of Muammar Ghadafi's reign, a violent, repressive dictatorship with a history of terrorism, is cause for cautious celebration. The lasting impact of events in Libya will depend on ensuring rebel factions form a unified, civil government that guarantees personal freedoms, and builds a new relationship with the West where we are allies instead of adversaries."

HUNTSMAN: He said, per the Washington Post that he was “hopeful -- as the whole world should be -- that [Khaddafy’s] defeat is a step toward openness, democracy and human rights for a people who greatly deserve it.”

SANTORUM: He had maybe the hottest statement of the candidates, giving President Obama little to no credit, and intimates that the uprising in Egypt made the U.S. and “allies in the region,” presumably Israel, less safe.

"Ridding the world of the likes of Gadhafi is a good thing, but this indecisive President had little to do with this triumph. The stated task from the very beginning for this administration was to determine whether the US can positively influence the direction of the successor government.  As we have seen in Egypt, the euphoria of toppling a dictator does not always result in more security for us and our allies in the region."

Yesterday in New Hampshire, per NBC’s Jo Ling Kent, he said:

"Look we have cast our lot with the rebels with this administration, and I think it's important that we capitalize on that. Hopefully in the last few weeks and months we have been working with the rebel forces and working with their ears and developing relationships and trying to see what we can do with our allies in NATO to make sure that the successor to Khaddafy is not as bad as the dictatorship that Khaddafy had. So working as we did in Iraq and Afghanistan, in this case hopefully working out that NATO is a partner in this effort, hopefully working with the French, Italians and Brits, have some constructive role to play as a NATO operation in establishing a stable republic in Libya."

CAIN: Cain hasn't yet released a statement on Libya, NBC’s Ali Weinberg reports, but as part of a written statement released yesterday over Syria, Cain said:

“Yet again, the Obama Administration has called for the head of another foreign government to step down. If this is another veiled signal from this administration that it supports democracy there, then the President should just say so. In Egypt and Libya, the Obama Administration called for Mubarack and Qaddafi to step down. The questions that still linger in both of these countries are ‘To what do these nations transition?’ and ‘Who should we recognize in their stead?’”

AP

Jon Huntsman (R) speaks in New Hampshire Aug. 13.

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Jon Huntsman has repeatedly said that "putting down shoe leather in New Hampshire" is his priority for the primary season.

But he's been off the radar here in the Granite State for more than a week. He has instead focused his energy on grabbing attention in the national press -- and via Twitter.

Huntsman's media blitz started last week with a snarky Tweet heard 'round the campaign world. Firing back at Rick Perry's skepticism of evolution, Huntsman snagged his biggest spike in followers and retweets since his campaign began, typing.

"To be clear,” he said. “I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy."

The following day, Huntsman and his family appeared in the pages of Vogue, photographed by Annie Leibovitz. Then the former Utah governor made an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” and tonight, he appears on CNN with Piers Morgan, showing off his Mandarin Chinese and piano skills.

Here in New Hampshire, Huntsman's national media strategy isn't bearing fruit yet.

At the New Hampshire Young Republican Straw Poll on Saturday, Huntsman remained relatively unknown. He garnered just 3% in the straw poll, behind even Rep. Thaddeus McCotter and landing closer to Gary Johnson and Buddy Roemer than Mitt Romney and  Perry, who remain the central subjects of his campaign attacks and are polling at the top of the GOP presidential field.

Huntsman’s campaign says he has seen an uptick in fundraising since his Thursday Tweet. And he is set to be back in New Hampshire at the end of this month.

New Hampshire has the most socially moderate voters of the primary states, and Huntsman, the most moderate of the GOP candidates, needs to do well here.

*** UPDATE *** The Huntsman campaign pushed back, saying they have spent more time in New Hampshire than any other candidate and a profile of Huntsman appeared on the front page of the Concord Monitor Saturday.

The Libya news is good for Obama, but remember that bin Laden bounce didn’t last long. Why? It’s still the economy … Obama acknowledges vulnerability. … His compromise argument vs. Boehner -- all about independents. … More clues on his post-Labor Day economic plan … When a house just isn’t big enough – John McCain’s houses foreshadows risk for Romney … Perry takes flak from all sides for Bernanke comment that won’t go away, and he’s unapologetic … Bachmann’s slip ups pale in comparison to her statements on the economy … Huntsman goes on the attack.

*** What Libya means for Obama: The fall of Tripoli, and likely eventual ouster of Moammar Khaddafy -- a thorn in American presidents’ sides for more than a generation -- is welcome news to a White House in need of good news. “[T]he momentum against the Qadhafi regime has reached a tipping point,” President Obama said in a statement last night, adding, “Qadhafi and his regime need to recognize that their rule has come to an end.” The news should also serve to blunt criticism of the president for being on vacation and will make it even harder for Republican opponents to criticize him on foreign policy. The muted response from the GOP presidential field is evidence of that. But let’s not forget that it was just over three months ago when Osama bin Laden was killed, and his supporters were calling President Obama a shoo-in for reelection in 2012. But he remains very vulnerable next year because of the fragile domestic economy. And Democrats acknowledge that. One supporter said, “I think it helps with the vacation attacks. Presidents are never really on vacation. It's another notch on the belt of accomplishments. I don't think it's more than that right now.”

AP

President Obama on vacation in Martha's Vineyard.

*** It’s still the economy, stupid: And President Obama acknowledged in an interview on CBS Sunday Morning that voters are frustrated with the economy and that if it doesn’t turn around he’s at great risk of being a one-term president. “[F]or me to argue, 'Look, we've actually made the right decisions, things would have been much worse had we not made those decisions,' that's not that satisfying if you don't have a job right now,” Obama said. “And I understand that and I expect to be judged a year from now on whether or not things have continued to get better.” And when asked if he were a middle-class voter would he vote for him right now, he hesitated slightly. “Well, I actually would,” he said, “because I believe that we've made good decisions.”

*** It’s all about independents, stupid: Don’t miss these lines from Obama’s interview. He was looking right at independents when he said, “[T]he issue's not gonna be whether I can do business with John Boehner. The issue is if John Boehner … can he sell it among his fellow Republicans inside the House of Representatives.” And: “I know that I'm willing at least to go to my party, to go to my fellow Democrats and say to them, 'You know what, even if there's some things that you think aren't good short-term politics, this is good for the country and we should be willing to go ahead and find the kinds of common ground and compromise that allows us to move the country forward.' And if that's happening on both sides, there no reason why we can't solve problems.” For all the flapping about Obama’s base’s anxieties and frustrations, and sure that’s out there, the bigger story is independents, who went for Obama 52%-44% in 2008. They’re Obama’s biggest problem and focus. Why do you think the president went on a Midwest bus tour? 

*** Some clues on that plan: By the way, we’ve heard that a lot of what Obama will call for in his economic plan after Labor Day will be many things he’s already touted. And we got some clues on more details of the plan this weekend during his interview and during his weekly video address: cutting the payroll tax again, a road construction bill, linking up veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with work and touting trade bills that have passed. Like a candidate rolling out white papers, the president needs something to campaign on – and against (see: Congress).

*** Sometimes it’s not the number of houses but the size: John McCain had to deal in 2008 with his multiple houses because of his wife’s wealth. Well, Mitt Romney, the wealthiest person in this race, is dealing with the news that he is quadrupling the size of his $12 million oceanfront home in La Jolla, CA. First, Romney criticized President Obama for vacationing in Martha’s Vineyard, but is going to be there on the same day raising money for his campaign, then this. He was in San Diego this weekend raising money, per the San Diego Union-Tribune. These stories make it difficult for Romney to make the case that he’s better than Obama on being in touch with regular people.

AP

Rick Perry speaking at a rally in Texas.

*** Perry takes it from all sides: It’s been hard to find a Republican willing to stick up for Rick Perry’s language on Bernanke. On Meet the Press, Mitch Daniels called his language “unfortunate;” Peggy Noonan said this is symptomatic of a “problem” the GOP field has in not exuding “moderation;” Ben Stein also used that word “moderation” and said Perry needs a “lesson in economics,” that what Bernanke’s trying is far from “radical.” Former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs jumped on board the hit parade, defending the president’s “love” of America, which Perry questioned, and swatted back at Perry with this zinger: “I think for Rick Perry to, at one point, talk about secession from the union as early as--or as far back as only 2009, I think it's good that he's professed his love for this country.” Perry, for his part, initially didn’t double down on the Bernanke comments, but he was unapologetic this weekend after being asked about his comments reportedly making members of Congress nervous. "I'm sorry if I offended a congressman,” Perry said, “but the fact of the matter is I'm about representing the American people out here. And the American people are really concerned and scared, small businessmen and women are frightened about the monetary policy or the lack thereof with this administration." (Ross Douthat has Perry’s back, well, at least Texas’.)

*** Romney’s ‘Prevent defense’ or ‘Four Corners’: National Journal notes that despite Perry’s vulnerability, Romney “has kept silent,” something that “underscores Romney’s limited options for diminishing Perry’s appeal with a deeply conservative Republican primary electorate. Romney has been playing the political equivalent of prevent defense….” And catch this quote: “In boxing, you don’t fight beneath your weight class,’’ said Florida lobbyist Brian Ballard, a member of Romney’s national leadership team. “Until Perry has been out there a couple of months and shown that he is a legitimate rival … I don’t think we’ll engage him much.” Wow, so the Romney campaign doesn’t see Perry as “a legitimate rival”? We have likened what Romney is doing to Dean Smith’s “Four Corners.” And that didn’t work out so well for the last presumptive front-runner we wrote that about.

AP

Michele Bachmann greets supporters in South Carolina.

*** No, I won’t Bach down: It wasn’t just Perry taking hits for his rhetoric, it was also Michele Bachmann. She backed away from her recent gaffes, including saying: “There’s a fear that the United States is in an unstoppable decline. They see the rise of China, the rise of India, the rise of the Soviet Union and our loss militarily going forward.” On calling it the Soviet Union instead of Russia and citing Elvis’ birthday (when it was the anniversary of his death), she chalked them up to a busy speaking schedule. (And those are in addition to her earlier John Wayne (Gacy) and John (Quincy) Adams gaffes.) “When you speak six times a day, slip-ups can occur,” Bachmann said, adding, "The main thing people focus on in every single venue that I've been to is the economy and job creation," she said. Perhaps. But on those issues, she said the economy can turn around in one quarter (by not increasing the debt ceiling and cutting spending) and that she could reduce gas prices to $2 a gallon -- with no real plan to do so.

*** Hunt-sman-ing for attention: It all started with a Tweet. On Thursday, Jon Huntsman, struggling to get attention and move in the polls, wrote:  "To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy." That was in response to Perry’s touting creationism and disavowing global warming. The campaign says, as a result, it had its biggest fundraising day since he got in. And he followed up on ABC’s This Week, saying the field has “zero substance” and that “I wouldn't necessarily trust any of my opponents right now … when every single one of them would have allowed this country to default.” He also said, "The minute that the Republican Party becomes the party -- the anti-science party, we have a huge problem.  We lose a whole lot of people who would otherwise allow us to win the election in 2012." He said of Perry’s views on global warming and evolution: "I think when you find yourself at an extreme end of the Republican Party, you make yourself unelectable.” He called Bachmann’s claim that she could get gas under $2 a gallon “completely unrealistic” and “not founded in reality." Huntsman sees an opening with establishment Republicans still not yet coming around on Romney and Perry. But until polls show any movement for him in New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida, or anywhere else, frankly, it’s going to be hard to see how he makes a dent.

*** Decision 2012 Trail Mix: It’s a slow day on the trail for the first time in a while. Mitt Romney raises money out West (but there are no public events). … Huntsman does POTUS Radio and then CNN’s Piers Morgan tonight … And Newt Gingrich is in Hawaii.

***Monday’s “The Daily Rundown” line-up (with guest host Chris Cillizza): Libya latest with NBC’s Richard Engel, NBC’s Kristen Welker, USIP’s Robin Wright, and msnbc’s Col. Jack Jacobs (Ret.)… NBC’s Mara Schiavocampo and TheGrio.com/msnbc’s Jeff Johnson on the opening of the Washington D.C. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial… 2012 news with Politico’s Jonathan Martin, Roll Call’s Christina Bellantoni and National Review/Bloomberg View’s Ramesh Ponnuru.

*** Monday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports”: Andrea Mitchell will have the latest on all the developments out of Libya with Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman, plus Chair of the House Intelligence Committee Rep. Mike Rogers, Steve Clemons of the New America Foundation, as well as Bloombeg’s Jeanne Cummings and the New York Times’ Charles Blow.

Countdown to NBC-Politico debate at Reagan Library: 16 days
Countdown to NV-2 and NY-9 special elections: 22 days
Countdown to Election Day 2011: 78 days
Countdown to the Iowa caucuses: 168 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

BACHMANN: AP looks at Bachmann trying to broaden her appeal: “Pigeonholed as a right-wing disciple, Michele Bachmann is offering herself as a presidential candidate who can unite the GOP's disparate base and appeal to Republicans of all ideological stripes.” But: As a candidate, Bachmann isn't eager to revisit her past controversial statements even though Democratic and Republican rivals alike use them to paint her as a fringe Republican in the race to challenge President Barack Obama.”

“Michele Bachmann has a reminder for Republicans: I’m still here,” Politico writes, adding, “[O]ne week off that triumph, Bachmann is feeling the effects of the latest GOP comet, Rick Perry. Her momentum, which ought to be on the rise, suddenly shows signs of ebbing amid questions of her electability. Her privileged position as the newest, hottest candidate in the GOP field has been usurped by the Texas governor, who’s also sped past her in the polls.”

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune looks into Bachmann’s record as an IRS lawyer: Bachmann “has repeatedly cast herself as a former tax litigator without mentioning that her job was to represent the IRS against taxpayers.”

CAIN: Cain said this Thursday in South Carolina: "If ObamaCare had been fully implemented when I caught cancer, I'd be dead.”

HUNTSMAN: “After taking to Twitter last week to declare his belief in evolution and global warming, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. on Sunday again sought to cast himself as a moderate in a field of more extreme Republican presidential candidates,” The L.A. Times writes, adding, “The performance came after weeks of relative quiet from Huntsman, whose momentum had slowed as media attention turned to Bachmann -- the winner of the Iowa straw poll -- and Perry, the newest entrant into the race.”

“Lanny Wiles, the Republican advance man and John McCain campaign veteran, resigned from Jon Huntsman’s presidential campaign team on Friday, he told POLITICO. … The Florida-based operative is the latest of several Huntsman staffers to exit the campaign. His wife, Susie Wiles, was Huntsman’s campaign manager until stepping down in July.”

PALIN: Karl Rove says – if he had to - he’d bet Palin gets in: “I’m not a gambler, but I’d put in a bit more money that she does get in than she doesn’t. The schedule she’s got next week in Iowa, it looks more like that of a candidate rather than a celebrity,” Rove said on Fox News Sunday, per National Journal. But, he added, “you can only tease so many times in the political process, and it looks like she’s getting to the end of that.”

But she won’t likely announce anything at the Sept. 3^rd rally she’s holding in Iowa. “Scott Conroy reports that Sarah Palin probably won't use her much-hyped, September 3 address in Iowa to launch her bid,” GOP 12 writes.

“Political organizer Peter Singleton, who is putting together a big Tea Party event in Iowa keynoted by Sarah Palin, tells National Review that the former Alaska governor will likely launch a presidential campaign by the end of September,” Taegan Goddard writes. Singleton said, per Goddard: "Labor Day will kick off the Republican campaign for the nomination. She is going to make a major, major speech."

GOP 12 picks up on Palin being against mandatory chicken pox immunizations. “I would not propose govt mandating anything like shots for our kids,” Palin wrote in an email, posted by Conservatives4Palin in a post meaning to point out the differences between her and Perry.

PATAKI: “Sources tell NY1 former New York Gov. George Pataki (R) ‘is strongly considering entering the crowded race for the Republican presidential nomination,’” PoliticalWire writes, adding, “The New York Daily News reports Pataki does plan to enter the race but has not set an announcement date yet.”

PAUL: He turned 76 Saturday. Check out NBC’s Anthony Terrell’s piece on why Ron Paul was ignored even after his close second-place showing at Ames.

PERRY: The New York Times A1 on Sunday: "Over three terms in office, Mr. Perry’s administration has doled out grants, tax breaks, contracts and appointments to hundreds of his most generous supporters and their businesses."

“America’s trial lawyers are getting ready to make the case against one of their biggest targets in years: Texas Gov. Rick Perry,” Politico writes. “Among litigators, there is no presidential candidate who inspires the same level of hatred – and fear – as Perry, an avowed opponent of the plaintiffs’ bar who has presided over several rounds of tort reform as governor.”

The Texas Tribune offers a primer on Perry's energy policy. New York magazine on Perry's ascendancy: "The entry of Rick Perry into the Republican presidential race has been something like the application of defibrillator paddles to its collective solar plexus—bracing and clarifying, exhilarating or terrifying (depending on your point of view), and, most of all, impossible to ignore."

The Washington Post gives Perry two Pinocchois for his claim that President Obama has “killed more jobs” than any president in his lifetime. “Unless the economy turns around in the next 18 months, Obama is on track to have the worst jobs record of any president in the modern era. That would be an accurate statement. But he also became president in the midst of the worst recession of our lifetimes — and it seems a real stretch to make him personally responsible for every one of those lost jobs, without bothering to offer a shred of evidence for the claim,” the Post writes.

National Journal’s Reinhard wrote Friday: “Largely overlooked is the undeniable advantage Perry would bring to November 2012: a track record of appealing to the Hispanic community, the fastest-growing part of the electorate and an increasingly pivotal swing bloc.”

Over the weekend, the L.A. Times unpacked Perry's move to the right on immigration. And Perry's stance on the implementation of the new health care law is also complicated, reports the AP.

Sasha Issenberg tells the New York Times about his new book on Perry: “No candidate has ever presided over a political operation so skeptical about the effectiveness of basic campaign tools and so committed to using social-science methods to rigorously test them. As the 2006 election season approached, the governor’s top strategist, Dave Carney, invited four political scientists into Perry’s war room and asked them to impose experimental controls on any aspect of the campaign budget that they could randomize and measure. Over the course of that year, the eggheads, as they were known within the campaign, ran experiments testing the effectiveness of all the things that political consultants do reflexively and we take for granted: candidate appearances, TV ads, robocalls, direct mail. These were basically the political world’s version of randomized drug trials, which had been used by academics but never from within a large-scale partisan campaign.”

Rick Perry picked up the key endorsements of David Wilkins, a former George W. Bush fundraiser and ambassador to Canada under Bush, and Florence physician Eddie Floyd, whom McClatchy newspapers called “one of the state’s most influential Republican fundraisers.”

ROMNEY: “GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney, scheduled to attend a series of fundraisers this weekend in San Diego, is also working on plans to nearly quadruple the size of his $12 million oceanfront manse in La Jolla,” the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. “Romney has filed an application with the city to bulldoze his 3,009-square-foot, single-story home at 311 Dunemere Dr. and replace it with a two-story, 11,062-square-foot structure.”

“A Romney campaign official confirmed the report, saying the Romneys want to ‘enlarge their two-bedroom home because with five married sons and 16 grandchildren it is inadequate for their needs. Construction will not begin until the permits have been obtained and the campaign is finished,’” The Washington Post writes. In 2008, Republican presidential nominee John McCain was criticized and mocked when he said he was unsure how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, owned. The answer was eight. Since then, perhaps sensing that the issue could be a liability for him, too, Romney began consolidating his real estate portfolio.”

Politico’s Simon writes in his column about the summer of discontent: Four years ago, Republican nominee John McCain could not remember number of his houses; today, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney cannot remember size of his. But Romney says he wants to increase size of his home in ultra-posh California beach community of LaJolla until he can see Tahiti from his window.

RYAN: “Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) has been quietly looking at a president bid ‘for nearly three months, since Indiana governor Mitch Daniels called him to say he wasn't running,’ the Weekly Standard reports,” per Political Wire. And get this: Ryan called Chris Christie to get his thoughts.

NBC’s Carrie Dann and Ali Weinberg contributed to this report.

During a press availability following a speech in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, Friday, Michele Bachmann was asked about a narrative that hasn’t gone away during the seven weeks she has been a presidential candidate: verbal gaffes.

“When you speak six times a day, slip-ups can occur,” Bachmann said.

The comment is the most frank Bachmann has been to date about a series of statements, dating prior to her announcement for president, that have caught notice by the public and in some cases have provoked clarifications from the candidate or her staff.

Appearing as a guest Thursday on a conservative talk radio show, Bachmann made reference to the cold war during a discussion of America’s modern-day position in the world.  “There’s a fear that the United States is in an unstoppable decline,” Bachmann said. “They see the rise of China, the rise of India, the rise of the Soviet Union and our loss militarily going forward.”

Bachmann, of course, meant Russia – the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991.

Earlier this week, at an event in Greenville, South Carolina, Bachmann asked the audience to celebrate Elvis Presley’s birthday.  Her tour bus had just pulled into the event, timed to the opening bars of the campaign theme, the Elvis song “Promise Land.”

“You can’t do better than Elvis Presley,” Bachmann said, “and we thought we’d celebrate his birthday as we get started celebrating the ‘Take Our Country Back’ tour.”  It was, however, the anniversary of Elvis’s death – a fact that Bachmann corrected during a media availability following the event.  (Her campaign tells NBC News that Bachmann simply misspoke; that she is a lifelong fan of Elvis, and chose the campaign theme song herself.)

Despite the correction, the gaffes have renewed attention on earlier misstatements at a moment – one week after Bachmann’s win at the Ames, Iowa Straw Poll – when the campaign had been poised to move beyond them. Prior to running for president, Bachmann made news in March during a visit to a Manchester, N.H., school, where she told a group of students, “You’re the state where the shot was heard around the world in Lexington and Concord.’’ 

Bachmann appeared to be referring to the first shots of the Revolutionary War, which occurred in Massachusetts.

Friday, Bachmann corrected her statement on global affairs, saying, “We all know that it’s Russia, it’s not the Soviet Union.”

During her press availability Bachmann also referred to her mention this week of Enron, the Texas-based energy company that went bankrupt in 2001 amid a fraud scandal.  Speaking about the federal debt at an event in Columbia, SC, Thursday, Bachmann said: “ever heard of Enron?  You get shut down when you don’t pay your bills.”

The comparison – between the federal government on one hand, and, on the other hand, a company whose executives had been sent to prison – was first reported by NBC News.  During her media availability Friday, Bachmann said of Enron:  “I didn’t say that it was debt that took them down, I made a statement that this was a company that had accounting problems.”

Bachmann also attributed interest in her misstatements to the news media, arguing that voters are looking for solutions to real-world problems.

"The main thing people focus on in every single venue that I've been to is the economy and job creation," she said.

After nearly a week without taking questions from the press, Gov. Rick Perry stood by controversial comments on global warming and U.S. monetary policy as he took a barrage of questions from reporters at the final event of his South Carolina swing.

He also defended his support of a Texas version of the DREAM act while invoking the 10th Amendment when he said it wouldn't work on a national level.

Perry, who earlier this week accused climate change scientists of manipulating information for financial gain, doubled down on his skepticism that manmade phenomena are affecting the world's climate.

"I just happen to believe that the earth's temperature has been moving up and down for millenniums now and there are enough scientists out there now that are skeptical about the reasons for it," he said. "And I happen to be one of those that are skeptical that for us to spend billions of dollars on a theory that is not proven and that you have skeptical science against that is not in America's best interest."

Asked to respond to a Politico story that quoted members of Congress made nervous by his statement Monday that the actions of Fed chairman Ben Bernanke have been "treasonous," Perry said he is simply "passionate" about the issue.

"I'm sorry if I offended a congressman but the fact of the matter is I'm about representing the American people out here. And the American people are really concerned and scared, small businessmen and women are frightened about the monetary policy or the lack thereof with this administration," he said.

Perry also answered a question from Telemundo's Vanessa Huac on  two immigration-related issues: Texas's version of the DREAM act (Perry allows children of illegal immigrants to pay in-state college tuition but opposes it on a national level) and his policy of allowing police officers to question people on their immigration status, although he said he didn't think Arizona's tough immigration law was right for Texas.

Huac said he had been "contradictory" in his immigration views and asked if he would support comprehensive immigration reform as president.

"Here's what you need to understand about me, please," Perry said. "I am a big believer in the tenth amendment. That state by state they need to make those decisions about how they're going to deal with issues of tuition, whether they allow for tuition increases or decreases or whatever it might be and that state.

"The rest of these issues are the same. I happen to believe with all my heart that the states would be best served by being able to be free to make these decisions by themselves. Whether it's... I didn't think that for the state of Texas an Arizona exact law was right for state of Texas. 

"So state by state ought to be the way to do that, not by the federal government one size fits all."

When Huac countered that the Constitution requires the federal government to regulate immigration, Perry said, "I didn't get to that issue, yes. Once we secure the border we can have a conversation about immigration reform in this country. But not until."

The Texas governor's remarks came after a brief meet-and-greet luncheon in Rock Hill, SC, where Perry addressed about 100 people face-to-face at the The Old Town Bistro with an additional 350 crowded into an overflow room.

In the week following Congressman Ron Paul’s second-place showing at the Ames Straw Poll, where he finished just 152 votes behind Michele Bachmann, Paul’s fellow Republican presidential candidates are echoing his decades-old message on monetary policy -- even if the original messenger is left out of green rooms.

Paul’s reaction to being ignored by most in the media was on display at an office opening in Concord, N.H., Wednesday. "In this day and age, they are not as relevant as they think they are,” Paul said, adding, “We have enthusiasm, rightness of our cause and another little gadget called Internet.”

The Daily Show also lampooned the media this week for dismissing the 12-term congressman. "How did Ron Paul become the 13th floor at the GOP hotel?” Jon Stewart asked.

In the past four years, the Republican Party has moved toward Paul’s libertarianism. But while much of the party -- including higher-profile presidential hopefuls -- has picked up his message on the Federal Reserve Bank, observers say it’s much of the rest of Paul’s message that gives him little chance at the nomination.

He is out of step with the party on foreign affairs (he’s to the left of President Obama on Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran) and certain parts of his domestic policy go too far for mainstream Republicans (he’s would be OK with legalizing drugs, including heroin, for example, if states decide to do so).

“The Ron Paul campaign is not so much a candidacy than a cause,” said Charlie Cook, a non-partisan political analyst and author of the Cook Political Report. “He’s got issues that are important to him.”

The grandfather of the Tea Party has lagged in early state polls behind top-tier candidates. He could, though, do better than in 2008 -- when he finished fifth in both Iowa and New Hampshire – especially in New Hampshire. The “Live Free or Die” state is clearly open to a message of economic libertarianism. He could even beat someone like Michele Bachmann there, whose social record and rhetoric may go too far for Granite Staters, but winning the state might be too tall a task. (Mitt Romney, who owns a home in the state has consistently held double-digit leads in the polls.)

GOP runs with Paul's message on the Fed
Nonetheless, several candidates this week have run with Paul’s anti-Fed message.

Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry gave a warning to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke Monday night in Iowa, saying, “If this guy prints more money between now and the election, I don't know what y'all would do to him in Iowa, but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas. I mean, printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history is almost … treasonous in my opinion.”

Paul said that made him -- someone who wrote a book called “End the Fed” -- look “moderate.” “I never once said Bernanke committed treason,” Paul said.

Not to be outdone, on Tuesday Bachmann was in South Carolina taking her own shot at the Fed.

"The Federal Reserve is not subject to transparency,” she said. “The Federal Reserve has made terrible, grievous errors. I wrote letters to Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner and to Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke... The president has reduced the soundness of the dollar and the dollar has lost 12 percent of its value, according to experts, since President Obama came into his position."

Continuing the anti-Fed streak Wednesday, Perry repeated a line Paul supporters are used to hearing about auditing the Federal Reserve. Perry told the New Hampshire crowd, “They should open their books up. They should be transparent so that the people of the United States know what they are doing and how they are doing.”

And it’s not just Republican presidential candidates repeating Paul’s message. The chairman of the Republican National Committee also parroted the position that Republicans “fundamentally disagree with the idea of printing more, more money to solve our economic problem,” Reince Priebus said in an interview with CNN Wednesday night. “I think that it's a good thing that you and I are now talking about it and that many people around the country are starting to look at what's going on with the Fed and they start asking questions.”

Cook said that Paul’s “got strongly held views about the Fed that, until Rick Perry came along, nobody else was saying. If the big boys and big girls are parroting him, that’s a success. What he wants, what he would like is for his viewpoints that have been historically viewed as fairly eccentric to be more accepted by the party. To the extent that any of his rhetoric or ideas are parroted by Perry and-or Bachmann, I think Ron Paul would take some satisfaction in that."

Indeed, the Paul campaign is thrilled with the idea that the country is “starting” to look at the Fed and that they “start asking questions.”

“This surge in interest in Dr. Paul and support for him is a direct result of Dr. Paul being the most consistent, trustworthy and reliable Republican candidate for president when measured against his competitors,” said Gary Howard, the Paul campaign’s national press secretary.

Howard described the other presidential candidates as following Paul.

“Dr. Paul’s main status-quo competitors Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann and Mitt Romney are all emulating his message of personal and economic liberty, a return to constitutionally limited government, and a focus on sound currency, to name only a few issues,” Howard continued. “What they can never mimic is Dr. Paul’s impeccable record on these issues and therein lays the distinction. The entry of candidates such as Rick Perry merely dilutes the vote of the status quo.”

When asked how the Paul campaign can convince voters he is a viable candidate, Doug Wead, a senior adviser to the Paul campaign and presidential historian, explained it this way.

“Everybody’s mimicking Ron Paul,” Wead said. “So much of what he’s said has come true. The electorate is more savvy; they’re more educated. They can read all these things he talked about, that he said was coming. He’s the real thing. I’m glad that Michele Bachmann is coming our way, that Rick Perry is coming our way. But, for Americans who are looking for authenticity and they want a protest that has teeth in it. They want to register that anger, if they do their due diligence, they’re going to vote for Ron Paul. They’re not going to vote for Michele Bachmann who voted for Nancy Pelosi’s stimulus bill."

Out of step on foreign policy
Paul has joked that his ideas are becoming popular with a majority of voters, saying, “They’ve accused me of being mainstream, can you imagine that? All I know is that I haven’t changed my views, maybe the sentiment is shifting. Let’s hope so!”

But Paul’s views on foreign policy -- his rigid ideology on non-interventionism -- came into focus at the Ames debate a little more than a week ago.

“[The Soviet Union] had like 30,000 nuclear weapons with intercontinental missiles,” Paul said, adding, “We tolerated the Soviets; we didn't attack them. And they were a much greater danger … to us in our whole history.”

Doubling down, Paul even questioned sanctioning Iran and explained why it would want a nuclear weapon.

“Just think of how many nuclear weapons surround Iran,” Paul said. “The Chinese are there. The Indians are there. The Pakistanis are there. The Israelis are there. The United States is there. Why wouldn't it be natural that they might want a weapon? … Internationally, they'd be given more respect. … Countries that you put sanctions on, you are more likely to fight them. I say a policy of peace is free trade. Stay out of their internal business. Don't get involved in these wars. And just bring our troops home.”

The Paul campaign insists his “peace” message is one that will resonate across party lines, uniting liberals, conservatives and independents. Howard says Paul gets support on this issue because of “voters’ concerns about … trillion-dollar foreign wars having an unclear connection to U.S. national security.”

Certainly, this is a war-weary nation. And even many in the hawkish GOP have begun to call for withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. But talk of removing sanctions from Iran or accepting an Iran with nuclear weapon, observers say, is a tough sell.

The campaign takes solace in and touts that their candidate -- one of only two GOP presidential candidates with military experience -- raised more money from members of the military last quarter than any other current presidential candidate, including President Obama.

Wead echoed Paul's belief that American involvement in foreign wars is “economically devastating.”

“I think the people understand what he’s saying,” Wead said. “We cannot afford ongoing trillion-dollar wars. You’ve got to decide if you’re going to try and rule the world. We can’t afford to rule the world.”

Paul regularly repeats the line, “Bring the troops home” on campaign stops, which usually gets a standing ovation from supporters young and old.

Passing the torch
And then there’s the issue of Paul’s age. He turns 76 tomorrow, and would also be the oldest president ever sworn in. Reagan was just shy of his 74th birthday, when he was sworn in for his second term. But Paul told NBC News that any candidate who suggests his age is an issue should be ready for a physical challenge.

“I'd say come to Houston 12 o'clock noon tomorrow, 100-degree heat, 100-percent humidity and I’ll ride 20 miles with them on my bicycle!” he said. “And we'll see if they take me up on it. I mean age is relative to the person's mind and body and the most important thing is that you have young ideas. The other candidates have too much authoritarianism. They like too much government, so that is the only thing that really counts."

When Wead was asked about the candidate’s age being a factor, he pointed to Paul’s son, Rand Paul (R), a Tea Party freshman U.S. senator from Kentucky, who is likely being set up to inherit the “torch of liberty.”

“There’s always Rand, you know,” Wead said. “If [Ron Paul] ends up at the convention with a lot of votes, a lot of things can happen, and Rand is the right age, that’s for sure.”

But if he doesn’t, there’s always next election cycle.

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- Michele Bachmann brought her white, dry-erase board back to the stump, tallying up the national debt with a marker.

Here at a town hall in this key early primary state, she counted the zeros in $14 trillion -- an oft-mentioned figure representing the nation’s current debt -- and then quipped, "Nobody tell Barack Obama what comes after 'trillion.'" 

This is a stock line, which had been retired during the past few weeks. It got a laugh out of the audience. Before this portion of her speech began, Bachmann asked, "You ready to go to school?"

Bachmann is traveling -- at least for the day -- with a large contingent. It includes some of her next-door neighbors from Minnesota, and a law-school classmate. She thanked them by name for coming to the event.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) said he is not advising fellow Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) on his presidential campaign. Barbour, at one point considering his own presidential run, told Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC that he is not advising any candidate, and he doesn't intend to endorse anyone.

He did, however, stick up for Perry for his comments on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

"I don't take it as offensive to say that we would not treat you nice,” Barbour said. “We treat you nice. We like you, and we're proud to have you down here. That isn't exactly threatening language to most people."

About secession: "If somebody thought he was saying that seriously a couple years ago, that would be one thing, but everybody knew then he was joking about it. ...He's going to get nitpicked, because he's the governor of Texas, because the liberal media elite dislike George Bush so much, and he reminds them of him. As I say, conservative, Christian, Republican, Southerner. He needs to understand he doesn't have the liberty to say things loosely that somebody else might."

Barbour said he doesn't know of anyone else looking to get into the GOP contest, but doesn't think it’s impossible either.

"As Rick showed, you can get in late,” Barbour said. “This field reminds me of the Democratic presidential campaigns that I've watched in the past, where there wasn't a real front runner and somebody who a year-and-a-half before the election didn't seem to have a chance came out and won a nomination.... That could happen on our side, even though we don't normally have a contest that looks like this."

There’s so much Rick Perry, it’s hard to keep up.

This all happened just today in South Carolina during Perry's multiple stops. Perry said he would strip the health-care law by executive order.

He criticized the Obama bus -- even though the eventual GOP nominee would likely get one of their own from the Secret Service. "[H]e had his big ol' bus, his big ol' $1.2 million bus, made in Canada," he said.

He said Obama "has killed more jobs in America than I think any president in the history ... certainly in my lifetime." He said Obama’s economic plan "shouldn’t count on luck" and called him an "excuse maker as Commander-In-Chief."

"The president this week he said that we had reversed the recession, but you know over the last six months we just had a run of bad luck," Perry said. "Um, our economic plan shouldn't count on luck."

He said, "The Obama administration recently referred to food stamps as an economic stimulus. Food stamps are not the solution; they are a symptom of the problem."

And he had a small Texas-centric gaffe, saying, "It has been a whirlwind over the past seven days, as we've moved across Texas. It was awesome.... " The audience corrected him. He said, "I mean, yeah, we covered that much country." And added, "It felt like we were going from El Paso to Beaumont, when, in fact, we were going to New Hampshire to Iowa and back to New Hampshire and then here."

He talked again about evolution, when a woman congratulated him on his comment that evolution was theory. He said, “Well, God is how we got here. God may have done it in the blink of the eye or he may have done it over this long period of time, I don't know. But I know how it got started."

And he again talked about using Predator Drones on the U.S.-Mexico border. This is the second time he’s said this, but the government is already using them for surveillance.

This Palin video is too well produced for someone who doesn’t want people to think she’s at least thinking about running for president.

This thank you to Iowa video is complete with cheery music and laudatory press statements, including what could be seen as a subtle shot at Michele Bachmann on security. She includes Don Lemon from CNN, who got into a tussle with Bachmann’s security team, lauding the access he had to Palin’s team and that she answered all of his questions.

And, of course, it’s hard to ignore that growling bear at the end as she promotes a Sept. 3rd rally in Iowa.

White House photographer Pete Souza

NBC's Shawna Thomas reports that the White House just released this photo of the president receiving the national security briefing from counterterrorism adviser John Brennan.

FLORENCE, SC -- Speaking about what he calls the burdensome regulations of President Obama's health-care bill Friday, Gov. Rick Perry described himself as "the chief executive officer of one of the bigger states in the nation" and promised to use an executive order to nix the Obama law.

"If I'm so fortunate to be elected the president of the United States, on Day One, when I walk into the Oval Office, there will be an executive order on that desk that eliminates as much of ObamaCare that I can have done with an executive order," he said in remarks at at a hospital complex here. "Now hopefully, Lord willing, the 11th Court of Appeals has already found that that individual mandate is unconstitutional, and hopefully that will be gone to the Supreme Court, and I won't have to deal with that."

Perry, who has tried to counter Mitt Romney's highlighting of his private-sector experience, said his concern about the law stems from his tenure as the "chief executive officer" of Texas.

A man infamous for once nodding to Texas' secessionists, Perry also  earned giggles after starting an explanation of his home state's economy with, "If Texas were another country...." He went on to explain that it would have an economy comparable to Russia's -- "not inconsequential," he said.

Perry also said the costs of implementing the health-care law would force Texas to raise taxes -- and that other states will be bankrupted as a result of "ObamaCare."

Perry straddling the line between Tea Party and establishment … And as the establishment waits for its white knight, at some point, it’s likely going to have to pick between Perry and Romney … But is Romney up for the fight? … Bachmann who? Who would have thought the fiery Minnesota congresswoman would have a hard time getting attention? … It’s the economy -- as Obama’s on vacation, stocks tumble, Bank of America makes layoffs … Liberal group’s six-figure ad buy … Today, the action on the trail is in South Carolina, where Perry and Bachmann campaign … We fact check if Texas teaches creationism and if it’s constitutional … Daily Rundown has Lloyd Doggett, Andrea Mitchell interviews Barbour, Santorum. … And get your NBC/Politico Reagan Library debate credentials.

*** Perry’s two paths: Yesterday, we wrote about President Obama, as he heads into Labor Day. Well, here’s a look at where GOP 2012 field stands and what we learned this week… The race is down to three candidates -- and it’s shaping up to be, on the one hand -- Tea Party (Bachmann, Perry) vs. Establishment (Romney). It’s like college basketball with 12-seed Bachmann and 2-seed Perry facing off on the Tea Party/"anti-Romney” side for the right to take on the top-seeded Romney, who has a bye in the “Establishment” bracket. BUT, on the other hand, Perry has the potential to play in BOTH brackets. We’ve seen examples of him trying to straddle the line – Tea Party (Bernanke and creationism) and Establishment (not doubling down on Bernanke and delivering a well-received business-focused speech in New Hampshire). And he impressed GOP consultant Alex Castellanos, who was aligned with Romney in ’08, who wrote recently that “Romney should look over his shoulder. There is a freight train coming.”

*** The establishment’s two choices: The establishment, though, isn’t yet convinced Perry’s one of them, especially after Bernanke. And it’s still not rallying around Romney (health care, authenticity, strength). It’s why you keep hearing chatter about Paul Ryan and Chris Christie (though Christie’s buzz faded after New Jersey was downgraded). Neither is likely to get in. And the more time passes, the less likely it is that anyone else gets in. If no white knight emerges in the next month, the establishment will have to start to pick between one or the other. (By the way, notice who’s NOT in the speculation conversation – Sarah Palin. No one knows what she’s going to do, but you get the sense a lot of people, even fans of her’s, are starting to move on.)

*** Moving past Bachmann: With Perry’s entrance, the CW has moved past Michele Bachmann. Bachmann and her campaign expected to bask in a week-long media glow after her Ames win. (Why do you think she did the Full Ginsberg?) But it didn’t work out that way. There were good headlines the next day -- but that was it. The story moved to Perry and Perry vs. Romney -- and Bachmann was left with a week of tough press. What’s fascinating is that she’s actually had a hard time getting attention. And THAT’s not something we thought we’d ever say about Michele Bachmann.

*** Romney doesn’t want the fight (yet)…: We also learned that Romney doesn’t want to talk about Rick Perry, and Perry isn’t afraid to mix it up. Romney jabbed first this week, but when Perry hit back, Romney ducked and backed away, calling him a “fine” governor and said there’d be plenty of time for debate (just not now, apparently). Romney probably felt like he was being taken off-message (jobs), but at some point he has to engage in earnest. And remember what happened to Tim Pawlenty, when he looked like he didn’t want the fight.

*** …But he took a couple of nicks: And though they weren’t major blows, Romney didn’t totally avoid getting nicked. Perry dinged him by brushing off Romney’s jab about private-sector experience, blowing a kiss in Romney’s direction and foreshadowing that he would soon contrast their records as governor. He played into the narrative that he’s on both sides of a lot of issues – public vs. private-sector experience; taxes: FOR tax cuts for the rich and against them; and Martha’s Vineyard: he criticized Obama for vacationing there, but going there himself to raise money for his campaign on the same day Obama will be there. And his awkwardness on the trail was exposed with his harping on the geographic and ethnic name origins of voters at a New Hampshire stop.

*** Stocks plunge again; Bank of America to make layoffs: For all the back and forth to come in the GOP presidential primary, we all know the overarching issue of 2012 is the economy. President Obama needs some good news, and he didn’t get it yesterday. On his first day of vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, the Dow dropped 419 points, and Bank of America is laying off 3,500 workers with more likely. Here’s NBC’s Kirsten Welker’s piece from Nightly News with Brian Williams last night on president’s and vacations.

*** Warren’s in, Feingold’s out: Elizabeth Warren filed an exploratory committee yesterday to run for the Senate in Massachusetts, which makes the left happy. But Russ Feingold ruled out a run for anything in 2012. If Warren runs, and the decision will be made in the next few weeks after Labor Day, she would have to get through a crowded primary field first in order to challenge popular Republican Scott Brown. That could help for someone who’s never run for office (she’d have to prove herself) or it could hurt (move too far to the left, have to spend lots of money, while Brown rides the center). Some on the left viewed Feingold as the strongest candidate to beat Scott Walker next year for governor. Has the left’s Wisconsin mo’ receded a bit? And does Wisconsin wind up looking a whole lot more like 2004 (when it was the closest state in the presidential race)?

*** Target: Vulnerable House Republicans: Speaking of down-ballot races, House Majority PAC, an outside group aligned with Democrats, is going up with its second wave of what it says is a six-figure ad buy. It’s targeting just two members -- Dan Lungren (CA-03) and Sean Duffy (WI-07). Lungren won with just 50.1% in 2010; Duffy, a freshman, won with just 52%. Here’s the cable ad targeting Lungren.

*** Decision 2012 Trail Mix -- (South) Carolina on their minds: Perry and Bachmann take the Palmetto State today with six stops between them (four for Perry, two for Bachmann). Perry holds a breakfast meet and greet in Florence, then tours a hospital there (“ObamaCare,” anyone?); he then goes to Columbia for a lunch meet and greet, and then up to the more conservative Upstate, where he tours downtown Greenville. … Bachmann instead starts out in Lowcountry with a town hall in Myrtle Beach and a rally in Mt. Pleasant. … Others: Mitt Romney has no public events … Herman Cain attends the opening of his New Hampshire headquarters in Manchester and then tour the downtown area … Thaddeus McCotter takes questions from reporters in Concord, NH … Gingrich speaks in Hollywood, CA, before Catholic business leaders.

*** Fact Check: Does Texas teach creationism? Speaking of nicks, Perry’s comments to a child in New Hampshire that creationism and evolution are taught in public schools created a lot of attention in the blogosphere. So is creationism taught in Texas schools? The long and short of it is probably. Suzanne Marchman, a spokeswoman for the Texas Education Agency (the state’s version of the Department of Education) tells First Read, that the state’s science standards “require students to analyze, evaluate, and critique, scientific explanations.” And since teachers craft their own lesson plans, “It’s likely that other theories, likely creationism, are being discussed in class.” Is it constitutional? NBC’s Pete Williams reports, if it were true that the state of Texas required its public schools to teach both evolution and creationism, that would almost certainly be unconstitutional. Here’s our full report.

*** Friday's "The Daily Rundown" line-up (with guest host Chris Cillizza): 2012, jobs, and the economy with Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX)... Latest on Middle East developments (Syria, Libya, Gaza...) with Washington Institute's Mike Singh and USIP's Robin Wright... N.Y. Times/CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin on where the market will head today... One of us (!!!) with political headlines... NBC's Kristen Welker with the latest on the Obamas in Martha's Vineyard... More 2012 with National Journal's Reid Wilson, Jennifer Palmieri of the Center for American Progress and former RNC Chairman Michael Steele.

*** Friday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” and if it’s Friday, it’s Meet the Press’s Sunday line-up: “Andrea Mitchell Reports” has Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS) and presidential candidate and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum (R); And speaking of guest hosts, NBC’s Savannah Guthrie fills in for David Gregory Sunday on Meet. Guthrie’s guests include former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R).

*** Attention, Political Reporters: Don’t forget to get credentialed for the NBC/Politico debate at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, CA, Sept. 7^th. You can register here. Forms are due by Aug. 31.

Countdown to NBC-Politico debate at Reagan Library: 19 days
Countdown to NV-2 and NY-9 special elections: 25 days
Countdown to Election Day 2011: 81 days
Countdown to the Iowa caucuses: 171 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

The New York Times: “The Obama administration announced Thursday that it would suspend deportation proceedings against many illegal immigrants who pose no threat to national security or public safety.”

Latinos are a key voting bloc for this president, but even though polling still shows strong support for the president among Hispanics, many have expressed frustration, including notably Rep. Luis Gutierrez (R-IL), of Obama’s hometown Chicago, who has been arrested for handcuffing himself to the White House fence.

BACHMANN: “Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann said Thursday that President Barack Obama has moved too late and with too little force in response to Syria's crackdown on dissent,” the AP reports of Bachmann’s speech in Columbia, South Carolina yesterday. 

The Florence County Republican Party, who hosted Bachmann’s second event of the day, called Bachmann “the cosnervatives’ conservative,” according to Carolina Live.

PERRY: Texas Gov. Rick Perry will be in South Carolina today and tomorrow, stopping at a Florence restaurant and hospital, then going to a $75-per-person luncheon in Columbia to raise money for the South Carolina GOP. 

NBC’s Ali Weinberg contributed to this report.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s comments to a child in New Hampshire that creationism and evolution are taught in public schools created a lot of attention in the blogosphere.

"In Texas, we teach both creationism and evolution in our public schools," the governor deadpanned into the eyes of an elementary-school-age boy, whose mother was asking her son to ask the governor why he doesn't believe in science.

So is creationism actually taught in Texas public schools? And is it constitutional?

Clay Robison, a spokesman for the Texas State Teachers Association, the state’s teachers’ union, says, “It is not part of the recognized official state curriculum.”

But, Robison, who criticized Perry for "trying to reach right-wing voters," added, “I can’t say that some teacher someplace” that isn’t widely known about, isn’t teaching it.

More definitively, Suzanne Marchman, a spokeswoman for the Texas Education Agency, the state’s version of the Department of Education, tells NBC, the state’s science standards for high-school biology “require students to analyze, evaluate, and critique, scientific explanations.”

And since teachers craft their own lesson plans, “It’s likely that other theories, likely creationism, are being discussed in class" -- whether it's because teachers plan lessons around it, or because students bring it up.

Marchman also explained that there is an elective course on Biblical history. “And so certainly, a teacher could include discussion of creationism in a Bible class,” she said, adding, “The curriculum doesn’t require them to teach [creationism and evolution] side-by-side, but because teachers craft their lesson plan at the local level, it’s a local decision. So the state doesn’t offer up the specifics of what’s required to be taught.”

But is it constitutional?

In fact, if it were true that the state of Texas required its public schools to teach both evolution and creationism, that would almost certainly be unconstitutional.

State officials and school officials, though, said there is no Texas law or state education standard requiring the teaching of both. Instead, again, state-education policy requires students to "analyze, evaluate, and critique" the scientific basis for evolution. Defenders of the governor said he was merely describing what often happens in classrooms, as students discuss the merits of evolution versus creationism.

In 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that requiring the teaching of creationism, or forbidding the teaching of evolution, violates the separation of church and state. The court struck down a Louisiana law that banned teaching evolution unless accompanied by instruction in creationism. 

The law's purpose, wrote Justice William Brennan for the court's majority, "was to restructure the science curriculum to conform with a particular religious viewpoint. Out of many possible science subjects taught in the public schools, the legislature chose to affect the teaching of the one scientific theory that historically has been opposed by certain religious sects."

The central question, the court said, was the law's purpose. Louisiana's intent, the majority concluded, was to endorse a particular religious doctrine. But, the court added, "teaching a variety of scientific theories about the origins of humankind might be validly done with the clear secular intent of enhancing the effectiveness of science instruction."

First Read confirms that Elizabeth Warren has filed an exploratory committee to run for the U.S. Senate.

A final decision on her candidacy will come in the next few weeks, some time after Labor Day, a Warren adviser tells First Read.

"Elizabeth has spent the last week listening to people from across the Commonwealth as she considers a campaign for the US Senate," Warren spokesman Kyle Sullivan said in an email. "She wants to continue this conversation and the exploratory committee will assist her in doing so."

If she runs, it could pit Warren -- a liberal Harvard law professor who helped create the Obama administration's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau -- against popular incumbent Republican Scott Brown. But she faces a potentially crowded Democratic primary first that could include as many as six others.

Warren served as the chairwoman of the Congressional Oversight Panel, created after the 2008 financial collapse. Warren has been a hero of the left, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee set up a "Draft Elizabeth Warren for Senate!" page, for example.

But she was also a lightning rod, attracting criticism from those on the right, who thought her calls for more regulation went too far.

Democrats are largely on the defensive this cycle, but they hope to put liberal Massachusetts in play, especially in a presidential year.

*** UPDATE *** NBC's Sarah Blackwill passes along an email from Warren's exploratory committee website:

Dear ,

Thank you for visiting the website of my exploratory committee and for signing up for email updates.

In the weeks ahead, I want to hear from people across Massachusetts about the challenges we face and talk about how we can get our economy growing again. I also want to hear your ideas about how we can fix what all of us – regardless of party – know is a badly broken political system.

We have a lot of hard work to do in our commonwealth and our country. We need to rebuild our economy, family by family and block by block. We need to create new jobs and fix our broken housing market. We need to make sure that there is real accountability on Wall Street and that the greed and recklessness that created the last financial crisis do not create another one. We need to restore the hope of a secure retirement and the promise of a good education.

I am glad to be back home, and I look forward to discussing what we can accomplish together. In the meantime, make sure to join me on Facebook at http://elizabethforma.com/facebook.

Thanks,
Elizabeth

Presidential candidates Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry, campaigning in South Carolina this week, would both seem like natural allies for that state’s governor, Nikki Haley.

Like Haley, both candidates are outspoken members of their parties -- with Tea Party connections and conservative records.

But while Haley has said she won’t endorse a candidate “anytime soon,” both presidential hopefuls have recently been trumpeting their association with the governor of the first-in-the-South primary state, as well as embracing her pet issues.

And Haley, perhaps seeking to bring more attention to her state’s contest, hasn’t shied away from the attention.

According to The State newspaper, Bachmann was the first to accept Haley’s open invitation to all candidates to stay overnight at the governor’s mansion in Columbia. She spent the night on July 19, while she was in town to sign Sen. Jim DeMint’s “Cut, Cap and Balance” pledge on federal spending.

“I am so impressed with the governor you have put into that office, and I’m extremely proud of her,” Bachmann was quoted as saying.

On Tuesday, as the presidential candidate returned to the state for a four-day swing, she once again played up her relationship with Haley.

“I just barely got off the plane and my phone rang, and it was your wonderful governor, Nikki Haley, calling me,” Bachmann told the audience at a town-hall style meeting in Greenville, adding that the governor was “as gracious as always.”

She said that Haley informed her of “her latest frustration” -- her inability to contact President Obama over the issue of illegal immigration.

“She had to hold a press conference on the issue of illegal immigration, because she was having problems. She needed 24 people from Homeland Security to do something about the immigration problem, and she couldn’t even get anyone -- this is the governor of the state -- couldn’t even get anyone to return her phone call!”

That “latest frustration” Bachmann was referring to was a press conference held more than two months ago on May 27, according to the Charleston Post and Courier. Haley accused the Department of Homeland Security of ignoring her request to access documents created through the E-Verify system that checks a worker’s eligibility, although the state’s two-dozen immigration auditors could already use the system itself.

But according to a press release on the governor’s website, Homeland Security ended up granting South Carolina’s Labor, License and Regulation Department the ability to directly access E-Verify documents on June 22.

“I appreciate Secretary Napolitano’s decision,” Haley had said in a statement.

Bachmann condemned the federal government’s treatment of Haley over the issue. “This is ridiculous. And disrespectful. So if you’re a Republican governor, you can’t expect to get a phone call?” she asked the crowd.

Bachmann also slammed the National Labor Relations Board’s lawsuit against Boeing, which decided to relocate the construction of a large plant to South Carolina, a non-union state, after labor strikes at the company’s union facilities in Washington State. The NLRB claims Boeing was punishing the unions by relocating the plant.

In her first speech on Tuesday in Spartanburg, Bachmann slammed President Obama’s appointees to the NLRB as “anti-job people” -- who “say that great companies like Boeing, willing to start thousands of high-paying jobs in South Carolina, ‘Sorry, can’t go there. They’re a right to work state.’”

But Bachmann isn't the only GOP presidential candidate to check the box by commenting on the Boeing dispute while in the Palmetto State. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, in fact, mentioned it in his speech announcing his run for the presidency at the Red State convention in Charleston on Saturday.

“[President Obama] stacked the National Labor Relations Board with anti-business cronies who want to dictate to a private company, Boeing, where they can build a plant. No president, no president should kill jobs in South Carolina, or any other state for that matter, simply because they choose to go to a right-to-work state,” Perry said.

She didn’t comment on his statement about Boeing, but Haley responded well to Perry’s decision to announce his bid in her state.

“I think his timing was brilliant," Haley said after her remarks at the Red State event, according to NBC’s Carrie Dann.

Dann reported that Haley also said she believes Perry will find the state “very welcoming.”

Perry and Haley -- both members of the Republican Governors’ Association (and Perry was its past chairman) -- also wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post together on July 14, touting their signing of Sen. DeMint’s “Cut, Cap and Balance” plan.

“As governors of states whose residents, like all Americans, are desperate for the restoration of fiscal responsibility in Washington, we are proud to have signed the “Cut, Cap and Balance Pledge” amid the debate over once again raising the federal debt ceiling,” they wrote.

Perry and Haley also have an administration official in common –- Eleanor Kitzman, who was, until July 20, the director of South Carolina’s financial oversight board, and was hired by Perry to serve as the insurance commissioner in Texas, her native state.

“Governor Rick Perry and the people of Texas are fortunate,” Haley said in a statement according to MidlandsConnect.com.

And according to the Post and Courier, Haley and Perry will be doing a bit of exchange politicking beginning tomorrow. Haley will be in Dallas, Texas, while Perry heads to South Carolina for fundraisers and campaign events over Friday and Saturday.

Whom Haley will eventually endorse isn't clear. But what is clear is her criteria for an endorsement. According to NBC’s Dann, Haley said, “What I want is a president that understands that I need the federal government to get out of the way so that I can do my job. And I will be endorsing based on that."

AP

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R)

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) likened the federal government today to Enron.

"If you spend more than you earn, the sheriff comes to your door," she said, per NBC's Jamie Novogrod. And then added, "Ever heard of Enron before? You get shut down when you don't pay your bills."

Of course, this is inaccurate as a literal comparison.

First, this isn’t a Dickens novel. If you don’t pay your bills, you don’t go to debtor’s prison. The sheriff doesn’t come to your door, it’s more like letters and calls from collections agencies from guys who are more Romney than Rosco.

Second, Enron was defrauding its employees -- and its executives went to jail. By that logic, does Bachmann presume that the federal government is defrauding taxpayers and President Obama should go to jail?

When pressed further, however, Bachmann -- who, as a candidate for president, has toned down her sometimes far-flung rhetoric -- deflected.

She said Enron was guilty of bad book-keeping, but didn't elaborate on the suggestion of fraud.

We wrote briefly about the Bachmann campaign’s tactics, including some examples of getting rough with reporters. Politico’s Ben Smith and Jonathan Martin today go deeper into the issue of the campaign’s manhandling of reporters:

In less than two months since entering the 2012 race, Bachmann’s campaign staff has become embroiled in at least five unusually hostile encounters with the traveling media marked by pushing, shoving and, in one instance, the allegation of a threat of violence to a reporter. …

Friction between the press and high-profile politicians and celebrities is nothing new. But the number and intensity of incidents is unusual, particularly in Iowa, where reporters and the public are accustomed to almost unlimited access as an early state presidential ritual. The campaign makes no apologies for its physically aggressive approach to media management, asserting that it is simply doing what it has to do to protect a popular, controversial candidate. The most aggressive aide — a tall, silver-haired man according to reporters — a spokeswoman said, is a former Secret Service agent who has guarded presidents. He and an advance woman frequently make physical contact with reporters.

The contentious encounters with the press has far oustripped that of other high-profile campaigns. Security guards for high-profile candidates like Rudy Giuliani, Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin were better able to distinguish between reporters and threats. The difference was sharply visible over the past week at the Iowa State Fair. Palin wandered the fairgrounds freely with her husband, an advance man, and, at a remove, a handful of Iowa State Police. Rick Perry was guarded by watchful Texas Rangers who gave the press and fair-goers broad latitude to talk and walk next to the governor.

The Bachmann campaign told First Read Tuesday:

"Michele Bachmann is a high-profile congresswoman. On the heels of the Gabby Giffords shooting, security is of the utmost concern to our campaign,” spokeswoman Alice Stewart said. “We have a former Secret Service officer who's protected presidents and vice presidents, and if someone gets too close to the candidate, he warns them."

Video shot by NBC’s Jamie Novogrod; edited by Domenico Montanaro

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. -- Rick Perry defended teaching creationism in Texas schools when confronted by a New Hampshire voter who told her son to ask Perry "why he doesn't believe in science."

"Evolution is a theory that's out there," Perry says crouching down and staring into the eyes of an elementary-school-age child, who stands with his mother's hands on his shoulders.

"It's got some gaps in it," Perry continues, "but in Texas we teach both creationism and evolution..."

"Ask him why he doesn't believe in science," the mother interjects off camera.

Putting both hands on the outside of the boy's shoulders, Perry, not acknowledging the mother, says, "...because I figured you're smart enough to figure out which one is right."

On global warming to a local science teacher, he said, "We teach the straight-out facts in Texas in our schools. You'll have to pick those up in our classbooks."

Perry was also greeted by dozens of protesters and posters against his positions on Medicare, climate change and Social Security.

Some were yelling, "Stop busting unions, Perry!" And "hands off our Medicare!"

He avoided questions from both voters and media on his exact position on climate change, referring voters to his website. The protesters were mostly liberals, including Democratic State Sen. Burt Cohen.

*** UPDATE *** Jon Huntsman's the first out of the gate with a swipe at Perry. He wrote in a Tweet: @JonHuntsman "To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy."

Another “dog days” of August for Obama… The good news: He has time to heal his wounds; the bad news: he has yet another hole to climb out of… Obama again talks about the economy and political brinksmanship… S&P is back in the spotlight (and not in a favorable way)… Vacation politics… Perry off to a “serious start”… Paul digs Perry… And Perry and Paul are both in New Hampshire, while Bachmann and Cain are in South Carolina.

*** Dog days: As we've written before, President Obama has always had difficult summers, especially Augusts. And with the debt-ceiling fight, the White House knew this summer would be more challenging than the others. The goal: to simply survive and not get knocked down (as well as not see the U.S. default and not have another debt-ceiling showdown this term). They accomplished that, but at what cost as Obama begins his Martha’s Vineyard vacation later this afternoon? Gallup this week has found that the president’s approval rating at or below 40%, that just 26% approve of his job on the economy, and that only 11% are satisfied with the way things are going in the country. But it’s just not Obama; the American public is angry at EVERYONE. Gallup, for instance, this week found Congress’ approval rating to be 13%. The good news for Obama: He has time to heal his wounds after another rough summer, and the attention has fully turned to the GOP race. The bad news: He has yet another hole to climb out of…

*** Obama talks about the economy, political brinksmanship: In an interview with CBS, Obama said the U.S. isn’t in danger of another recession. “[B]ut we are in danger of not having a recovery that's fast enough to deal with what is a genuine unemployment crisis for a whole lot of folks out there and that's why we need to be doing more.” And he argued that the “brinksmanship” around the debt-ceiling fight hurt economic confidence. “We should not have had any kind of brinksmanship around the debt ceiling. I wish [Speaker Boehner] had taken me up on a grand bargain to deal with long term debt and deficit. We still have the opportunity to fix that, it's not too late.”

*** S&P in the spotlight again: Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that the Justice Department is investigating whether S&P “improperly rated dozens of mortgage securities in the years leading up to the financial crisis.” More from the Times: “The investigation began before Standard & Poor’s cut the United States’ AAA credit rating this month, but it is likely to add fuel to the political firestorm that has surrounded that action. Lawmakers and some administration officials have since questioned the agency’s secretive process, its credibility and the competence of its analysts, claiming to have found an error in its debt calculations.”

*** Vacation politics: President Obama’s upcoming trip to Martha’s Vineyard isn’t the only travel that’s raising eyebrows. As we mentioned yesterday, Newt Gingrich is headed to Hawaii next week, where he holds two public events (a meeting with local activists at a church in Wailuku and a talk at a prep school in Makawao). Asked for a reason why Gingrich is taking this trip or if there is any vacation attached to this, spokesman R.C. Hammond wrote in an email to First Read: “Fundraising.” What’s more, Mitt Romney yesterday knocked Obama for taking a vacation during the current economic instability. "The first thing I would do is go back to my office immediately," he told a Chicago radio station. "If I were president, I wouldn't be looking to spend ten days on Martha's Vineyard." The problem for Romney: He will be fundraising in Martha’s Vineyard later this month, and he’s spent plenty of time at his Lake Winnipesaukee (NH) vacation home. By the way, CBS’s Mark Knoller has the official vacation stats: So far, Obama has taken 61 vacation days. At this similar point in their presidencies, Reagan had taken 112 days, Bill Clinton 28, and George W. Bush 180 days.

*** Perry off to “a serious start”: While he’s gotten himself into trouble -- his comments on Ben Bernanke, for instance -- Rick Perry so far has shown some political agility and dexterity as a candidate. The Wall Street Journal is the latest to note how he’s backed away from the executive order he issued mandating vaccinations for HPV (which social conservatives weren’t too keen on). And as we observed about his controversial Bernanke remark, Perry didn’t back down, but he didn’t double down either,. The Boston Globe’s Joan Vennochi also notices someone who’s in it to win it: His breakfast event in New Hampshire yesterday “showed he is off to a serious start. The room was packed, but the crowd was cool. The governor, looking Back Bay buttoned-down in a gray suit and striped shirt, read the vibe perfectly. He ditched some of the swagger and just worked the ‘Yes, Ma’am’ twang.”

*** Paul digs Perry: In New Hampshire yesterday, Ron Paul took a little shot at Perry, NBC’s Jo Ling Kent reported. Paul joked that "some Southern governor" makes him look moderate. "I have never once said Bernanke committed treason," Paul -- who’s no fan of the Federal Reserve -- chuckled to thunderous applause. Paul never said Perry’s name, but he left no doubt to whom he was referring.

*** On the 2012 trail: Perry and Paul both campaign in New Hampshire, with Perry making stops in Portsmouth, Dover and Pembroke, and with Paul stumping in Concord and Amherst… Bachmann and Cain are in South Carolina, with Bachmann hitting Columbia and Florence, and with Cain in Lexington.

*** Thursday’s “The Daily Rundown” line-up (with guest host Chris Cillizza): RNC Chairman Reince Priebus and Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA) on 2012, jobs and the economy… One of us (!!!) with political news driving the day… N.Y. Times/CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin with a market preview… NBC’s Kristen Welker live from Martha’s Vineyard… Plus more 2012 with USA Today’s Jackie Kucinich, the Washington Post’s Nia-Malika Henderson and TIME’s Michael Scherer.

*** Thursday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews Rep. John Lewis (D) from the Congressional Black Caucus jobs fair in Atlanta, as well as former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson, Howard Dean, and Time’s Joe Klein on Time cover story the "new greatest generation."

Countdown to NBC-Politico debate at Reagan Library: 20 days
Countdown to NV-2 and NY-9 special elections: 26 days
Countdown to Election Day 2011: 82 days
Countdown to the Iowa caucuses: 172 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

The New York Times sums up Obama’s tour across the Midwest this way: the welcome mat was out, but the mood wasn’t too cheerful. “Even here, in the state where he began his political career and makes his home, Mr. Obama got tough questions from people who said they were fearful about their future, frustrated by the paralyzed job market and fed up with a political culture in Washington that produced the debt-ceiling imbroglio.”

“A real estate agent told Mr. Obama that her phone had stopped ringing after the debt debate, setting back what had been a nascent recovery in housing prices. A corn and soybean farmer complained about new government regulations on noise and water pollution. A young man asked whether his grandmother’s Social Security check would be adjusted to account for rising prices. As he has at every stop, Mr. Obama did his best to sympathize.”

Don’t say Obama isn’t taking the fight to the GOP, says the Boston Globe: “[T]he president has taken a somewhat unusual strategy: Go directly to the voters and challenge House conservatives…  By adopting the direct-appeal approach, Obama has largely tossed aside the traditional Rose Garden strategy of ignoring the opposition party’s primaries process by appearing presidential and letting lieutenants take on the battle out of the spotlight. Obama’s plan is reminiscent of the successful gambit of Democrat Harry Truman, who in 1948 vilified the Republican-controlled Congress as “do-nothing’’ and obstructionist to his policies. Truman won in a famous upset over Thomas Dewey.

The Boston Globe looks at the preparations on Martha’s Vineyard for the president’s vacation there.

A banner hanging up outside the Mansion House, the hotel serving as the media workspace for the president's Vineyard vacation, reads, per NBC’s Shawna Thomas: "Having achieved much against division and dysfunction. President Obama deserves a vineyard vacation and our thanks.”

According to one article, the Mansion House put up a banner last year that said: "Mansion House Inn Believes Anyone Who Has ... Passed health care reform, signed economic stimulus bills, recast America's global image, commands two war zones, won a Nobel Peace Prize, nominated 2 Supreme Court judges, overhauled financial regulations ... deserves a vacation!"

CBS reports: “So far, President Obama has taken 61 vacation days after 31 months in office. At this point in their presidencies, George W. Bush had spent 180 days at his ranch where his staff often joined him for meetings. And Ronald Reagan had taken 112 vacation days at his ranch. Among recent presidents, Bill Clinton took the least time off -- 28 days.”

Here’s a different count… Political Wire: “The Chicago Sun Times notes that this is Obama's ninth vacation since taking office and has spent all or part of 38 days on vacation away from the White House. He has also made 14 visits to Camp David spanning all or part of 32 days, for a total of 70 days. In contrast, former President George W. Bush, at this point in his first term, had made 14 visits to his Texas ranch spanning all or part of 102 days and also made 40 visits to Camp David spanning all or part of 123 days. His vacation total at this point in his presidency was all or part of 225 days away.”

The RNC is issuing “Obama getaway” postcards.

“Unlike Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, who also got grief for vacationing at the family estate in Kennebunkport, Maine, Obama doesn't own a vacation home,” the New York Daily News points out.

“Washington may have settled into a sleepy August break, but House Republicans on Wednesday continued their messaging efforts on the economy as President Barack Obama toured the Midwest to spread his own jobs message,” Roll Call writes. “House Majority Leader Eric Cantor sent GOP Members a memo urging them to ‘commit to keeping focused on what is most important to the people and families that sent us here — jobs and economic growth.’”

The New York Times on the doubts that the “Super Committee” will be able to reach a deal: “The difficulty that this new committee will have scaling the steep walls of ideology and partisan mistrust is lost on few, including its own members. ‘I approach this task like all tasks in Washington, with high hopes and tempered expectations,’ said Representative Jeb Hensarling, a Texas Republican and co-chairman of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, whose six Senate members and six House members are divided evenly by party. ‘This committee has very serious work to do, but it should not be confused with Captain America or any other superhero.’”