If the primary fight continues into the summer, will the eventual Republican nominee be able to pivot to ideological center to lure independent voters? As NBC's Mark Murray and Domenico Montanaro discuss, the bigger issue may be fundraising against Obama’s reelection campaign.

Thanks to JohnNY-3623017 for the question!

Edited by NBC's Matt Loffman.

*** Friday’s “Daily Rundown” line-up: A Meet the Press preview with NBC’s David Gregory on the latest reports out of Afghanistan and the state of the Romney campaign… NBC’s Kristen Welker from the campaign trail in Atlanta… TIME’s Bobby Ghosh on what will happen next in Syria… Roger Lowenstein on his big look in The Atlantic at the bashing of Ben Bernanke… More 2012 news with National Review’s Ramesh Ponnuru, Bloomberg News’ Jeanne Cummings, and Democratic strategist Tracy Sefl.

*** Friday’s “Jansing & Co.” line-up: MSNBC’s Chris Jansing interviews the New York Times’ Michael Shear, the Washinton Post’s Karen Tumulty, DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse, Arizona Majority Whip Debbie Lesko (R), Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME), GOP strategist Joe Watkins, journalist Karen Hunter, and Citizen Jane’s Patricia Murphy.

*** Friday’s “MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up: MSNBC ‘s Thomas Roberts talks with Illinois GOP Chairman Pat Brady, Karen Finney, Doug Heye, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Melissa Harris Perry, and Ron Barber (Running for Giffords’ Seat).

*** Friday’s “NOW with Alex Wagner” line-up: Alex Wagner’s guests include former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D), Politico’s Maggie Haberman, BuzzFeed’s Ben Smith, Time’s Rana Foroohar, former RNC Chairman Michael Steele, and pro-Obama Super PAC head Bill Burton

*** Friday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews NBC’s David Gregory and the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza, Dem Rep. Allyson Schwartz (on PA’s ultrasound bill), GOP strategist Rich Galen, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker.

*** Friday’s “News Nations with Tamron Hall” line-up: MSNBC’s Tamron Hall interviews Michael Smerconish, Jimmy Williams, and Toure.

*** Saturday’s (and Sunday’s) “Up with Chris Hayes” line-up: MSNBC’s Chris Hayes interviews, among others, Jodi Kantor and Spencer Ackerman (on Saturday) and the New Republic’s Noam Schieber (on Sunday). 

*** Saturday’s (and Sunday’s) “Weekends with Alex Witt” line-up: As part of her weekly “Office Politics” series, MSNBC’s Alex Witt interviews New York magazine’s John Heilemann.

*** Saturday’s (and Sunday’s) “Melissa Harris-Perry” line-up: MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry interviews, among others, Ralph Nader (on Saturday) and Col. Jack Jacobs (on Sunday).

The AP fact-checks the GOP field and the president’s new film: “Rick Santorum says oil drillers in the Gulf of Mexico are being slammed by ‘worse and worse and worse’ delays in getting federal approval even as gas prices go through the roof. Actually, the wait for permits is getting better and better. Newt Gingrich boasts that small donors are powering his Republican presidential campaign. In reality, one deep-pocketed financial angel and other big money people have been doing loads of heavy lifting, too.

“The claims of the Republican presidential rivals are not getting the exposure they once did, ever since the crackling series of debates drew to a close. But in smaller venues or turns on TV, the assertions still fly, as do exaggerations, oversimplifications and outright mistakes. So, too, on the Democratic side. A polished new film from President Barack Obama's campaign, out Thursday night, pushes the gauzy hero worship beyond what has really happened in recounting the auto industry bailout and recovery.”

ROMNEY: Romney was on FOX again, per GOP 12. He dismissed Gingrich’s claim that he could get $2.50 gas and said there would not be a brokered convention. “Look, we're not going to go to a brokered convention," he said. "One or the other of us among the three or four that are running is going to get the delegates necessary to become the nominee. As it gets closer towards the end, it's going to be clear we've got someone who's in the strong lead. The states that remain will vote for that person and that person will get the delegates and become the nominee."

“Mitt Romney has repeatedly argued that no rival can catch up to him in the delegate race, making him the inevitable Republican nominee,” The Hill writes. “But in the convoluted delegate soup that candidates must navigate, another potential outcome has emerged: that Romney himself will come short of securing enough delegates to earn the nomination.”

Romney denied that there’s any kind of deal in the works with Ron Paul or that he has had any conversations with him on the subject. 

Chris Christie campaigns with Romney in Illinois today. The New York Post said it was a “last-minute scheduling,” and “Romney wasn’t even planning to campaign in Illinois until Monday.”

Yesterday was the (real) first day of the NCAA Tournament but Romney’s not filling out a bracket. "I'm not plugged in well enough this year to do that," he said.

SANTORUM: “[W]hile many pundits believe a Gingrich withdrawal would allow the conservative vote to coalesce around former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum and defeat former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, the data is less clear,” the Boston Globe reports.

This AP story ran in the Miami Herald: “Santorum was forced to repeatedly clarify remarks he made Wednesday, when he said English would have to be the ‘main language’ for Puerto Rico to become a state.” Santorum said, “"I never said only English should be spoken here. Never did I even intimate that," Santorum told local reporters gathered in El Capitolio, the island's Capitol building. "What I said was that English had to be spoken as well as other - obviously Spanish is going to be spoken, this would be a bilingual country."

Message Un-discipline… “Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum has been busy in Puerto Rico, meeting with the island’s Governor, evangelical and political leaders, and even enjoying an ‘helado de coco’ in the streets of Old San Juan with his family,” NBC Latino reports. “But it is going to take more than some coconut ice cream to take the heat off his recent comments that Puerto Rico would have to make English its main language if it ever wanted to become a state. ‘I think Santorum put his foot in his mouth, or ‘metió la pata’ as we say in Spanish,’ says Dr. Juan Flores, a professor of Latino Studies at New York University. ‘It’s just a way of turning the whole country off, no matter what their political stripes or preferences,’ he adds.”

And: “A former Puerto Rican senator and pro-statehood supporter, Oreste Ramos, said Santorum should no longer count on him as a delegate after hearing of Santorum’s ‘English’ comments.”

The president holds five fundraisers in two cities in just one day today. He’ll be in Chicago for two fundraisers and Atlanta for another three (with Tyler Perry and Cee Lo Green).

Joe-mentum continues… Vice President Biden’s next campaign stop will be next week in South Florida with a focus on older Americans, NBC’s Carrie Dann reports. Biden will also hit Iowa, New Hampshire, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. 

“The top U.S. commander in Helmand Province and his British deputy were with the U.S. Marines that an Afghan man tried to run down as they waited for Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to arrive in southern Afghanistan, defense officials acknowledged Friday, proving the incident to be more serious than had been disclosed earlier,” AP reports.

ILLINOIS: NPR previewed the Illinois GOP primary with Rep. Peter Roskam.

The L.A. Times looks at how a Santorum win in Illinois could change the winds of the race.

The Chicago Tribune says turnout is expected to be low Tuesday. And: “The early voting figures could prove troubling for a Romney campaign that had promoted its organizational strength in Illinois, including its get-out-the-vote efforts. Romney has done well in suburban areas in other major states and had been expected to do the same in the Chicago suburbs while Santorum enjoyed the backing of more conservative rural voters.”

INDIANA: Sen. Richard Lugar was found ineligible to vote in Indiana because of residency issues. He’s appealing the decision.

MAINE: “At least nine candidates will be in the race for retiring Sen. Olympia Snowe's (R-Maine) Senate seat, according to a count by The Hill, including six Republicans, two Democrats and an independent.”

NEW YORK: Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) won’t run for reelection. “[I]n a redistricting map likely to become law, his district was essentially dismantled and his home was drawn into the same district as Rep. Steve Israel, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee,” Roll Call writes.

OREGON: A Republican debate in Oregon has been called off given that Romney will not participate.

UTAH: Sen. Orrin Hatch was encouraged by early signs at yesterday’s precinct caucuses that could determine his fate. “All told, more than 125,000 Republicans flooded into their party caucuses Thursday, more than doubling the record set last year,” the Salt Lake Tribune reports. “After 36 years, Hatch was facing perhaps his gravest political threat, but spent more than a year fighting back, mobilizing supporters to attend the caucuses and by early and anecdotal reports, appears to have fared well.”

NBC's Mark Murray and Domenico Montanaro discuss the difference between John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney’s 2012 bid for the White House.

Thanks to Jody, Iowa for the question!

Edited by NBC's Morgan Parmet.

TRANSCRIPT:

MARK MURRAY: Welcome to the latest edition of Inside the Boiler Room. I'm Mark Murray, joined by my partner in crime, Domenico Montanaro. Domenico, we've got a question from Jody, Iowa,  long time commenter on the sight. Jody asks, "In 2008, Mike Huckabee won Iowa and won much of the South. In 2008, there was chatter about John McCain not being able to lock up the nomination. What do you think is the most significant difference between John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012?”

DOMENICO MONTANARO: Well, there are a couple of significant differences. One, just on how the mechanics of the nomination process works. Last time around, we had a lot of winner take all states. This time, because of how they changed the rules, they're more proportional. So a candidate could stay in longer.  So a lot of these candidates instead of dropping out because they know what momentum means, which was that they could get a lot of winner take all states and it would essential be over pretty soon. They figured, I'll stick around. Why not? I'll pick up some delegates.

But the other thing that's a real important difference between these two guys is narrative.

Mitt Romney doesn't have the thing that he could fall back on like John McCain did as a war hero. Every event that you went to with John McCain there was this war hero video that he would play. People respected and knew that background of him as somebody who had been tortured, who had a lot of credibility. So people didn't go personal on him because they knew of that backstory. So even for folks in the South who might not trust John McCain. For people who become Tea Party folks who didn't really love John McCain. They still held their fire a little bit because they knew of his backstory.

MARK MURRAY: Well, Domenico, this stage in 2008 in March, John McCain had almost something of a 45 positive/25 negative fave/unfave. Mitt Romney's numbers are actually under water on that score. You raise a really good point on the narrative.

I'd add just one more thing that John McCain was also a Maverick. He was willing to buck his party and that actually appealed with independents a lot and so he had those two things going for him.

Mitt Romney's narrative right now is I'm a business guy who can turn around the economy. That seems to be falling on flat ears with the Republican electorate so far even though he is ahead. 

One other thing, John McCain also won South Carolina, which Mitt Romney was unable to do. So when Mike Huckabee was able to beat John McCain in numerous southern contests, particularly on Super Tuesday in 2008. John McCain was able to say look I still won the state that had at that point always decided presidential nominating contest. 

DOMENICO MONTANARO: Well and I think your point on the appeal to independents is something that is different from last time around because John McCain, having that Maverick narrative, he did have that positive score which would help him in a general election. Of he wound up losing anyway, but Mitt Romney seems to have been hurt in this process among independents. I'm sure how much the Maverick thing helped him with Republican primary voters. He had basically an apology tour for bucking his party on one major issue which was immigration.

MARK MURRAY: Right.

DOMENICO MONTANARO: And until he was able to overcome that hurdle, it was very difficult to see him getting the nomination, but he did unlike Mitt Romney in healthcare.

A freshman Republican congressman broke Thursday with his party's leaders by calling for a surtax on millionaires, a symbolic break with his own party's united front against new taxes of any sort.

Arkansas Rep. Rick Crawford announced in his district today that he would introduce legislation that would impose a 5 percent surtax on individual income exceeding $1 million per year. His legislation would require passage of a balanced budget amendment in exchange.

"I hope Republicans consider passing a balanced budget amendment important enough to allow asking millionaires to pay a little more on their income over $1 million," Crawford said in a statement, "And I hope Democrats will recognize this good-faith effort and stop blocking a balanced budget amendment that will fundamentally alter the way Washington spends taxpayer dollars."

Crawford's announcement represents a crack in the Republican opposition to anything that even smacks of a tax hike. His announcement is sure to ruffle feathers on Capitol Hill, where Republicans have fought ferociously to pursue spending cuts as a primary means of deficit reduction.

Crawford's plan is especially significant given the fact that the millionaire surtax has been a pillar of Democrats' strategy -- both to reduce the deficit, as well as put Republicans in a difficult political situation.

"We look forward to more Republicans recognizing that addressing the deficit must include additional revenues from those who can and should contribute more," a Democratic leadership aide said in response to the proposal, "We have been prepared to, and participated in, efforts to do just that, but Republican leadership consistently walks away from the table."

Democrats had proposed a variety of spending initiatives throughout the fall, the cost of which was offset by various millionaire surtaxes, or closed loopholes for corporations (especially oil companies).

The surtax has become a favorite finance mechanism for legislative initiatives because it tests well with voters. Seventy-two percent of Americans expressed support for such a proposal in a February poll conducted by ABC News and the Washington Post, for instance.

But Republicans have stood steadfast against anything even smacking of a tax increase, even through last year's fights over spending and the debt-ceiling. Some Republicans had floated a broad-based tax reform that would close loopholes, but many GOP leaders insisted that those reforms have a neutral impact on taxpayers.

Crawford must also reckon with anti-tax activists like Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, whose "Taxpayer Protection Pledge" he signed before running for congress.

Other Republicans have come out in support of a balanced approach to deficit reduction that included tax increases that were coupled with entitlement reforms, and some have even openly spurned Norquist's pledge. But Republicans will likely brush this proposal aside and continue with their no-new-tax mantra, a strategy they've found is in their political benefit.

"This is an issue that we shouldn’t open the door to," a GOP strategist told NBC, "As Republicans we should be the party against tax increases."

House Republican leadership has failed to comment on the legislation, with aides only saying, "We'll take a look at it."

Norquist called the proposal "too silly to comment on," but likened the inclusion of the millionaire surtax to "the willingness to raise taxes in return for green unicorns jumping," alluding to the fact that this legislation is unlikely to pass.

The legislation will likely never become law considering a balanced budget amendment has nowhere near the 2/3rds majority support needed in Congress to be sent to the states for a vote, a point echoed by Norquist.

"It's never going to happen," Norquist said of the idea that Congress could pass the balanced budget amendment. "The modern democratic party has refused to provide the votes."

But the overall popularity of this type of surtax may well have played into Crawford's decision to introduce the proposal, since only 1 percent of the residents in his Arkansas district earn over $200,000 annually. Its unemployment rate of 9.3 percent is above the national average, according to U.S. Census data. 

BARRINGTON, IL -- His presidential campaign on the ropes, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich grew reflective on Thursday, encouraging students in Illinois to dream big.

“You should define for yourself what your dreams are and I would argue that one of the great weaknesses of American culture right now is we haven’t had a conversation about the size dreams we need for a country of 305 million people or 310 million people,” Gingrich, a former history professor, told the packed crowd in Barrington High School’s auditorium. “You don't lead a country this size with tiny things.”

It is because of these big ideas that the former House Speaker is not wavering in his decision to keep running for president -- following on the same “large ideas to try and get America moving again” that John F. Kennedy used in the 1960s.

“I'm staying in the race to see if I can't, in the second half of the race, Louisiana is sort of halftime, I want to see if we can't reset this whole race around the idea of really big ideas and really big solutions and insist that the American people have a chance to vote for a dramatically better future,” he said. The Louisiana primary is March 24th.

Gingrich’s nearly hour-long speech stepped away slightly from focusing solely on gas prices and national security, the two themes of his campaign as of late. Rather, he mentored the mostly high school student crowd, telling them to always be willing to learn, not to do something they hate, and be proud of the person you are.

“I find every single day of the presidential campaign, I’m learning new things,” the speaker said. “I'm suggesting to all of you, you have to have a habit of learning every day because the world is bigger than you are and it changes… you'll find yourself learning your whole life.”

And for Gingrich, who remains fighting for his political life during this Republican primary season, he says he still loves what he is doing.

“I love life. I love getting up in the morning. I love seeing what the weather is going to be. I love animals. I love the process of interacting with people. I like learning,” Gingrich said with a smile on his face. “So I really am basically cheerful everyday because in my mind everyday is cool, I am still here.”

The pro-Santorum Super PAC -- Red, White, and Blue Fund -- is up with a new TV ad in Illinois that blasts Romney for supporting TARP and alleges that Romney's health-care law served as the "blueprint" for the 2010 federal health-care law.

The Red White and Blue Fund says the buy size is $310,000, although NBC's ad tracking partner notes that it so far has purchased a little less than that ($246,000).

Still, Team Santorum (campaign and Super PAC) is getting vastly outspent by Team Romney in Illinois, $3.3 million to $446,000 -- a 7-to-1 margin.

Here's a script for the ad:
ANNOUNCER:  "Meet the real Mitt Romney.
Supported the Wall Street bailout putting America trillions in debt.
Raised job-killing taxes and fees by over 700 million, leaving Massachusetts over 1 billion in debt.
His healthcare takeover -was the blueprint for Obamacare.
Mitt Romney. More debt and taxes, less jobs.  More of the same.
[FLASH - Transition]
Rick Santorum.
The leader with a bold plan for the middle class.
Create dynamic jobs and cut wasteful spending.
Rick Santorum for President.

More classic Gingrich today in Barrington, Ill., per NBC's Alex Moe:

"You should define for yourself what your dreams are, and I would argue that one of the great weaknesses of American culture right now is we haven't had a conversation about the size dreams we need for a country of 305 million people or 310 million people. You don't lead a country this size with tiny things.

"There is a rule in Biology called hyper carnivia that basically says that lions can't afford to hunt chipmunks because even if they catch them, they starve to death. Lions have to hunt antelope and zebra.

"Ronald Reagan understood this and so Ronald Reagan came into office..."

We're not totally certain of "hyper carnivia," its spelling, or what it is. The closest we could come up with is this. (Any biologists out there?)

“I love life. I love getting up in the morning. I love seeing what the weather is going to be. I love animals. I love the process of interacting with people. I like learning. So I really am basically cheerful everyday because in my mind everyday is cool; I am still here.”

-- Newt Gingrich in Barrington, Ill. today, per NBC's Alex Moe, defending his answer at debate that he is "cheerful."

President Obama delivered what was billed as an energy speech on Thursday in Maryland, though his remarks took campaign overtones when Obama mocked his Republican challengers as members of the "Flat Earth Society."

While he didn’t mention any of the GOP presidential hopefuls by name, the president derided the Republican field as being stuck in the past. 

"Lately, we’ve heard a lot of professional politicians, a lot of the folks who are, you know, running for a certain office.  Who shall go unnamed," Obama said. "They've been talking down new sources of energy. They dismiss wind power. They dismiss solar power. They make jokes about biofuels. They were against raising fuel standards. I guess they like gas guzzlers."

"We’re trying to move towards the future," the president continued, "they want to be stuck in the past."

A number of the Republican candidates have hammered Obama on the issue of soaring gas prices, particularly former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has promised energy prices that would lower the price of gas to $2.50 per gallon.

Obama also took it a step further, comparing the Republican candidates to the naysayers who thought explorer Christopher Columbus would fall off the edge of the Earth when he set sail for the New World.

“If some of these folks were around when Columbus set sail...They must have been founding members of the Flat Earth Society.  They would not have believed that the Earth was round,” the president joked to a laughing crowd. (For the uninitiated, the Flat Earth Society dates back to the 1800s and consists of people who believe the Earth is not round.)

The president also insisted that he is not against drilling within the U.S. for more oil.

“Over the last three years my administration has opened millions of acres of land in 23 different states for oil and gas exploration. Offshore, offshore, I’ve directed my administration to open up more than 75 percent of our potential resources.  That includes an area in the Gulf of Mexico we opened up a few months ago that could produce more than 400 million barrels of oil," he said. "So do not tell me that we're not drilling. We're drilling all over this country."

And while trying to sympathize with people who are struggling with rising gas prices, Obama claimed that this was one of the reasons he fought so hard in the last few months for the payroll tax cut extension.

“We passed a payroll tax [cut] at the beginning of this year to make sure that everybody has an extra $40 in their paycheck on average, in part, because we anticipated that gas prices might be going up like they did last year, given tight world oil supplies.”

But he acknowledged that $40 dollars isn’t necessarily enough, “That doesn't make it easier for a lot of families out there that are just struggling to get by. This is tough.”

TOLEDO, Ohio -- In the White House's most aggressive singling out of its Republican rivals to date, Vice President Joe Biden slammed Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Rick Santorum by name during his first public campaign event of the 2012 cycle.

Addressing more than 500 union members and supporters at United Auto Workers Local 12 here, Biden touted the administration's backing of the auto industry bailout, saying that the GOP presidential candidates were "dead wrong" in their opposition to the measure.

"Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich," he said. "These guys have a fundamentally different economic philosophy than we do."

He specifically noted Romney's 2008 op-ed entitled "Let Detroit go bankrupt" -- greeted with raucous boos -- as well as Gingrich's labeling of the bailout as a "mistake," and Santorum's statement that the measure catered to Obama's political interests.

"Look, I want to tell you what's real bankruptcy," the vice president said. "The economic theories of Gingrich, Santorum, and Romney. They are bankrupt."

Biden dismissed as inaccurate the Republican sentiment that, without government intervention, the private sector would have stepped in to the void to aid the ailing automotive sector. With a particular tweak at Romney, Biden noted that Bain Capital -- the company that Romney once led -- declined an offer from the President's Auto Task Force to invest in GM's European operations.

In contrast, he said the president showed his "spine of steel" by backing the financial rescue of an "iconic industry America invented."

In his characteristic booming voice, Biden stated at the beginning of his remarks, "We bet on American ingenuity; we bet on you; and we won!"

The top surrogate's utterance of the candidates' names is a departure from the president's own rhetoric. The White House has largely avoided specific mention of any of the candidates, even as the DNC maintains a sharp focus on delegate-frontrunner Romney.

The vice president also argued that Democrats represent economic fairness in comparison to what he described as crony-embracing Republicans.

"Stated simply, we're about promoting the private sector," he said. "They're about protecting the privileged sector."

Biden was introduced by Rep. Marcy Kaptur, who just defeated fellow Democrat Dennis Kucinich in a redistricting-fueled primary contest. The event had a notably political feel, with chants of, "Four more years!" and, "Go, Joe, go!" reverberating from the sign-wielding crowd.

This was not Biden's first visit to UAW Local 12; he visited the same venue in October 2010 to stump for then-Gov. Ted Strickland.

NBC's Mark Murray and Domenico Montanaro discuss the possibility of a Romney-Santorum ticket.

Thanks to Bob in Virginia-5210392 for the question!

Video edited by NBC's Jay Rankin.

Stringer / Reuters

Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a joint news conference with Honduras' President Porfirio Lobo in Tegucigalpa March 6, 2012.

Biden enters the fray, giving speech in Toledo at 11:00 am ET… A thank-you gift to bundlers: at least 47 guests at last night’s WH state dinner were Obama bundlers… The president delivers remarks on energy at 11:00 am ET from Maryland… Romney plays defense on health care in FOX interview… Santorum to Puerto Rico: If you want to become a state, speak English… Political vultures continue to circle over Gingrich’s head… And breaking down the ad spending for the upcoming contests.

*** Biden enters the fray: In a speech that the Obama campaign says will be the first of a series of addresses by the vice president framing the general election, Joe Biden today delivers remarks at a United Auto Workers town hall in Toledo, OH at 11:00 am ET. This is the first major campaign speech by either member of the ticket that didn't have a fundraising invite connected to it. According to excerpts released by the campaign, Biden will focus on -- you guessed it -- the auto bailout that Obama supported (and Romney didn’t). “The president didn't flinch. This man has a spine of steel,” he’s expected to say. “He knew rescuing the industry wasn't popular. He knew he was taking a chance. But he believed. He said, we are not going to give up on a million jobs, and the iconic industry America invented. Not without a fight. We all want a president with the courage of his convictions. Well, folks, we have one. He made the tough call. And the verdict is in: President Obama was right and his critics were dead wrong.” Do take note of the somewhat low-key rollout of this speech; it appears this may be more about message testing (and practicing) for the vice president, whose role on this campaign is likely to be similar to the role of previous veeps: serve as both a validator and the chief "contraster,"

*** A thank-you gift to bundlers: Per NBC’s Shawna Thomas, at least 47 of the guests at last night’s state dinner honoring British Prime Minister David Cameron were bundlers for the Obama re-election campaign. That’s quite a perk for those helping to rake in cash for the campaign. To be fair to Team Obama, inviting top donors and bundlers to these kinds of events is common practice -- in any administration. What’s more, we actually know the names of these bundlers because the Obama campaign has released them (unlike any of the GOP presidential candidates, including Romney). Still, it was quite striking to see so many campaign types invited; nearly 13% of the entire invite list consisted of bundlers. For the first two and half years, many regular donors to the Obama cause grumbled about the LACK of perks they got, including state dinners. Judging by how this guest list was put together, apparently the Obama White House heard those grumbles.

*** Another Obama energy speech: At 10:55 am ET today, Obama delivers another speech on energy – this time at Prince George’s Community College in Maryland. We’ll say this again: With all the polling out there, it’s inconclusive that rising gas prices are hurting the president -- for now at least -- but the White House is trying everything it can to get out in front of the issue. By the way, does anyone else think it’s curious that Obama and Biden are speaking at roughly the same time today? It only reinforces the idea that Team Obama wanted the Biden rollout to be low key.

*** Romney plays defense on health care: As the New Republic’s Noam Scheiber notes, Romney has been pretty lucky on the issue of health care, as his opponents have been unable to land a solid punch on perhaps Romney’s biggest vulnerability in a GOP primary. (But is it luck, or his rivals’ ineptitude?) Yet in an interview on FOX yesterday, Romney continued to struggle to explain his past support from an individual mandate -- and this time it was a 2008 debate and a 2009 op-ed in which he seemed to suggest he supported a mandate on a national basis. And under questioning from FOX’s Megyn Kelly, Romney simply sidestepped what he said in ’08 and ’09. "I believe we should get rid of Obamacare," Romney responded, per NBC’s Matt Loffman. "It's a disaster." More Romney: "I have allowed and agree that a state should have the capacity -- if it wants -- to have a health-care mandate.  We had that in my state," Romney said. "Time and again, I've pointed out I'm not in favor of a health-care plan that includes a national mandate."

*** Getting under Romney’s skin: In fact, Romney looked uncomfortable during the entire interview. And we’ve learned a couple of new things about Romney that we might not have known four years ago: 1) it’s pretty easy to get under his skin; and 2) he’s not very nimble when it comes to turning lemons into lemonade. (Saying you want to repeal Obamacare doesn’t erase all the questions about your past support for an individual mandate.) After losing Alabama and Mississippi on Tuesday, Romney is now getting TONS of advice from news outlets -- the latest being from Politico. This is what happens when you don’t put a Rick Santorum away.

*** Santorum to Puerto Rico: If you want to become a state, speak English: Santorum spends another day in Puerto Rico, where he held two town halls and attended a church service yesterday, per NBC’s Andrew Rafferty. But it’s this interview with a Puerto Rico newspaper that’s raising eyebrows: "As in any other state, you have to comply with this and any federal law - and that is that English has to be the main language,” Santorum told San Juan newspaper El Vocero, per AP. “There are other states with more than one language as is the case in Hawaii, but to be a state in the United States, English has to be the main language." But as Reuters points out, the U.S. Constitution “does not designate an official language, nor is there a requirement that a territory adopt English as its primary language in order to become a state.”

*** Political vultures circling over Gingrich’s head: Politico writes, “Should Newt Gingrich get out of the race? Depends on whom you ask. If it’s a Rick Santorum supporter, the answer is pretty clear: a resounding yes. But if it’s a Mitt Romney fan, the answer is the opposite: no, at least not for now.

And if you ask the former House speaker himself, he insists he’s not going anywhere after humbling losses in both Alabama and Mississippi on Tuesday night. ‘I’m staying in the race,’ Gingrich told a small crowd here the day after the results came in.”

*** The ad-spending race: Here’s a look at the ad spending in the upcoming contests:

Illinois (3/20): Restore Our Future $2.3 million, Romney $923,000, Gingrich $16,000

Louisiana (3/24): Restore Our Future $465,000, Red White and Blue Fund $244,000, Santorum $32,000 Winning Our Future $3,000

Wisconsin (4/3): Restore Our Future $508,000

A few points here: 1) Romney and his allies continue to enjoy a HUGE advertising advantage, especially in upcoming Illinois; 2) all the campaigns and Super PACs are engaged in Louisiana; 3) the advertising has now moved to Wisconsin; and 4) the Sheldon Adelson-backed Winning Our Future has been reduced to spending a mere $3,000. Has that spigot been turned off?

*** On the trail, per NBC’s Adam Perez: Rick Santorum remains in Puerto Rico… Gingrich stumps in Illinois, hitting Barrington, Elgin, and Lake in the Hills… And Romney and Paul are off the campaign trail. 

Countdown to Illinois primary: 5 days
Countdown to Louisiana primary: 9 days
Countdown to Election Day: 236 days

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*** Thursday’s “Daily Rundown” line-up: Romney supporter Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) on the Republican race, the economy and more… Former Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) on how 2012 could be another “Year of the Woman” for the U.S. Senate… NBC’s Peter Alexander on Romney’s regroup… ESPN’s Andy Katz breaks down President Obama’s NCAA picks… More 2012 news with The New York Times’ Charles Blow, msnbc’s Willie Geist and CNBC’s Becky Quick.

*** Thursday’s “Jansing & Co.” line-up: MSNBC’s Chris Jansing interviews USA Today’s Jackie Kucinich, former RNC chair Michael Steele, Gallup’s Frank Newport, Southern Baptist Convention President Richard Land, Democratic strategist Karen Finney, and Real Clear Politics Erin McPike.

*** Thursday’s “MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up: MSNBC’S Thomas Roberts talks with MSNBC Contributor/The Grio.Com’s Perry Bacon, Jen Psaki, Joe Watkins, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano & United Auto Workers President Bob King.

*** Thursday’s “NOW with Alex Wagner” line-up: Luke Russert fills in for Alex Wagner, and his guests include Mike Barnicle, Abby Huntsman Livingston, The Nation’s Ari Melber, TheGrio’s Joy-Ann Reid, former Ohio Congressman Bob Ney (R), and Jonathan Collegio of American Crossroads

*** Thursday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: Chris Cillizza (filling in for NBC’s Andrea Mitchell) interviews the Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart, the Santorum campaign’s John Brabender, NBC’s Richard Engel, Buzzfeed’s Ben Smith, National Journal’s Kristin Roberts, and iVillage’s Kelly Wallace.

*** Thursday’s “News Nations with Tamron Hall” line-up: MSNBC’s Milissa Rehberger interviews the Atlantic’s Molly Ball, Danny Vargas, and Mo Elleithee

GINGRICH: I thought we’d get to see forever… “It's hard to say goodbye in presidential politics,” the AP writes. “Newt Gingrich's campaign pinned his future on two Deep South victories, which never materialized. Yet the former House speaker is pressing on despite a path to victory that seems more improbable by the day.”

The New York Post: “The Republican White House derby now appears to be a two-man race — but Newt Gingrich doesn’t seem to notice.”

ROMNEY: Romney was pressed again on health care on FOX. The interview, which also covered some of his gaffes related to wealth, “clearly set Mitt on edge,” GOP 12 writes.

The Chicago Tribune: “As the Republican presidential contest moves to Illinois, Mitt Romney finds his campaign parked squarely at the corner of perception and reality. … Underscoring the importance of Tuesday's Illinois primary, where 54 delegates are at stake, Romney has moved up plans to campaign here, making his first visit Friday instead of waiting until Monday. With Illinois, Romney again faces a critical battle in a state that once seemed assuredly his.”

Speaking of Illinois, did a Romney backer help out Santorum in the state? Buzzfeed: “Mitt Romney could have assured himself victory months in advance in the now-crucial primary state of Illinois, but instead his Illinois campaign operation chose to allow Rick Santorum's delegates to remain on the ballot despite a failure to meet signature requirements. Santorum, who has also failed to reach the ballot in Washington, D.C., Virginia, and parts of Ohio, fell short of the required signatures in 10 of the state's 18 congressional districts —and didn't submit any in four of them — Romney's campaign confirmed. But Illinois Treasurer and Romney state chairman Dan Rutherford withdrew challenges in those districts, allowing Santorum the opportunity to win 30 delegates he would have missed out on.

The Washington Post looks at how the Seamus story still dogs Romney.

Debates? Count him out. “The organizers of a March 19 presidential debate in Portland, Ore., say they will decide Thursday whether to go ahead with the debate, even without former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney,” the Boston Globe writes. “The debate, which was sanctioned by the Republican National Committee, is being organized by the Oregon Republican Party and produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting and the Washington Times. Romney told organizers on Monday that he will not participate. Instead, his campaign said he will be in Illinois in advance of that state’s March 20 primary.”

“Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney pivoted from talking up cheesy grits and catfish in Dixie to appearing at a sumptuous, fat-cat, four-star luncheon at the opulent Waldorf-Astoria in Midtown yesterday,” the New York Post writes, adding, “Romney was in his element yesterday among well-heeled financiers, and he expected to haul in $3 million at more fund-raisers around town.”

SANTORUM: Santorum said if Puerto Rico wants to be a state, it needs to speak English: "As in any other state, you have to comply with this and any federal law - and that is that English has to be the main language,” Santorum told San Juan newspaper El Vocero, per AP. “There are other states with more than one language as is the case in Hawaii, but to be a state in the United States, English has to be the main language." (Video here.)

And: “It’s important that people of the island are given the gift of English is the language of success in the United States. It is the language of commerce in the largest economy in the world and we are not doing anybody on this island a favor by not following the law, which is that this is a society that will speak English in addition to speaking Spanish. I understand some people see this as a barrier, I see this as an opportunity. … There needs to be proficiency in English, not just a knowledge of English, but proficiency.”

He also talked about how his daughter is in Hawaii and talks to him in Hawaiian. And he derides Quebec for not integrating into the rest of Canada.

More: “I don’t see this as a threat to the culture of the island, I see this as a necessary and important step to confirm your commitment to fully integrate into America and American society as a state and a tremendous opportunity for a people here on the island who in my opinion have been denied a lot of economic opportunities because the government has not emphasized the importance of English that is my understanding required under the law in the first place.”

Reuters: “Santorum to Puerto Rico: Speak English if you want statehood.” And it fact checks Santorum on this: “[T]he U.S. Constitution does not designate an official language, nor is there a requirement that a territory adopt English as its primary language in order to become a state. Congress would have to give approval if Puerto Rico is to become the 51st state. Although Congress has considered numerous proposals to make English the official U.S. language, none has ever passed. However, some states have passed their own laws declaring English the official language, including heavily Hispanic Florida.”

And: “Santorum's statement may fall flat with Puerto Rican Republicans, who have always argued that issues of language and culture should be controlled by state governments and not the federal government. It also could alienate the 4.2 million Puerto Ricans who live on the U.S. mainland, including nearly 1 million in presidential swing-state Florida.”

Santorum leads Romney in Texas, 35%-27%, with Gingrich at 20%, Paul – the native Texan - 8%, according to a Wilson Perkins Allen Opinion Research poll (conducted via live telephone caller).

Here’s Obama’s bracket: He picks UNC as national champ; Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio St., UNC in the Final Four. Biggest upset – VCU over Wichita State (5-12 game). And he picks every 10 seed. He also picks NC State, 11 seed, to go to Sweet 16 (popular pick).

“Vice President Joe Biden is making his first major foray into the 2012 presidential campaign in Ohio, an effort by President Barack Obama's re-election campaign to use the frequently blunt Biden to combat criticism from Republicans and dish it right back at them,” AP writes. In a speech Thursday at a United Auto Workers hall in Toledo, Ohio, Biden is expected to offer a vigorous defense of the president's auto industry bailout and a robust takedown of GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's opposition to the policy. The White House says the president's actions saved 1.4 million U.S. jobs. ‘The verdict is in: President Obama was right and his critics were dead wrong,’ Biden says in excerpts of his prepared remarks released by the Obama campaign.”

Boston Globe: “Old habits die hard. As Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta early Wednesday prepared to take off from this remote outpost in Central Asia for a visit to Afghanistan, the deafening sound of war planes was heard directly overhead. US fighter planes escorting his Air Force C-17 to the war zone? Nope. It was Russian military jets buzzing by in a Cold War-style flyover to let the American defense chief know that Moscow was watching him -- and a stark reminder of the Russian government’s displeasure with the US military presence in its backyard. ‘This was the third fly-by in 11 months,’ said Panetta spokesman Carl Woog.”

For Mitt Romney, the issue of health-care mandates just won't seem to go away.

In an interview on FOX News today, Romney was questioned about his apparent support for an individual health-care mandate -- even on the federal level -- during a 2008 Republican presidential debate.

Romney sidestepped the specific question on FOX and repeated his familiar line on the campaign trail: "I believe we should get rid of Obamacare," Romney responded. "It's a disaster."

His critics continue to point to that 2008 Republican presidential debate, in which Romney responded to Charlie Gibson's comment that Romney "backed away from mandates on a national basis" by saying, "No, no, I like mandates." 

MR. GIBSON: (Off mike) -- Governor Romney -- (off mike) -- mandate and that's an obstacle, although you've backed away from mandates on a national basis.

MR. ROMNEY: No, no, I like mandates. Do the mandates work? Mandates --

MR. THOMPSON: I beg your pardon? (Laughter.)

MR. ROMNEY: Let me --

MR. THOMPSON: I didn't know you were going to admit that.

MR. ROMNEY: Let me -- oh, absolutely.

MR. THOMPSON: You like mandates.

MR. ROMNEY: Let me tell you what kind of mandates I like, Fred, which is this -- M

R. THOMPSON: And what did you come up with? (Laughter.)

And there's a 2009 USA Today op-ed, in which Romney wrote: "There’s a better way [on health care]. And the lessons we learned in Massachusetts could help Washington find it."

He went on to say in the op-ed, "First, we established incentives for those who were uninsured to buy insurance. Using tax penalties, as we did, or tax credits, as others have proposed, encourages "free riders" to take responsibility for themselves rather than pass their medical costs on to others."

Today, Romney once again explained that he thinks the mandate helped solve the problem in Massachusetts but would be wrong to implement on a national level.

"I have allowed and agree that a state should have the capacity -- if it wants -- to have a health-care mandate.  We had that in my state," Romney said today. "Time and again, I've pointed out I'm not in favor of a health-care plan that includes a national mandate."

As Romney told Sean Hannity on his radio show last week, the primary reason he doesn't support the federal mandate is the 10th Amendment.

"Well there's something known as the Constitution, as you know, and the Constitution in the 10th Amendment says that powers not granted to the federal government are granted to or reserved by the states," Romney said. "So states have powers that the federal government does not have."

But Romney has also argued that his plan in Massachusetts was a 70-page bill compared to the national 2,700 page bill, and he says his state's health-care law didn't raise taxes, while the federal one did.

"[Obama] said he would cut taxes for middle income Americans," Romney said in Missouri this week.  "Your taxes down?  No. As a matter of fact, your costs have gone up in part because of Obamacare -- one of the worst ideas he came up with."

After Rick Santorum’s sweep in Alabama and Mississippi, conservative bloggers are still calling Mitt Romney the inevitable nominee -- but they're concluding that the road to Tampa won’t be easy for the GOP front-runner.

The American Spectator's W. James Antle III says that last night's results underlined two major storylines in the Republican presidential race.

“The most obvious, and most discussed, is Mitt Romney's inability to land the knockout blow. Every time he has a chance to cement his status as the frontrunner and consign his opponents to irrelevance, he comes up short. Crucial Republican voting blocs still think Romney is too liberal.

But there is a second dynamic at work here: Romney's opponents, especially Rick Santorum, are only able to do well enough to keep their campaigns alive and the primaries a competitive process. But they fail to do well enough to overtake Romney, and are increasingly hinting that their strategy is really to deny Romney enough delegates to win on the first ballot and force a contested convention.”

The end result is the worst of all possible worlds. Romney continues to limp toward the nomination against opponents whose best hope is him coming up a little short on the first ballot, but with deepening perception problems that will dog him in the general election. Santorum and Gingrich continue to remind conservatives of why they don't want Romney to be the nominee, while failing to do well enough to prevent that outcome.

Dan McLaughlin, a right-leaning blogger for Redstate, puts it this way in the title of his post: “Mitt Romney: Winning, But not Getting More Popular.” He adds, “Fortunately For Him, The Primary Actually Is Not A Popularity Contest.”

“That said, especially after Romney’s team made the mistake of talking up his chances in Mississippi (where he finished third), this has been a rough week for him in the popular vote, salvaged only by the continuing division among the conservative bloc. The conservatives drew at least 64% of the vote in all three states to less than 30% for the moderates, and Newt Gingrich alone ran almost even with Romney even when you include Hawaii, which Romney won. Month-to-month, Romney’s share of the vote has been declining even as the field narrows, with the conservatives drawing a clear majority of the votes cast in March (aided as well by poor showings by Ron Paul in the Deep South) despite not even being on the ballot in Virginia.

None of this means that Romney will not be the nominee. Barack Obama lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton after March 1 by 600,000 votes, and still won the most delegates; even if this race finally devolved into a 2-man race and Romney started losing head-to-head battles with Rick Santorum, he’d still probably take the nomination. And as of now, even if Romney can’t win over a majority faction of the party, he has still outpolled any other one candidate.”

But National Review’s Rich Lowry says Romney’s losses in Alabama and Mississippi were not a surprise.

“But did anyone expect him to do any better than somewhere around 30 percent in Alabama and Mississippi? The states are chock-full of the kind of voters he just isn’t going to reach in these primaries, and the only way he was going to win was if he got lucky and the anti-Romney vote broke exactly the right way.  I’ve been underwhelmed by Romney victories and in this case, I’m underwhelmed by Romney defeats. None of this is to say he shouldn’t sharpen his message. By the way, the contests should conclusively prove that Santorum is a better anti-Romney than Newt, but that’s something we’ve been saying around these parts for a long time.”

Jennifer Rubin, right-leaning opinion blogger for the Washington Post, writes that Romney’s 42 delegates last night to Santorum’s 39 proves that math will decided the GOP presidential nominee.

“Over and over again you hear pundits say things like, ‘Well if you look at the math ... ‘ and ‘Romney wants to focus on just the math.” There should be a gong at the ready when talking heads and pundits go into that mode. The nominating process is about the delegates. Math, like gravity, can’t be ignored.’

To be clear, Santorum cannot win the nomination by closely splitting proportional states and losing winner-take-all states. That is a formula for falling further and further behind. And that is what is happening.

Erick Erickson of Redstate says the most striking about last night’s was that “none of the candidates can close the deal. In effect, there was a three way tie, though it worked to Romney’s disadvantage.”

“The problem is twofold now. The base doesn’t like Romney, but the base doesn’t really like the other options either. At the same time, the base does not want this primary to end.The roller coaster continues. The one sure thing out of this is that, though Romney is not becoming a better candidate as the primaries continue, Rick Santorum sure is. As for Newt? He is becoming less relevant.It is time for Newt Gingrich to exit.

It is time for Santorum v. Romney and let the chips fall where they may. I still think Romney is the nominee. But I think Santorum vs. Romney one on one gives Romney a run for his money he needs to become a candidate conservatives can potentially rally around.”

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu yesterday said he no longer believes in increasing gas prices to help spur research in alternatives to fossil fuels.

When questioned by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing about his past statement, which he gave four years ago, Chu said: "Since I walked in the door as secretary of Energy, I’ve been doing everything in my powers to do what we can ... as we see these gas prices spike, to reduce those prices." 

He continued, "But in the Department of Energy's tool chest, the most important thing we are doing is to offload the dependency on oil, using natural gas for transportation, bio fuels and all of those things."

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal in 2008, before becoming Energy secretary, Chu had said: "Somehow, we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe."  

Yet yesterday, Chu stated: "The president and I, yes we do acknowledge and feel the pain of not only American consumers but American businesses when these prices increase."

And when asked by Lee if he no longer believes that "we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline," Chu responded, "I no longer share that view."

In yesterday’s White House press briefing, Press Secretary Jay Carney responded to Chu’s walking back his 2008 statement on gas prices.

"I know that it's part of the fun for folks to find these quotes and suggest that they have some deeper meaning, and maybe that would be the case on Day One of the presidency. But we're in the fourth year of the presidency, and this president has a very clear record."

Mitt Romney said Wednesday that the primaries have shown his ability to connect with Republicans an independents alike, while Rick Santorum contended that the former Massachusetts governor faces mounting doubts within the GOP.

Santorum spent the day after winning the primaries in Mississippi and Alabama in Puerto Rico, which hosts its primary on Sunday. Romney, who heads to that U.S. territory later this week, spent Wednesday raising money in the New York area, and tried in a lone television interview to a general election campaign.

"This is ultimately a question about who can get the support of the Republican Party and independents to be able to win the White House," Romney said in an afternoon interview on FOX News. "And I'm very pleased with the fact that, over the last several contests, I got a million more votes than either Sen. Santorum or Speaker Gingrich from the Republicans in these contests."

While he won Hawaii's overnight caucuses, Romney nonetheless faced a withering media narrative after failing to carry either of the two conservative strongholds, stoking doubts about his core strength witthin the GOP. He still remains the odds-on favorite to accrue the needed 1,144 delegates to secure the nomination, though Santorum sought to take advantage of his competitor's difficulty in closing the deal.

"He looked like the odds-on favorite at the beginning of the campaign. We tend to do that as Republicans, sort of take the person next in line," Santorum said in an availability alongside Luis Fortuño, the Puerto Rican governor. "But I think what you've found is that Governor Romney is uniquely disqualified in making some of the most important arguments that we need to make in this country with the respect to the role of government in our lives."

Santorum still faced a challenge from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, with whom Santorum split the conservative vote in last night's primaries. Gingrich has vowed to continue with his campaign, and headed on Wednesday to Illinois, a major state which hosts a primary on Tuesday.

But Romney's fundraising on Wednesday presages a prolonged and more expensive primary, for which few Republicans seemed eager.

And for the former governor's part, he emphasized his success among conservatives who have shown up to the primaries and caucuses so far, and said the most conservative voters with whom he's struggled would end up rallying behind his candidacy in November.

"When you ask conservatives in these prior elections, 'Who, as conservatives, did you vote [for]?' I won the conservative vote," Romney explained. "Some who are very conservative may not be in my camp, but they will be when I become the nominee, when I face Barack Obama."