First Read noted that the arguments and decision by the Supreme Court would likely have an effect on the health law’s standing in the polls. Political Wire: “A new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds just 39% of Americans support the reforms, its lowest percentage ever.”

First Lady Michelle Obama was on NBC’s Biggest Loser last night. She worked out with the contestants at the White House and promoted a Presidential Active Lifestyle Award, or PALA.

CHRISTIE: He railed against entitlements at the same event where former President George W. Bush spoke. He lamented a “paternalistic entitlement society.” “I’ve never seen a less optimistic time in my lifetime in this country,” Christie claimed, per the New York Post. He added, “Government is now telling people, ‘Stop dreaming, stop striving, we’ll take care of you.’ That will not just bankrupt us financially, it will bankrupt us morally, because when the American people no longer believe that this is a place where only their willingness to work hard and to act with honor and integrity and ingenuity determines their success in life, then we’ll have a bunch of people sitting on a couch, waiting for their next government check. … I think politicians get themselves into the biggest trouble when they care more about being loved than being respected.”

But, he also said, which makes him complicated as a VP choice: “Compromise is not a dirty word.”

“New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s approval rating reached its highest level since the first-term Republican took office in 2010, a Quinnipiac University poll shows,” Bloomberg writes. “Registered voters approved of how the governor is doing his job 59 percent to 36 percent, according to the survey released today. That’s four percentage points higher than in February and up from a low of 44 percent in June. He scored highest ratings among Republicans, at 92 percent, and was at 64 percent among independents. Democrats disapproved, 64 percent to 30 percent.”

JINDAL: The Louisiana governor officially backed Romney yesterday after Santorum dropped out.

MCDONNELL: “The head of the Republican Governors Association says Rick Santorum’s withdrawal from the presidential sweepstakes should signal party conservatives to unify behind Mitt Romney,” AP writes of McDonnell’s appearance this morning on CBS. McDonnell, who has already endorsed Romney himself, said, “conservatives, independents and clear-thinking moderates are now going to get behind” the former Massachusetts governor.”

“McDonnell, whose name has surfaced in speculation about the vice presidential nomination, tells the network ‘ultimately, that’s up to the nominee. I’m perfectly happy being the governor of Virginia.’” Of course, Virginia governors are limited to just one term.

“Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has proposed relaxing a high-profile voter-identification measure passed by the General Assembly this year — one of more than 100 bills he wants amended. He also issued seven vetoes,” the Washington Times notes.

PORTMAN: “As Rick Santorum exits the presidential race, attention will turn more to Mitt Romney’s choice of running mate. And the latest name to get significant buzz in Washington is Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio,” the Wall Street Journal writes.

RUBIO: The New York Post’s Schachter: “Why Rubio's DREAM means he can't be veep.” “Sen. Rubio has his own version of the DREAM Act that should get passed in the Senate so it can get passed in the House and get signed into law. And if Rubio become the vice presidential nominee, he can't get this important piece of legislation passed,” she writes.

RYAN: Paul Ryan on Mitt Romney, per BuzzFeed: "He reminds me of a lot of people I grew up with, a lot of people I know, who have that Midwest earnestness. He's kind of a throwback to the '50s" And: "He's a very funny dude."

Ryan then went on FOX and said his comments were “taken out of context,” saying he meant Romney is “principled,” “civil,” “honorable,” “earnest” but then he compared Romney to Ward Cleaver. “Yeah, Ward Cleaver. That’s what I think of. I grew up watching Leave it to Beaver, idolizing Mr. Cleaver, Ward Cleaver, and he has these great attributes, which is he’s a very nice, civil man and he’s very earnest.

On being VP: “It’s something you’d have to consider. If he asked me to consider it, I’d consider it. He hasn’t, so I’m not.”

LANCASTER, Pa. – Hours after announcing he would end his bid for the White House, a relaxed Rick Santorum told supporters here that he is at peace with his decision to exit the presidential race, but his underdog candidacy took a particularly harsh toll on his family.

"It's different than being on the sidelines and seeing the people, the person, you love being hit. It hurts more," Santorum told evangelical leader James Dobson during an hour-long conversation Tuesday night.

"It was a little tougher for Karen and the kids. They did an amazing job as they always have in standing behind me in every sense of the word."

Earlier in the day, the former Pennsylvania senator stood in front of his wife, Karen, and four of his seven children to announce he would suspend his campaign.  The decision came one day after his youngest child, who suffers from Trisomy 18, a rare genetic disorder, was released from the hospital after developing a life-threatening case of pneumonia for the second time this year.

But along with concerns about his 3-year-old daughter's health, other factors were in play when the presidential hopeful decided to call it quits. Continuing could have risked an embarrassing defeat in Pennsylvania, his home state. In addition, a fundraising letter to supporters shortly after the press conference revealed that his frugal campaign was in debt.

Advisers knew the April primaries could pose a problem, but they remained hopeful they could survive through May, with several states holding primaries that looked to favor Santorum. But without money or momentum coming from April, the road to challenging frontrunner Mitt Romney looked bleak.

Speaking with Dobson – a conversation scheduled before Santorum decided to drop out of the race – he said he was proud of his campaign’s accomplishments given that his staff and budget were dwarfed by most of his rivals for the GOP nomination.

His campaign focused on "standing up and speaking up for those who don't have a voice," Santorum told Dobson.

During the conversation he focused on the social issues that came to define his campaign. He spoke of the importance of family, his opposition to late-term abortion and the story of his disabled daughter, Bella and his deceased son, Gabriel.

Asked about what's next, Santorum simply told Dobson: "I’d like to get some sleep."

Crossroads GPS, the outside GOP group backed by former George W. Bush political adviser Karl Rove and others, has a new TV ad knocking President Obama on the issue of gas prices.

In what Crossroads GPS says is a $1.7 million buy, the ad is airing in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio, and Virginia.

And it's in direct response to an Obama campaign TV ad in these same states -- which was rebutting an earlier ad from a GOP outside group, American Energy Alliance, with ties to the conservative Koch Brothers.

Crossroads GPS, by the way, is NOT a Super PAC. It's a 501c4 organization that DOESN'T have to disclose its donors. The Super PAC which DOES have to disclose its donors is American Crossroads. 

BOCA RATON, FL -- President Obama used a Tuesday speech to not only push legislation enacting the so-called "Buffett Rule," but also outline his vision for the economy versus Republican presidential rivals.

Obama's speech to students and others at Florida Atlantic University contained heavy campaign overtones, though Obama said his Republican opponent -- likely Mitt Romney, after Rick Santorum suspended his campaign this afternoon -- "shall go unnamed."

Before he arrived the crowd did the wave, chanted “four more years” and voiced disappointment when the president of Florida Atlantic University walked out to speak before the Obama. It created an electric crowd for the president, and contributing to the campaign-lite atmosphere for the event.

“They're doubling down on these old, broken down theories. Instead of moderating their views even slightly, instead of saying, "You know what, what we did really didn't work and we almost had a second Great Depression, and maybe we should try something different," they have doubled down,” the president said.

The speech was billed as an official event, though the political implications of Obama's remarks were clear. The president is also attending several fundraisers during his trip to Florida.

And while the President also didn’t mention Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) by name, there was no mistaking the dare he presented when talking about the proposed budget cuts in Ryan’s plan. 

“If you hear them saying, well, the president's making this stuff up, no, we're, we're doing the math. If they want to dispute anything that I've said right now, they should show us specifically where they would make those cuts ... They should show us,” he said.

He also criticized Republicans for “doubling down on a lot of these broken down theories” that he said were proven not to work during the administration of his predecessor George W. Bush.

In fact, it wasn't until toward the end of his remarks that Obama mentioned the Buffett Rule, the ostensible purpose of the speech. The rule stipulates that each household earning over $1 million per year should face a minimum effective tax rate of 30 percent.

“It’s time for us to choose which direction we want to go in as a country. Do we want to keep giving those tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans like me, or Warren Buffett -- he definitely doesn't need them, or Bill Gates?” Obama asked.

Even before the president concluded his speech, the Republican National Committee was taking Obama to task for not actually mentioning the Buffett Rule during a Palm Beach campaign stop earlier in the day “that was filled with wealthy Democrat donors,” as an RNC memo put it.

“Between Obama ignoring the Buffett Tax during his first event in Florida and the headlines below -- it hasn’t been a good day for the Buffett Tax. Seems like the Buffett Tax is only a good talking point if you aren’t holding out your hand for big money checks,” the memo continued.

But the president hardly seemed deterred by the Republican criticism leading into the speech, rousing the crowd with a repetitive turn of phrase toward the end of his remarks.

“Here in America we look out for one another. Here in America we help each other get ahead. Here in America we have a sense of common purpose. Here in America we can meet any challenge. Here in America we can seize any moment. We can make this century another great American century," he said.

Pennsylvania Republican leaders say they are giving Rick Santorum his day, but NBC News has learnd that Pennsylvania GOP chairman Rob Gleason is calling Mitt Romney to coordinate an endorsement as early as tomorrow.

They are leaving it up to the Romney camp to decide on timing of endorsements, but local officials want to do it as soon as possible.

They say there was real concern within the state party about Santorum, given how badly he lost his last statewide race. Despite loyalty to Santorum for building the party in years past, party officials said that with Santorum at the top of the ticket, they feared losing critical statewide contests including: U.S. Senate (whoever wins the primary fight to run against Democratic incumbent Bob Casey), Attorney General, Auditor General, and State Treasurer.

They also picked up five more GOP members of Congress and are defending legislative seats: 112 out of 203 in the state house and 30 senators of the 50 state senators.

Looking toward the general election, Republicans are at a one-million voter registration disadvantage in the state, but they see a big plus in the new statewide voter ID law. The new law requires a government ID or a student ID that has an expiration date. Many schools have photo IDs without expiration dates, so students without driver's licenses or another government ID would not be able to vote.

Pennsylvania's primary is a complex one -- a popular vote "beauty contest" with specific delegates running without candidate affiliation.

Romney supporters in the state party dominated the delegate-selection process so far. Each delegate running needs enough money to campaign in an area with 750,000 potential voters, so it is expensive.

Party officials estimate that Ron Paul has gotten at least 10 people on the ballot to run for delegate.

Like other politicians before him, Rick Santorum announced that he is "suspending" his campaign.

It's a euphemism often employed by modern political candidates. They rarely explicitly say what they are actually doing -- "dropping out," "getting out," "quitting," saying, "Adios, amigo."

They're rarely that forthright, though Santorum came closer than most. "This presidential race is over for me," he said.

But why has this specific "suspend" language become so popular -- and what does it mean?

It's a political distinction rather than a legal one, said Michael Toner, a prominent Republican election lawyer and former Federal Election Commission chairman.

"It gives you more flexibility politically" and "political cover to get back in the race," if a candidate chooses to do so, Toner said. "It gives you more wiggle room."

By not officially terminating a campaign, a candidate can continue to raise money to retire debt. A candidate would not be allowed to "terminate" their campaign -- in the technical sense with the FEC -- unless they paid off their obligations and debts.

By point of fact, Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign has never been terminated, because of outstanding debts and obligations.

She, too, "suspended" her campaign.

There is nothing a candidate would file with the FEC to say they are "suspending" their campaign, Toner said, and it would take months for them to officially "terminate" it, because of those debts and obligations.

A candidate can also remain on ballots for which he has already qualified, but it can depend on state law, another election lawyer said.

Hypothetically, a candidate would also continue to be eligible for public financing -- if he applied for it. It's unlikely that Santorum, like Cain before him, applied for those funds, as he made no public comments about it.

It's also possible that a secretary of state could interpret Santorum's announcement as withdrawing from the race and that he is no longer to be included on a ballot. There are a slew of states in May, where he is expected to do well. More likely, however, Santorum's name would remain on whatever ballots he's already on.

 Cleta Mitchell, another GOP election lawyer who works with candidates and committees, said of Cain's campaign, for example, "I think this particular campaign has used that term as a 'soft landing' exit rather than the more dramatic statement of 'terminating.'

"There was a point in time when presidential candidates accepting federal matching funds would use the term 'suspend,' so they could still receive their federal matching funds after their campaigns had ended," she continued, adding, "I think it is essentially in this instance a euphemism for ending his campaign and had no legal impact."

A version of this report was originally posted in December 2011 after Herman Cain "suspended" his campaign.

Rick Santorum suspends his 2012 presidential campaign at an event in Gettysburg, Pa.

Updated 3:02 p.m. - Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum suspended his campaign on Tuesday, clearing Mitt Romney’s path to the Republican presidential nomination.

Citing weekend reflection with his family, prompted in part by a hospital stay for his youngest daughter, Santorum suspended his campaign, effective today.

"Ladies and gentleman, we made the decision to get into this race at our kitchen table against all the odds," Santorum said in remarks to reporters in Gettysburg, Pa.

"We made a decision over the weekend that while this presidential race for us is over for me and we will suspend our campaign effective today. We are not done fighting."

The announcement effectively stifles opposition to Romney from within the GOP; amid signs that the Republican establishment has started to rally around Romney, the former Massachusetts governor no longer faces any serious conservative challenger.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul remain active candidates, though neither of them have a plausible path to winning the 1,144 delegates needed to secure the nomination.

The decision comes two weeks before the Pennsylvania presidential primary. Santorum had faced the prospect of an embarrassing loss to Romney that threatened to short-circuit any of his future political aspirations, either statewide or nationally.

Slideshow: Rick Santorum's political life

A look at the Pennsylvania politician — his career on Capitol Hill and his White House aspirations.

Launch slideshow

Santorum’s announcement also follows the second health scare of the year for his daughter Bella who suffers from the chromosomal disorder Trisomy 18.

RELATED: What 'suspending' a campaign means

However, the former senator also huddled with conservative supporters recently to mull whether a path forward for his campaign truly existed. As recently as April 3, when he lost the Wisconsin primary to Romney, Santorum vowed to press forward, and described the race for the nomination as only having reached “halftime.”

Still, the course of the primary campaign meant a remarkable political resurrection for Santorum since his landslide defeat in 2006, when he sought a third term in the Senate. His presidential campaign offered a path to political redemption that had been unthinkable, even as recently as the end of last year.

Santorum called Romney earlier today to relay news of his decision.

"Senator Santorum is an able and worthy competitor, and I congratulate him on the campaign he ran. He has proven himself to be an important voice in our party and in the nation," Romney said in a written statement following Tuesday's announcement. "We both recognize that what is most important is putting the failures of the last three years behind us and setting America back on the path to prosperity."

First Read: Santorum's surprising ride

From non-factor to Iowa victor
Santorum was a non-factor in the campaign for most 2011 until a last-minute surge in Iowa, where he had traveled more than any other candidate.

The former Pennsylvania senator had done the first nominating state the “traditional” way, having traveled to all 99 of Iowa’s counties.

Still, a series of candidates – Rep. Michele Bachmann, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Herman Cain and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich – had taken turns surging to the top of the polls in the Hawkeye State before Santorum got his boost, in late December, on the eve of the state’s caucuses.

Santorum battled Romney to a virtual tie in Iowa before the state’s Republican Party crowned Romney the apparent winner by a slim, eight-vote margin.

It wasn't until Jan. 21 – the day of the South Carolina primary – that the Iowa GOP reversed itself due to unaccounted votes and declared Santorum the actual winner of the caucuses. By then, Romney had steam-rolled his opponents to win the New Hampshire primary, and Gingrich had re-emerged as the leading conservative challenger to Romney in the Palmetto State.

Santorum re-emerged as Romney’s biggest threat on Feb. 7, when he stunned the front-runner by winning contests in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri.

Santorum as chief Romney alternative
Santorum’s victories in those states again laid bare fissures in the Republican Party over Romney’s candidacy. The most conservative elements of the party appeared unwilling to line up behind Romney. And with Gingrich fading in the aftermath of an onslaught of negative advertising in Florida, Santorum again claimed the mantle of chief Romney alternative. 

The emergence of a supportive super PAC – the Red, White and Blue Fund – helped Santorum make his case. Much of that group’s financing came from investor Foster Friess.

The turning point in the Santorum-Romney battle came in at the end of February.  Rather than skip the primary in Michigan – the state where Romney was raised and where his father had been an iconic Republican governor – Santorum decided to take his battle to Romney’s home turf.

The campaigning turned heavily on issues of class, and Santorum emphasized his commonness with the state’s hard-hit working and middle classes.

He was aided by Democratic-led efforts to remind voters of Romney’s opposition to the 2009 bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler, along with Romney’s own missteps (among them, a highly-touted address to a cavernous Ford Field).

But Santorum also found himself the victim of tough ads launched by Romney and Restore Our Future, the pro-Romney super PAC.

The former senator was also dogged by questions about hot-button social issues, including contraception – a subject that was at the center of an intense national debate over women’s health issues.

Romney eventually eked out a three-point victory of Santorum, but carried momentum from Michigan (and Arizona, where he won a primary the same day) into Super Tuesday’s slate of 10 contests on March 6. There, Romney used the same strategy he had in Michigan to win six of the states, including Ohio, where Santorum had also sought to challenge Romney.

But Santorum was again able to beat back Romney, who gained some separation from his challengers in the delegate count after Super Tuesday, by way of winning Mississippi and Alabama’s primaries. Romney campaigned fleetingly in the states, but the deep conservatism of both states tilted the contests toward Santorum.

The Gingrich factor
Those primaries also made clear, though, that Gingrich’s continued presence in the race had eaten into Santorum’s support among conservatives.

Backers of the former senator started demanding Gingrich’s exit from the race, but the former House speaker defiantly vowed to continue with his campaign through the Republican convention this summer in Tampa.

All the while, Romney continued to amass delegates by winning caucuses and primaries in far-flung U.S. territories.

And it was one U.S. territory, Puerto Rico, where Romney finally trounced Santorum, despite the ex-senator having campaigned there. He subsequently paraded into Illinois, where he won the March 20 primary in the Land of Lincoln.

Romney’s decisive win in Illinois prompted many national party leaders who had remained neutral – former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, among others – to get off the fence and endorse Romney in hopes of hastening the end of the primary campaign.

Santorum persevered through the April 3 primaries in D.C., Maryland and Wisconsin, then left the campaign trail when his daughter was admitted to the hospital last week.

The ex-senator was reflective in his remarks announcing the suspension of his campaign.

"Miracle after miracle, this race was as improbable as any race you'll ever seen for president," he said, referencing the 11 states and millions of votes won over the course of his campaign. He made no mention of Romney.

Romney still faces token opposition in his march to formalize the nomination. Both Gingrich and Santorum signaled that they would continue – for now – with their campaigns in the aftermath of Santorum's announcement.

"I am committed to staying in this race all the way to Tampa so that the conservative movement has a real choice.  I humbly ask Senator Santorum’s supporters to visit Newt.org to review my conservative record and join us as we bring these values to Tampa," said Gingrich, whose persistence in the race had divided votes with Santorum in some pivotal contests.

Paul's campaign manager said that the Texas congressman would "plan to continue running hard" through the August convention in Tampa.

Is the Buffett Rule good politics for Team Obama?... Poll suggests it isn’t a homerun with independents… But it’s clear why the Obama camp is embracing the Buffett Rule: They’re personalizing it against Romney… Romney camp and RNC push back… New WaPo/ABC poll confirms the conventional wisdom about the 2012 race… Santorum returns to the trail… Paul’s new TV ad… And veepstakes watch: Why you might want to strike Susana Martinez off your VP lists.

Yuri Gripas / Reuters

President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the White House Forum on Women and the Economy in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington April 6, 2012.

*** Is the Buffett Rule good politics? Team Obama is stepping on the gas when it comes to the so-called Buffett Rule, the proposal to raise some taxes on the wealthy to ensure that the Warren Buffetts of the world don’t pay a lower effective tax rate (due to investment income) than their secretaries do. Today, in Boca Raton, FL at 2:55 pm ET, President Obama makes his case for the Buffett Rule. Yesterday, his re-election campaign held a conference call on it. And on Thursday in New Hampshire, Vice President Biden will address the topic as a campaign surrogate. But is this good politics? A poll conducted for the centrist Dem group Third Way suggests it’s an open question. For instance, 47% of independents in 12 battleground states -- including 51% identified as “swing independents” who are still up for grabs -- agreed with this statement (that Mitt Romney might say): “We need an economy based on opportunity, where hard work is rewarded, the government lives within its means, and economic growth is our top priority.” That’s compared with 42% of indies and 43% of swing indies who agreed with this statement (that Obama might say): “We need an economy based on fairness, where the rich pay their fair share, corporations play by the rules, and all Americans get a fair shot.”

*** Not a political homerun with indies, per poll: What struck us about this survey is how much time and effort went into testing the “tax fairness” argument. And unless it’s connected to something tangible like deficit reduction, fairness doesn’t seem to pop politically. Bottom line: This isn’t a slam-dunk political issue with ALL swing indies. What Team Obama sees is an opportunity to either connect better with working-class Midwesterners or use the issue to DISCONNECT these folks from Romney, which brings us to…

*** Making it personal: While the Buffett Rule might not be a homerun with independents and swing voters, it’s pretty clear why the Obama campaign is embracing it: You can personalize it against Romney. That’s why the campaign discussed Romney’s “Swiss bank account” and his unwillingness to release any tax returns before 2010 as much as it did the Buffett Rule on yesterday’s conference call. And today, the campaign is releasing a statement saying that Romney should stop playing “hide and go seek” -- similar words to what Romney said about Obama last week -- with his tax returns. From the statement: “Mitt Romney opposes the Buffett Rule - he thinks millionaires and billionaires should keep paying lower tax rates than middle-class families. In fact, Romney himself isn’t paying his fair share – in 2010, Romney paid a tax rate of only 13.9%, well below the rate paid by many middle-class Americans. And with each week, new questions are raised about whether Romney took unusual steps to avoid paying his fair share in taxes. Yet we can’t answer those questions because he simply refuses to release enough of his tax returns to give a clear picture of his finances.”

*** Romney camp pushes back: Yesterday, Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom pushed back against the Obama camp’s request that Romney release 23 years of his tax returns (what he provided the McCain campaign during the ’08 veepstakes) when Obama’s own released tax returns only go back to 2000. "Maybe they should adopt as their new slogan: Barack Obama — making the world safe for hypocrisy," Fehrnstrom told BuzzFeed. But did the Romney campaign here just make Obama’s returns the standard? Does this mean Romney will/should release his tax returns going back to 2000? Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee is also pushing back against the Buffett Rule, pointing out it would raise only $47 billion. “This is all the president has left to fix the economy – a plan to divide America with a tax that will raise one tenth of a percent of his spending spree."

*** Confirming the conventional wisdom: The latest national Washington Post/ABC poll pretty much confirms the conventional wisdom: Obama leads Romney among registered voters by seven percentage points (51%-44%) in a head-to-head contest; he’s viewed as more likeable and better on women’s issues and handling foreign affairs; and his approval rating stands at 50%. Yet his vulnerability remains -- drum roll, please -- the economy. “[O]n the two most pressing issues of the campaign — the economy and jobs — the contest is considerably more competitive, with about as many trusting Romney on the issues as Obama,” the Washington Post writes. “Despite positive economic indicators, Americans remain deeply pessimistic about the overall direction of the country and largely consider the economy still mired in a recession.” This poll explains why the Obama campaign wants this to be a choice election with Romney and why the Republicans want this to be a referendum on Obama/the economy -- which we saw on FULL DISPLAY last week from both sides.

*** Santorum returns to the trail: Late last night, the Santorum campaign announced that daughter Bella had been released from the hospital, and that Santorum is returning to the campaign trail, although it canceled the day’s first two events to allow the Santorums to settle at home with Bella. "Rick and Karen are happy to announce that their daughter Bella has been discharged from the hospital and returned home earlier Monday evening,” campaign spokesman Hogan Gidley said. “The Santorums are truly overwhelmed by the prayers and support they've received -- and wanted to attach a picture of their daughter Bella so everyone could see their precious gift from God.” Santorum stumps in Gettysburg, PA at 2:00 pm ET and appears in Lancaster, PA with evangelical leader James Dobson at 7:15 pm ET.

*** On the trail, per NBC’s Adam Perez: Elsewhere today, Romney stumps in Delaware and Pennsylvania… Gingrich visits the Tar Heel State, speaking at two events in New Bern… And Gingrich’s wife, Callista,, delivers a speech to the Women's National Republican Club in New York City… And Paul host a town hall event at Texas A&M in College Station, TX.

*** Paul’s new TV ad: Speaking of Paul -- who still hasn’t won a state yet -- his campaign announced it’s airing a cable TV ad in Texas that his Santorum, Gingrich, and Romney. “Let’s get this straight: We’re debating between a big-spending, debt-ceiling-raising fiscal liberal,” the narrator says, referring to Santorum. “A moon colony guy. A moderate from Massachusetts. Or a Texan with a real plan to balance the budget.” By the way, an image of an Etch A Sketch appears in the ad… 

*** Veepstakes watch: When New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (R) now says “no” to the vice-president slot on the GOP ticket, we now believe her. “The rising GOP star told an Albuquerque newspaper recently she couldn't do it if she got asked because of family considerations, particularly her developmentally disabled sister and her father with Alzheimer's,” USA Today says. “Martinez is the legal guardian for her sister, Lettie, who lives in Las Cruces, and she says her father, who is in El Paso, is still able to recognize Lettie. ‘The family has to be a consideration, and for me to take (my sister) to Washington would be to separate her from ... the family that's down there, and that would be devastating,’ Martinez told the Albuquerque Journal. ‘I just couldn't do it.’”… Also, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) was on “TODAY” this morning, and he said he hadn’t given the VP slot any thought. That’s code for: “I’ll listen.”

Countdown to the CT, DE, NY, PA, and RI primaries: 14 days
Countdown to Election Day: 210 days

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*** Tuesday’s “Daily Rundown” line-up: Republican consultant Mike Murphy on Romney’s run… A deep dive into tax truths with National Journal’s Jim Tankersley… Latest 2012 news with CQ’s David Hawkings, National Review’s Ramesh Ponnuru, and former Obama White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

*** Tuesday’s “Jansing & Co.” line-up: MSNBC’s Chris Jansing interviews former presidential candidate Wesley Clark, the Atlantic’s Molly Ball, the Washington Post’s Ezra Klein, GOP strategist Robert Traynham, MSNBC contributor Jeff Johnson, attorney Karen DeSoto, and Patricia Cesaire w/ Black Enterprise.

*** Tuesday’s “NOW with Alex Wagner” line-up: Alex Wagner’s guests include New York Magazine’s John Heilemann, the Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart, Salon.com’s Joan Walsh, NY Daily News Columnist S.E. Cupp, the New York Times’ Kate Bolick, and Eric Klinenberg, author of “Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone”

*** Tuesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza, NBC’s Ron Mott, NBC’s Ayman Mohyeldin, NBC’s Richard Engel in North Korea, Michael Singh from the Washington Institute,  former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, and  BuzzFeed’s McKay Coppins.

GINGRICH: He said on FOX, per GOP 12: "Yesterday afternoon, I joined millions of Americans in watching the Master's, and the two guys who ended up in the sudden death were, neither one, in first place when the last round began. Now neither of them dropped out."

NBC’s Alex Moe reports that last night on Hannity, Gingrich joked about getting a tattoo on his forehead so people would stop asking if he was going to Tampa or not. “I’m thinking about getting it tattooed up here,” Gingrich said as he pointed to his forehead, “All the way to Tampa, OK?”

ROMNEY: The Romney campaign pulled its negative ad of Santorum in Pennsylvania while the Santorums’ daughter Bella was in the hospital, but the New York Times reports: “Once Bella is released from the hospital, the Romney campaign is expected to put the anti-Santorum ad back into its rotation….”

And: “Jim Roddey, chairman of the Republican Committee of Allegheny County, who has endorsed Mr. Romney, said the campaign probably would conduct polling to see whether Bella’s hospitalization remained a sensitive issue. But, he said, sympathy for Bella would probably not bring Mr. Santorum any new votes, nor would it deter the Romney camp from full-throated attacks on Mr. Santorum.”

Here’s Mitt Romney at 23 talking (in black and white in 1970) about his mother’s candidacy for the Senate – and lamenting Senators who vote party lines.

GOP 12 points out that sounds an awful lot like Romney circa 2002.

SANTORUM: Per NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell, Santorum daughter Bella is out of the hospital. "Rick and Karen are happy to announce that their daughter Bella has been discharged from the hospital and returned home earlier Monday evening,” campaign spokesman Hogan Gidley said. “The Santorums are truly overwhelmed by the prayers and support they've received - and wanted to attach a picture of their daughter Bella so everyone could see their precious gift from God.”

The campaign canceled its first two events of the day to allow Rick, Karen and Bella to settle in at home.  To make up for the morning events, the campaign is adding a campaign stop in Gettysburg, Pa., at 2:00 pm ET and the remainder of the day's public and private events will continue as originally planned."

“Santorum showed a considerably more moderate face in a campaign brochure from his failed 2006 Senate race in Pennsylvania. It highlighted how he steered big federal dollars to the state and teamed up with rock star Bono to fight AIDS and global poverty,” AP reports. “Titled ‘50 Things You May Not Know About Rick Santorum,’ the pamphlet played up his role in boosting federal spending for food stamps, schools, heating aid for the poor, Amtrak, the environment and prescription drugs for seniors -- programs more often championed by Democrats and derided by conservatives like the GOP primary voters Santorum now courts.”

The Tampa Bay Times: “On Tuesday, Obama will appear at Florida Atlantic University to make the case for the ‘Buffett Rule,’ a proposal that would require the wealthy to pay at least 30 percent of their income in taxes. The visit kicks off a nationwide push by Democrats on an election year issue that Republicans decry as class warfare that would been a drop in the deficit bucket. … It's also a way to remind voters about Mitt Romney's wealth, and that he paid a tax rate of 13.9 percent in 2010.”

“A week before a Senate vote, the Obama campaign on Monday ramped up its advocacy of the ‘Buffett Rule,’” the Boston Globe writes. There was a campaign conference call and email yesterday about it. Republicans say raising taxes on millionaires would do little for the deficit; “The Obama campaign has compiled a list [of what the revenue could fund] of similar examples on a new website encouraging passage of the Buffett Rule.”

On the Third Way poll on swing voters, Roll Call sums it up this way: “Independent Voters Like Barack Obama but Prefer Mitt Romney’s Message.”

More debate over whether the health law would increase or reduce the deficit.

Obama went 1-for-5 in a shoot around at the White House during the Easter Egg Roll (with basketballs with his face on it).

CHRISTIE: “A new report says New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) ‘exaggerated when he declared that unforeseen costs to the state were forcing him to cancel the new train tunnel planned to relieve congested routes across the Hudson River,’” the New York Times reports,” per Political Wire. "Christie also misstated New Jersey's share of the costs: he said the state would pay 70 percent of the project; the report found that New Jersey was paying 14.4 percent."

The New Jersey Jewish Standard wraps Christie’s trip to Israel.

JINDAL: “According to a WWL report, despite endorsements from Republican heavy hitters like Sen. John McCain, some political analysts say the 40-year-old governor isn't ready politically to step out onto the national stage. A perfect example, according to one political analyst, was Jindal's rebuttal to the president's State of the Union address in 2009,” a local TV station writes.

MARTINEZ: New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez gave this powerful reason to the Albuquerque Journal as to why she won’t be running as vice president: "The family has to be a consideration, and for me to take [my sister] to Washington would be to separate her from … the family that's down there, and that would be devastating," Martinez said. "I just couldn’t do it."

GOP12’s Heinze writes: “[T]hat's 10 times tougher to overcome than ‘I wouldn't do it because of my family,’ which is a tough one on its own. You're not just turning down family because of your ambition; you're turning down care for those who need it the most. It's hard to imagine anything more ironclad or binding than this denial.”

PORTMAN: Major Garrett is calling it for Rob Portman. He writes of the downsides: “Portman's a bore, and their ticket would be boredom squared, or squares squared; he offers nothing to women voters or Latino voters; he carries the taint of Bush-Cheney policies; and he's not conservative enough for the Tea Party… But Romney has the same perceived ‘flaws’ and he's going to win the nomination. Portman can't fix Romney's flaws. Neither can anyone else. That means all other things being equal, Romney will look for someone he knows and trusts; who has delivered for him; who can put a vital swing state in play; who can immediately help him tackle the hardest issues if he's elected; and whose selection tells the country Romney's first big decision as a nominee wasn't a gasket-blowing gamble or one festooned with the garish and outmoded trappings of regional or ideological balance.”

RUBIO: He talks to the Miami Herald about his “Dream Act.” He said, in part, “When we weren’t talking about a plan, people were criticizing me for not having one. And now that we have a plan, people are criticizing that we’re doing it in an election year.”

GOP12’s Heinze points out: “Something tells me that he wouldn't have been promoting the plan late last year when possible running-mate Mitt Romney was bashing Rick Perry over the head with the DREAM Act (albeit the Texas version, but a DREAM Act, nonetheless). It's odd, isn't it, how all this has timed perfectly with Romney effectively clinching the nomination.”

RYAN: The Washington Examiner’s Conn Carroll writes: “Give Obama what he wants: Pick Ryan.” “Romney could not find a person better prepared to articulate these contrasting visions. No other possible candidate has spent more time challenging Obama face-to-face than Paul Ryan,” Carroll writes.

The majority of the roughly 30,000 families who visited the White House today came for the time-honored Easter Egg Roll. 

But Jarrod Scarbrough and Les Sewell had a different reason for their visit -- to lobby President Obama on a gay-rights issue. 

The same-sex couple from New Mexico brought their eight-year-old daughter to the event to press President Obama to sign an executive order banning workplace discrimination by any federal contractor on the basis of sexual orientation. 

“My message -- and the message of my family -- echoes President’ Obama’s campaign slogan: We can’t wait. It’s time for President Obama to sign this executive order,” Scarborough said today. 

Scarborough pointed to the fact that the executive order has been approved by the Justice and Labor Departments. “I work for a federal contractor, and I know there’s a piece of paper sitting on President Obama’s desk that would give me a little more security for my family,” Scarbrough said.  

During the daily White House briefing, Press Secretary Jay Carney deflected all questions about the matter. When NBC News asked Carney if the president planned to sign the executive order, he replied, “I don't have any updates for you on possible or proposed executive orders. I would note that we're delighted that that couple and many others were able to attend the Easter Egg Roll. And again, I don't have anything more on the executive orders.”
 
When pressed on the matter, Carney would only say: “Well, again, I don't have anything for you on a specific executive order. What I can tell you is I think the president's position on LGBT issues is -- record, rather, is well known and one that -- that he and we are very proud of.”

With a peg to the upcoming legislative push for the "Buffett rule" adjustment of tax rates for the very wealthy, the message of the day from President Obama's Chicago-based re-election campaign was this: "Mitt Romney is the beneficiary of a broken tax system, and he wants to keep it that way."

Those were the words of campaign manager Jim Messina, who joined Sen. Dick Durbin and Wisconsin Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin in a conference call to talk about what they dub economic "fairness" in the tax system.

According to Durbin, who hammered Romney on his reported past holdings in overseas banks, fairness is a foreign concept to a candidate who benefited from a "Swiss bank account."

Durbin said of the semi-presumptive GOP that it is "impossible for him to explain or defend" the overseas account, paraphrasing Buffett Rule-envisoner Warren Buffett himself in saying "there are plenty of good banks in the United States."

Participants were pointed in naming examples of Romney's personal wealth (Messina invoked the famed car-elevator in plans for the former governor's La Jolla, CA home), saying that Romney's tax structure "looks out for people just like him."

Another example: Romney's limiting of his tax return disclosure to just two years -- 21 fewer than the number of years worth of documents he reportedly disclosed to the McCain campaign when being vetted for the VP slot four years ago.

"Romney supports tax policies that reward people like him, and now he's just trying to obscure just how much he would benefit by hiding his own financial records," Messina said.

But  the campaign demurred when asked by a reporter if Obama would agree to release as many years of records as the 23 it's demanding of his rival, saying only that Romney must live up to the standard set by his own 2008 vetting process.

Obama has released tax records dating back to 2000.

The Romney camp released this statement before today's Obama campaign conference call: “President Obama is the first president in history to openly campaign for re-election on a platform of higher taxes. He has already raised taxes on millions of Americans, but he won’t stop there. He wants to raise taxes on millions more by taxing small businesses and job creators. We appreciate the Obama campaign reinforcing Mitt Romney’s platform of lowering tax rates across the board in order to jumpstart this bad Obama economy.”

Video trickster James O'Keefe has posted a video showing a man walking into a Washington, DC polling place last Tuesday during the local primary and claiming to be Eric Holder.

In the video, the man gives Holder's name and address (which is bleeped out). The poll worker asks the man to sign the voter sheet, but the man says he has left his ID in the car. "You don’t need it," the poll worker says. "It’s all right. As long as you’re in here, you’re on our list, and that’s who you say you are, you’re okay."

The man declines to sign, says he's going to get his ID, and leaves.

O'Keefe's group, Project Veritas, offers the video to rebut Attorney General Eric Holder's position that there's little evidence of in-person voter fraud to justify changing state laws to require government issued photo IDs at the polls. The video includes excerpts from a recent NBC News interview with Holder on the subject.

In response, a Justice Department official says "about the only time we get concrete evidence of voter fraud is when someone pulls a stunt like this."

By the way, a federal official says the man in the video did not commit voter fraud, because he never signed the voter sheet and -- therefore -- never received or cast a fraudulently obtained ballot.

We are gearing up for new installments of 'Inside the Boiler Room' and want to answer your questions, so please post them below!

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The tax debate cometh: Obama and Democrats to focus on tax fairness… GOP to focus on tax hikes… American Crossroads to begin its advertising blitz soon… Crossroads also admits that Obama -- so far -- is winning the tax debate… Gingrich calls Romney “far and away the most likely” GOP nominee… Santorum remains off the campaign trail… Conservative groups begin their fire on Lugar… And over the holiday weekend, Grassley called Obama “stupid” in Twitter message.

Jason Reed / Reuters

President Barack Obama delivers remarks before signing the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act in the Rose Garden of the White House, April 5, 2012.

*** The tax debate cometh: Given that Americans across the country will be filing their tax returns this week, don’t be surprised if the issue of taxes takes center stage in the political debate. Indeed, Democrats are emphasizing tax fairness and the so-called “Buffett Rule.” So the Obama campaign today is holding a conference call (with Sen. Dick Durbin, and Wisconsin Senate candidate Tammy Baldwin) demanding that Mitt Romney explain why he opposes wealthy Americans paying a lower effective tax rate (due to their investment income) than folks in the middle class. On Tuesday, President Obama (as opposed to candidate Obama) will deliver a speech in Florida on the Buffett Rule. (We’ve now reached the point in the election cycle where the White House and the campaign are holding back-to-back events on the same issue). While Democrats will be emphasizing tax FAIRNESS, Republicans will be stressing that such talk amounts to tax HIKES. The top communications aide to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell fired off this email this morning: “How many jobs would the Buffett Tax create? How will the Buffett Tax ease the pain at the pump?”

*** Here comes the Crossroads ad blitz: The New York Times reports that premiere GOP Super PAC, the Karl Rove-backed American Crossroads, is planning to begin its advertising blitz against President Obama -- probably this month. But Crossroads officials “said they would focus the bulk of the first phase from May through July, which they believe is a critical period for making an impression on voters, before summer vacations and the party conventions take place.” More: “Steven J. Law, the group’s leader, said the ads would address the challenge of unseating a president who polls show is viewed favorably even though many people disapprove of his handling of the economy. Basically, Mr. Law said, ‘how to dislodge voters from him.’” A Democratic polling firm found that, among independents it surveyed, Obama has a higher FAV rating than Romney even as these voters ideologically appear to be more Republican leaning. Democrats were on the wrong end of this problem both in 1984 and 2004 when the incumbent Republican president had a higher FAV rating with swing voters who seemed to be more sympathetic to the Democratic agenda.

*** Crossroads admits that Obama so far is winning the tax debate? Returning to our discussion above about the coming tax debate, the New York Times piece on American Crossroads’ ad blitz had the group implying that the White House is winning the tax argument -- at least for now. “Crossroads research suggests that Mr. Obama’s campaign has started to gain traction among critical swing voters by arguing that Republicans, including Mr. Romney, favor an ‘economic plutocracy’ in which middle-class voters can no longer count on financial security, even though they work hard and play by the rules. ‘His argument is: “The reason you feel bad is not because I’ve been an inadequate president but because the rules of the game are stacked against you,”’ Mr. Law said. Calling it a ‘dystopian vision,’ he added, ‘that narrative has some gravitational pull.’”

*** Gingrich calls Romney “far and away the most likely” GOP nominee: On Friday, NBC’s Alex Moe wrote that Newt Gingrich and his campaign march on -- but with fewer paying attention. And on Sunday, he admitted on FOX that Romney is “far and away the most likely” GOP nominee. He also said, per the AP, that running for president “turned out to be much harder than I thought it would be." And: "I do think there's a desire for a more idea-oriented Republican Party, but that doesn't translate necessarily to being able to take on the Romney machine.”

*** Santorum remains off the campaign trail: As NBC’s Andrew Rafferty noted over the weekend, Rick Santorum will not campaign today so he can continue to stay at the side of his 3-year-old daughter Bella in the hospital. "Rick Santorum will not hold any campaign related events on Monday so that he and Karen can remain in the hospital with their daughter Bella. The entire Santorum family is incredibly grateful for the outpouring of prayers and support," Santorum spokesman Hogan Gidley said. Bella suffers from Trisomy 18, a chromosomal defect that claims the lives of most children born with it in their first year. The reason for her hospitalization this week hasn't been released. This, Rafferty adds, is the second time during the campaign that Bella has needed to be taken to a hospital. Santorum canceled events in late January after Bella was rushed to a Virginia hospital when she developed pneumonia in both lungs.

*** On the trail: In addition to Santorum, all the GOP candidates are off the campaign trail today.

*** Conservative groups begin their fire on Lugar: In advance of Indiana’s May 8 primary, the conservative group Club for Growth is going up with a new TV ad hitting Dick Lugar (for voting for the bailouts, tax hikes, and Obama’s Supreme Court justices) and supporting GOP primary foe Richard Mourdock, according to Politico. And the National Rifle Association is going after him with this TV spot, which states that Lugar “has become the only Republican candidate in Indiana with an ‘F’ rating from the NRA.” The ad then shows a photo of Lugar standing next to Obama. 

*** “Stupid is as stupid does”: The day before Easter and the day after Passover began, longtime GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) fired off a tweet calling President Obama “stupid.” The tweet: “Constituents askd why i am not outraged at PresO attack on supreme court independence. Bcause Am ppl r not stupid as this x prof of con law.” (Grassley doesn’t hold a law degree, by the way.) He then added, “Possibility of peace and freedom for Syria gets more remote as PresO plays along w the farce of Kofi Annans negotiatios there Barack wakeup.” First Read has reached out to Grassley’s office for comment, but has yet to hear back. Grassley’s tweets came a couple days after Nebraska Senate candidate Jon Bruning attacked GOP primary rival Don Stenberg during a debate for following his daughter on Twitter. “‘I'd like to know why does a 62-year-old man want to follow a 14-year-old girl on Twitter,’ Bruning said. ‘She said, “Dad, that's kind of creepy.”’” 

Countdown to the CT, DE, NY, PA, and RI primaries: 15 days
Countdown to Election Day: 211 days

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*** Monday’s “Daily Rundown” line-up: GOP ad maker Brad Todd and former Bush 43 spokesman Tony Fratto on what Santorum and Gingrich hanging around means for Romney… John Koza of the National Popular Vote push on how his pitch would change the way we pick a president… More 2012 news with the Washington Post’s Dan Balz, the Atlantic’s Molly Ball and ThinkProgress.org’s Faiz Shakir.

*** Monday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza, NBC’s Tom Brokaw, NBC’s Ayman Mohyeldin, NBC’s Richard Engel, and Republican strategist Rich Galen.

*** Monday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: MSNBC’s Tamron Hall interviews The Hill’s A.B. Stoddard and radio talk show host Steve Deace to talk politics.

GINGRICH: Calling it a day? “Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich yesterday signaled that he is almost ready to raise the white flag,” the New York Post writes. “The former House speaker admitted in the most striking terms yet that rival Mitt Romney is ‘far and away the most likely Republican nominee,’ and he pledged to back Romney to defeat President Obama in November. A downcast and emotional Gingrich admitted on ‘Fox News Sunday’ that his campaign was buried in debt and that running for president ‘turned out to be much harder than I thought it would be.’” And this: “I hit him as hard as I could; he hit me as hard as he could,” he said. “Turns out he had more things to hit with than I did. That’s part of the business.”

He also said, per Roll Call: “[He’s] conservative enough [and] I suspect he will accept a solid, conservative platform, but he does have consultants who are of the Etch a Sketch tradition.”

He told the Washington Post: "It never occurred to me -- and this is one of the lessons I'm contemplating for some future memoir -- it never occurred to me the scale of the Romney fundraising capability. I was fully prepared to be outspent 2-to-1, even 3-to-1. But when you're up to 5- or 6-to-1, you're being drowned. You're not going to be able to match it."

And he says he’s staying in for the donors: GOP 12: “Gingrich said his donors, including those he met Wednesday in Wilmington, “asked me to stay in the race..... They very much do not want me to drop out,” Gingrich told the Raleigh News & Observer. “They think if Romney wins it, that is one thing. But there is no reason to concede to him.”

ROMNEY: The AP’s Beaumont: “Mitt Romney faces a daunting to-do list as he transitions into the role of likely Republican presidential nominee. Among the tasks: Raise as much money as possible for the general election campaign against President Barack Obama. Hire more people and send them to the most critical states in the fall race. Hone his message to appeal to voters across the political spectrum. And do it all quickly while fending off challenges from GOP rivals who refuse to quit the primary race.”

Republican activists “expect Romney, as well as his popular wife, Ann, to make an explicit pitch to female voters on the economy and jobs, their top issues,” the AP writes. And: “[T]he Republican's challenge is stark. Romney must overcome history, political math and the missteps of a party that picked a fight over one provision of Obama's health care law and ended up on the defensive over access to birth control. Romney also has work to do with female voters after inconsistencies or misstatements on issues such as abortion and the future of Planned Parenthood.”

Speaking of that, Ann Romney is featured prominently in a new web video released Friday focusing on family, her five children, and her husband.

“It's over, and Mitt Romney is going to be the GOP nominee for president,” AP writes. “That's the growing consensus among Republican National Committee members who will automatically attend the party's national convention this summer and can support any candidate they choose. Even some members who support other candidates begrudgingly say the math doesn't add up for anyone but the former Massachusetts governor.”

But first, Romney is still trying to put the race away by playing big in Pennsylvania. GOP 12: “Salena Zito reports that Mitt Romney is up in Pennsylvania today with a $2.9 million buy that will run through the April 24 primary.”

On Meet the Press Rep. Raul Labrador said the media will make Romney’s Mormonism an issue.

The New York Daily News also notes Romney revived his Harvard attack on Obama Thursday, saying, “We have a president who I think is a nice guy, but he spent too much time at Harvard, perhaps.”

Yet, the Daily News points out: “Romney has actually spent more time at Harvard than Obama. In 1975, the White House hopeful earned a joint JD/MBA degree at the prestigious school over the course of four years-one year longer than the three years Obama spent there getting his law degree. In addition, three of Romney's sons have post-graduate degrees from Harvard, and he gave $50,000 to the business school in 2003.”

On Sunday, the New York Times looked at Romney’s friendship with Israeli PM Netanyahu.

SANTORUM: “Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum will resume his campaign Tuesday with a slate of events in his home state, according to a schedule released by his campaign Saturday morning,” the Boston Globe says. “Pennsylvania holds its primary on April 24, and there have been intensifying speculation that Santorum, hoping to avoid the embarrassment of losing in his own home state, would bow out of the race.”

“Former Sen. Rick Santorum’s (Pa.) support for a troubled Clinton administration judicial nominee is drawing fresh scrutiny from conservatives as the GOP presidential candidate struggles to regain his footing against presumptive nominee Mitt Romney,” Roll Call writes. “Some Republicans see Santorum’s 1998 backing of Frederica Massiah-Jackson to be a district court judge in Philadelphia as conflicting with the staunch conservative persona he has put forward.”

Buzzfeed looks at the state of the Obama campaign. “The Obama machine’s singular goal: to keep the president in his job by raising and spending hundreds of millions of dollars to recreate the momentum of 2008. There are now close to 700 hundred full time employees, an entire floor of office space, thousands of volunteers in well over 100 field offices across all 50 states, and the most impressive digital team a presidential campaign has ever assembled. There’s been experimentation—the tech team figured out a way to make the Obama website display perfectly on any device, a feat that wouldn’t have been possible even a year ago—and the entire office was designed to resemble a Silicon Valley start-up. More than half of the headquarters staff works for the campaign’s digital department.”

More: “Messina even consulted with Palo Alto execs to find the ‘best practices,’ says an Obama official, including carpets (quieter), mixing the staffs on the floor into teams rather than departments, bouncy balls, and communicating with instant messages and Twitter. ‘We ensure maximum collaboration so people don't sit with their departments, they sit in teams,’ Messina told BuzzFeed.”

But GOP 12 picks up on this exchange in the Buzzfeed piece: “And to say that the campaign doesn’t fear Romney is an understatement — he’s viewed as almost a joke. .... he [Axelrod] also projects the confidence that permeates the sixth floor of the old Prudential Building. The Republican Primary has been, he chortled, ‘kind of a calamity for them.’”

The Republican National Committee will fire off this memo to reporters later today: “It’s been a year since President Obama announced his reelection bid, and now we’ve seen exactly the kind of campaign he has planned. It is negative, deceptive and distorting. He’s running from his record, rather than running on it. He’s campaigning using the very tactics he campaigned against four years ago. There’s no more hope and change. It’s all fear and division from now till November.”

Republican Gov. John Kasich says Ohio is “going to be close,” Roll Call notes of his interview on Meet the Press. “It’s going to be close,” Kasich said of Ohio. “It’s going to be tight as a tick out here. It always is. Ohio is a battleground state, and it’s those independent voters and whoever can tell them that they’re going to improve this economy and create jobs for families will be the winner.”

The White House Easter Egg Roll is today. About 30,000 people are expected.

Here’s Jon Stewart’s send up of those very informal Obama campaign email subject lines.

The New York Daily News looks at the possibility of Marco Rubio as veep.

Mark McKinnon was making the case for Bobby Jindal.

Politico: “Right now, the name on the lips of most GOP strategists is Ohio senator and former George W. Bush administration official Rob Portman.”

George Will likes Paul Ryan and Bobby Jindal and waves off conservatives from Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval: “Romney’s choice of running mate should promise something Washington now lacks — adult supervision.”

Paul Ryan gets more glowing buzz.

Others think rather than bold, Romney needs “boring.”

The Chicago Sun-Times’ Washington: “As Romney steams toward the Re­publican presidential nomination, his campaign is vetting vice presidential possibilities. It is the most important choice he will make before the Republican convention in Tampa. Why not a woman?”

The Daily Beast lists what it sees as Romney’s top five choices.

“GOP Rep. Paul Ryan appears to be in the top mix of any list, to be sure,” Fox writes and looks at a slew of others.