Mitt Romney promised this past weekend that the wealthy would “still pay the same share of the tax burden they’re paying now” and that he’s “not looking for a tax cut for the very wealthiest.” And: “I'm not looking to reduce the burden paid by the wealthiest.”

He added, “I’m looking to bring tax rates down for everyone.”

That’s what he said on CBS’s Face the Nation, despite the Tax Policy Center’s analysis earlier this year that showed that those making more than $1 million a year would get a $146,000 a year cut from Romney’s plan (by lowering the top rate to 26.6%) – and that the poor would pay more than it currently does (because the base would be broadened).

(Here's the Tax Policy Center's full table laying it out.)

So what’s changed? Nothing, says Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the center, who conducted the original analysis.

The key, Williams says, is Romney’s language. And Romney’s very careful here to say, “pay the same share of the tax burden.”

That means that if his plan cuts the rate for the wealthy, which it does, then he has to make that up with which “tax preferences that he’d get rid of,” Williams said. In other words, the only way the wealthiest would pay the same share is if Romney closes unspecified tax loopholes. And that is where Romney has been vague.

Though he promises to perhaps get rid of certain deductions, he has yet to specify which. When Face the Nation moderator Bob Schieffer pressed Romney, he declined to say what he would do.

“Well, we'll go through that process with Congress,” he said, adding he’d consider certain deductions and exemptions.

Asked what his ideas are now, Romney again cited Simpson-Bowles, the bipartisan commission formed by the president to find a solution that would reduce the nation’s debt and deficits. But he would only say “deductions and exemptions,” and didn’t specify which.

In fact, it would likely be very difficult for Romney to find the deductions necessary to keep the wealthy from paying the same share, because, as Williams points out, there aren’t many “deductions or exemptions” that have an outsized benefit for the rich outside of capital gains, dividends, and exclusions for municipal bond interest.

Things like state and local tax deductions and the popular mortgage-interest deduction discussed in Simpson-Bowles, Williams said, would most benefit the middle- to upper-middle class.

Romney has already said he would not raise the capital gains tax; he would keep it at the current rate of 15 percent for those making more than $200,000 a year. So that’s one lever eliminated to make up the difference.

He has said he would at least “consider taxing some ‘carried interest’ at regular income tax rates,” the New York Times wrote. But it’s not at all clear if he would actually do that, something the private-equity and hedge-fund world would strongly oppose.

“It is really hard to maintain the distribution, maintain the same share of taxes that they are paying now,” Williams said of the wealthy under Romney’s plan.

He also points out that Romney would “extend the Bush tax cuts, but kill the Obama tax cuts,” like the earned-income tax credit expansion, child-care credits, educational tax credits, making them “less generous, less refundable.” And: “The people hit by that almost exclusively are not the rich at all.”

Obama, by contrast, has promised to raise taxes on the rich. “Every budget,” Williams noted, Obama “said he’s going to raise taxes on rich.”

But there wouldn’t be enough revenue generated from the so-called Buffet Rule -- which would tax capital gains, as if it were regular wages – or eliminating oil and gas subsidies, popular with Capitol Hill Democrats, to make a big dent in the nation’s debt and deficits.

So, the choice is: A vague plan from Romney that, of what’s known so far, disproportionately benefits the wealthy and isn’t at all clear that it would raise enough revenue to offset its cost; or Obama’s, which targets the rich, but also would do little to close the nation’s deficits.

Mitt Romney’s search for a running mate appears to have narrowed, as clues to whom Romney might select as his No. 2 begin to pile up in the media.

A campaign that prides itself on discipline had, to date, exacted tight control over the process of vetting candidates to serve at the former Massachusetts governor’s No. 2, a fact that Romney bragged on Tuesday.

"I get a kick out of some of the speculation that goes on," Romney told Sean Hannity of Fox News in an interview to air this evening. "I'm not going to comment on the process of course, but I can tell you this: only Beth Myers and I know who is being vetted."

That comment came amid new reports on Tuesday that Marco Rubio, the popular Florida Republican senator, had not been asked – yet, at least – to submit the materials typically associated with vetting a vice presidential candidate.

ABC News initially reported that Rubio wasn’t being vetted, and the Washington Post followed up with indications that Rubio hadn’t made it past an initial review by Romney’s high command.

Romney’s quip to Fox served as a knowing acknowledgement, though, of what members of the media have encountered in their search for details on the veepstakes: News is fleeting, largely because the Romney campaign’s high command keeps details on lockdown.

Even some of the most plugged in advisers to Romneyworld profess genuine ignorance of the vetting process.

Myers, Romney’s former chief of staff as governor, is leading the search for a prospective vice president. She might lack some of the skills of political figures previously tasked with her job – John McCain had power lawyer A.B. Culvahouse lead his vetting in 2008 – but Myers is described as a figure whom Romney holds in high esteem. She was selected precisely because it would mean no leaks, and because she understands Romney and his desire for an experienced vice presidential candidate who won’t overshadow the top of the ticket.

Other broad contours of the process have emerged, too. A New York Times story earlier this week floated the idea that Romney could introduce his choice in July, well before the Republican convention in August. Most presidential nominees traditionally reveal their choice of a running mate shortly before their nominating convention.

Larry Downing / Reuters

GOP candidate Mitt Romney speaks at a campaign event at the Bavarian Inn Lodge in Frankenmuth, Mich.

The Times also included a kicker paragraph that suggested that the Romney campaign might be wary of selecting Chris Christie, since the bombastic New Jersey governor might threaten to overshadow Romney.

One informal Romney adviser suggested that a candidate who’s seen his stock improve is former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, in part because Pawlenty would do anything but overshadow Romney. A runner-up in the 2008 veepstakes, Pawlenty is said to be especially appealing to Ann Romney, who’s built a rapport with Pawlenty’s wife, Mary.

Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan are also generally perceived as short-listers for Romney. Each of them, along with Pawlenty, joined Romney for portions of his swing-state bus tour over the last five days.

Officially, most of the Republicans thought to be candidates for the vice presidency have also declined to comment on the process.

"I won't discuss the vice presidential process, out of respect for Gov. Romney," Rubio said Tuesday on CNBC. "I know he is going to make a great choice."

That means that, until the pick is made known, observers are more likely to learn about the process through candidate attrition. Case in point: Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels agreed to become the next president of Purdue University, removing his name from the list of candidates, though he wasn’t ever seen as Romney’s likely running mate.

The few-and-far-between details stand in contrast to the McCain campaign in 2008, which had basically broadcast publicly that the Arizona Republican wished to select his friend, the independent Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, as his running mate. With the exception of McCain’s ultimate selection of Sarah Palin as his vice presidential nominee, much about the Republican’s campaign wasn’t secret.

The Romney campaign seems determined to learn from McCain’s mistakes, maybe even to a fault. The process of vetting a vice presidential candidate can be political in its own right; look no further than a top Rubio advocate’s pushback to BuzzFeed about the Florida senator’s supposed exclusion from Romney’s short list.

But in leaking few details about their search, the Romney campaign also loses out on an opportunity to show they’ve at least made an effort to seek out various candidates whose mere consideration might be needed to placate certain corners of the party.

In particular, few women except for New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte – a freshman lawmaker from New England with only scant federal experience – are thought to be under consideration by Romney.

"I think, unfortunately, Palin poisoned the well on that," said one informal Romney adviser, fretting that any woman selected as VP would draw inevitable comparisons to the former Alaska governor. "I would guess if I were inside the Romney mind that they're worried that any woman chosen will be subjected to a higher level of scrutiny. "

But beyond Rubio, there are virtually no candidates for the vice presidential slot who would represent any diversity on the Republican ticket, a dicey proposition given Romney’s political deficits with women and Latino voters, as well as his opponent this fall: the nation’s first black president.

Mitch Daniels will be named president of Purdue University, as first reported by WISH-TV.

Asked if the news was true, a top Daniels source would not deny reports and told First Read, “It is confirmed by impeccable sources.”

The Purdue Board is meeting Thursday to finalize the offer to Daniels.

Daniels is finishing his second and final term as governor of Indiana and had been considered a potential VP pick for Romney.

NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports that a Daniels aide said officially, "Our office does not have a comment about the report."

Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ) has introduced legislation that would stop President Obama's recent executive action involving the children of illegal immigrants and their ability to stay in the United States.

Specifically, it prevents the Department of Homeland Security from enforcing a presidential executive action as immigration law. 

"Instead of working with Congress to secure our border and reform our immigration policy, Obama sought to circumvent Congress once again," Schweikert said in a statement. "This thinly veiled political ploy is detrimental to Americans and while President Obama asks the Department of Homeland Security to 'look the other way' on immigration policy, I ask him to respect the rule of law."

It's not clear if this bill will be brought to the House floor for a vote, as House Speaker John Boehner failed today to say if he supports or opposes Obama's new policy; he instead said the new policy makes it harder to achieve long-standing immigration reform.

Democrats say they have reserved $46.1 million in TV ad time in 60 districts in their "Drive for 25."

For Democrats to wrest control of the House of Representatives back from Republicans, there would need to be yet another wave election -- 25 seats to flip. The Cook Political Report's David Wasserman predicts so far Democrats pick up fewer than that, from five to 15 seats at this point.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee narrowly outraised its counterpart in May, bringing in $6.7 million to the National Republican Congressional Committee's $6 million. The DCCC has outraised the NRCC this cycle $96.8 million to $86.6 million. But the NRCC has more cash on hand -- $33.5 million to $27.5 million.

The TV ad buys are in 37 districts currently held by Republicans, 11 held by Democrats, and 12 where there are open races.

The NRCC responds with two points:

(1) that it raised more than $4.5 million just this morning at a conference to launch its Battleground Program; and (2) Its Chairman Pete Sessions (R-TX), said at the meeting: “If we want to strengthen the majority, we’ve got to earn it.” The message was: the committee is in a strong financial position, but that it's not a time to rest on laurels, and that the stakes are too high for anyone to take it for granted.

FRANKENMUTH, MI -- Returning to the state where he was raised and which propelled his turnaround in the Republican primary, an enthusiastic Mitt Romney declared Tuesday: "I'm going to win Michigan with your help!"

Energetic (and clearly enjoying himself despite the June heat) the presumptive Republican presidential nominee predicted victory in a typically Democratic Midwestern state for the second day in a row, following his projection on Monday that he'd win Wisconsin.

"I grew up in Michigan as you know, born and raised here and if I'm lucky enough to become president I'll be the first president in American history to be born in Michigan," Romney said to cheers. "And I won't forget Frankenmuth, I won't forget Michigan, I won't forget how much I owe to this great state to the people here, I love this state. It's a beautiful place and it's got terrific people."

Bouyed by a warm reception from the crowd here, punctuated by chants of "Go Mitt Go," and the notable absence of protestors for one of the first times on his six-state bus tour, Romney might be forgiven his optimism thanks in part to family history here, which he and his wife gleefully put on display this morning.

"I can't believe it. We're in Michigan. Yay!" Mrs. Romney exclaimed. "People don't know how wonderful it is to be from Michigan."

The Romneys certainly appreciate Michigan's wonder -- the candidate famously jokes that the trees in the state are the "right height."

Mitt Romney's father was a popular two-term governor here, and his squeaker win over Rick Santorum in his birth state helped put the primary election away for good. But Democrats have carried Michigan in every election since 1988, and President Obama won the state by a stout 17 points in 2008.

Romney's advisers remain confident of their ability to challenge Obama here, however, noting the power of Romney's last name -- Michiganders are used to voting for a Romney, one top adviser explained -- and the success of the state's popular Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, whose "tough nerd" persona and fiscal focus has shown the state a brand of Republicanism they can embrace.

But Romney faces significant challenges here as well, including his opposition to the president's bailout of Detroit automakers. During the primary campaign, Romney regularly mentioned his opposition and said Obama ultimately resorted to a managed bankruptcy for the automakers, which Romney claims was his plan all along. Today, he did not mention the bailout at all.

Instead, Romney made mention of free trade as a lever with which to prop up the auto industry.

"If I'm president, I want  to open up new markets for American goods, make sure that places that won't take our cars, they finally knock down those regulations to let our products go in there" Romney said. 

Brendan Hoffman / Getty Images

Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) speaks at the 2012 Fiscal Summit in Washington, D.C.

LEBANON, OH -- There is something haunting a top contender for the Republican vice-presidential nomination.

Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, along with his brother and sister, own The Golden Lamb, a landmark hotel in the southwestern part of the Buckeye State, where scores of historical figures have spent the night.

It is the oldest continuously run business in the state and has housed the likes of Charles Dickens, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Ulysses S. Grant. Twelve presidents have visited, and it has served as the backdrop for multiple campaign events, including a McCain-Palin rally in 2008.

But it is in a small room on the hotel's fourth floor that houses its spookiest lodger.

Through a glass encasing in the room, there is a plastic doll lying on a child-size bed surrounded by toys from the late 19th Century. It is here, where, "The restless spirit of a young girl materializes in this small room," at least according to a letter posted outside the door.

Portman neither confirmed nor denied the existence of a haunting spirit in his hotel. But he did say in an email to First Read that his mother "had some stories" from her time living there as a child and then later operating the business for seven years.

"She used to say there were some 'interesting' sounds she heard at night, including what she said sounded like a chain dragging on the carpet," Portman wrote. "Now that was some years ago, but, just saying."

Owning a self-proclaimed haunted hotel can be added to the list of quirky facts that have trickled out about the Ohio senator since he became a key surrogate for the GOP nominee. A knock against him during this season of VP speculation has been that he is boring. But friends and close aides are quick to push back against that narrative. They cite his dry wit and his penchant for adventure -- like the time he smuggled a kayak into China to ride the Yangtze River. 

Not to mention the ghost.

The ghoulish girl, who some believe walks the halls of The Golden Lamb, is Sarah Stubbs, who, despite passing away in 1957, "cannot find peace in the world beyond," according the information outside the room. The story of Sarah's haunting is rather mundane compared to that of other ghost stories. She lived to be 79, and those familiar with the story acknowledge she lived a happy and stable life. However, her father passed away when she was a young girl and did not enjoy her time living at the hotel.

The Golden Lamb attempts to put to rest any confusion: "Investigators into the realm of the supernatural believe in the ‘Imprint Theory,’ which holds that traumatic experiences, such as the loss of her dear father and the move to new surroundings left an imprint on the youthful Sarah's spirit, so that she returns as a little girl, even though she died as an old woman many years later."

The hotel embraces the ghost story, but it is the history of famous guests that it most heavily promotes. Outside each room is the name of a person who either visited or stayed the night. You can make reservations for the "Martin Van Buren Room" or the "John Quincy Adams Room," though the staff is unsure if the famous guests actually overnighted in the exact room that bears their names. Along with the 18-room hotel, The Golden Lamb has multiple dining rooms, a tavern, and a gift shop.

Tim Price, assistant general manager at The Golden Lamb, said he has not had any paranormal experiences in the year and a half he's worked there, but he and other members can rattle off names of others who claim to have seen a ghost. 

"If you want to see something, you'll probably see something," he said.

Price said Portman remains very involved in the management of the property and frequently stops by when in town. Despite working for a politician, Price says he has not been paying much attention to the speculation that his boss could be tapped as Mitt Romney's running mate.

When Price is asked if he thinks Portman would make a good vice president, he quickly nodded and said, "Yup."

And maybe, just maybe, he can bring his experience dealing with the supernatural to the White House, a place some believe is among the most haunted places in America - something Michelle Obama alluded to in 2009.

This week’s 10 hottest advertising markets: It’s all about VA, OH, and CO… Just one NC market on the list… Restore Our Future goes up with big TV ad buy, while Crossroads goes down (and it’s no accident)… Poll: Obama’s immigration play looks to be an early winner… Romney slams Obama on Russia… Rubio isn’t being vetted?... Kerry to play Romney in Team Obama’s mock debates… And Romney bus tour ends today in Michigan.

Kevin Lamarque / REUTERS

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama wave to supporters during a campaign rally at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia May 5, 2012.

*** This week’s 10 hottest advertising markets: So where is the TV ad war taking place in the presidential race? Eight of the 10 hottest advertising markets (in terms of advertising points from June 18-24) are in the three battleground states of Virginia, Ohio, and Colorado. In fact, three of this week’s top four markets are in Virginia, including No.1 Richmond (which was No.2 last week). Three Ohio markets make our list (Cincy, Cleveland, Columbus), compared with just one from last week. Also, for the first time on our weekly list, we have two Colorado markets (Colorado Springs and Denver). This shouldn’t be surprising after our NBC-Marist poll showed a tight race in the state and especially after that Peter Hart focus group there. And finally, there’s just one North Carolina market (Charlotte) after four Tar Heel State markets were on our list last week (Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, Greensboro, and Asheville). Bottom line: This week, it’s all about Virginia, Ohio, and Colorado. By the way, for those scoring at home, a Virginia market has been No.1 in the most saturated category for two of the last three weeks.

1. Richmond-Petersburg: Obama 1,074, Romney 981, Priorities 337, Restore 265, Crossroads 45
2. Norfolk-Portsmouth: Obama 1,090, Romney 889, Priorities 280, Restore 240, Crossroads 51
3. Colorado Springs: Romney 1,062, Obama 755, Restore 355, Priorities 226, Crossroads 40
4. Roanoke-Lynchburg: Obama 1,057, Romney 830, Restore 416, Crossroads 69
5. Cincinnati: Obama 998, Romney 877, Restore 347, Crossroads 56
6. Cleveland: Obama 951, Romney 625, Restore 229, Priorities 213, Crossroads 46
7. Denver: Obama 885, Romney 825, Restore 225, Priorities 123
8. Columbus: Obama 723, Romney 610, Priorities 341, Restore 199, Crossroads 69
9. Charlotte: Romney 749, Obama 746, Restore 324, Crossroads 45
10. Des Moines: Obama 740, Romney 623, Restore 207, Planned Parenthood 159, Crossroads 36

*** Restore goes up, Crossroads goes down: As you might see in the numbers above, the pro-Romney Super PAC Restore Our Future is back in action. Indeed, according to ad-buying data from SMG Delta, Restore has purchased a $7.2 million buy from June 20-30 in nine battleground states: CO, FL, IA, NH, NV, NC, OH, PA, and VA. Also note that the Super PAC is advertising in Miami and Philadelphia, two expensive markets where the Obama campaign hasn’t spent much money. This big buy comes, of course, after reports that Sheldon Adelson and his wife cut Restore Our Future a $10 million check. One other thing to note: Restore is going up just as Crossroads GPS is going down. This is no accident, folks. These two advertising entities are run, in part, by Romney ’08 aide Carl Forti. And these groups are allowed to coordinate. It’s a one-two punch for the pro-Romney groups. This does NOT count the Koch Brothers’ conservative groups (Americans for Prosperity and American Energy Alliance), which emphatically do NOT coordinate with the Rove-Romney entities.

*** Obama’s immigration play looks to be an early winner: So how is President Obama’s immigration announcement playing? According to the first major poll we’ve seen -- from Bloomberg -- it appears to be early winner. “Sixty-four percent of likely voters surveyed after Obama’s June 15 announcement said they agreed with the policy, while 30 percent said they disagreed. Independents backed the decision by better than a two-to-one margin.” Also, make no mistake about the impact of the praise that Mexican President Calderon showered on Obama. We imagine that got bigger play on the major Spanish-language TV networks than on the English-language stations, something Chicago won’t be too upset about.

*** Romney slams Obama on Russia: Yesterday’s body language between Obama and Putin at the G20 was striking for everyone to see. And, in a way, it plays into Mitt Romney’s talking points that Russia is a threat that the Obama administration hasn’t taken seriously. In fact, here’s Romney to FOX: “The Obama message to Moscow has been a reset policy -- that somehow everything is warm and fuzzy between us and Moscow. And what we've seen over the last several years is that Moscow didn't get the message. The president's reset policy has been an abject failure.” As for the policy front, Obama aides are emphatic that more progress was made between the two leaders on how to move forward on Syria. The news is that Putin has moved from being against removing Assad from power to at least considering it. The sticking point: Russia does not believe the U.S. has made a case that there’s a credible Plan B that will allow for stability post-Assad. Putin apparently pointed to the current situation in Egypt as an example of how unpredictable these power vacuums become. That said, the Obama folks hinted that a formal political process post-Assad could be made public in days and the implication given at a press briefing yesterday was that if that was the case, the plan would have SOME blessing from Russia.

*** Rubio isn’t being vetted? ABC’s Jonathan Karl is reporting that -- as of right now -- Marco Rubio isn’t being vetted by the Romney campaign. (NBC News has been unable to confirm this report, and Rubio himself declined to talk about the VP process in an interview with CNBC.) “Knowledgeable Republican sources tell me that Rubio is not being vetted by Mitt Romney’s vice presidential search team. He has not been asked to complete any questionnaires or been asked to turn over any financial documents typically required of potential vice presidential candidates.” The article does contain this caveat, though: “Although it is possible that Rubio may yet be asked to go through the vetting process, it has been nearly two months since Romney named his long-time aide Beth Myers to run his vice presidential search.” What is going on here? We’ve never believed that Rubio was going to the Romney’s camp’s top-top guy, but do they want it out there that the GOP’s highest-profile Latino isn’t being vetted? Or maybe they do if he’s not going to be the one – in order to lower expectations. Over the last two weeks, potential VPers Bob McDonnell and Mitch Daniels both admitted they were not being vetted either (at least in terms of asking to turn over papers). So it’s also possible the Romney team simply hasn’t made the ask yet of any candidates regarding personal and financial records.

*** Kerry to play Romney: In other news in the presidential race, we reported yesterday that the Obama campaign has picked John Kerry to play Mitt Romney in the mock debates. No doubt, Kerry is a proven debater (against Bush in ’04 and Weld in ’96). But do you think Team Obama is relishing all the Kerry-Romney comparisons? An aide tells us Kerry is a good foil for the president for three reasons: 1) he’ll take the work seriously; 2) he knows Romney and has a “strong sense” of him; and 3) Kerry’s relationship with the president is strong, so he won’t be shy about being aggressive with him in prep.

*** On the trail: Romney’s five-day bus tour comes to an end today in Michigan. He holds a business roundtable in Frankenmuth at 9:10 am ET, a rally there 45 minutes later, and another rather in Holland at 6:25 pm…. Also today, Vice President Biden addresses the AFSCME conference in Los Angeles… And First Lady Michelle Obama speaks to campaign volunteers in Henderson, NV. 

Countdown to GOP convention: 69 days
Countdown to Dem convention: 76 days
Countdown to Election Day: 140 days

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*** Tuesday’s “Daily Rundown” line-up: Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD) on immigration and the economy… msnbc's Chris Hayes on his new book "Twilight of the Elites"… Watergate anniversary and legacy thoughts from Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein… More 2012 headlines with Heritage Action's Mike Needham, msnbc's Alex Wagner and Politico's Manu Raju.

*** Tuesday’s “Jansing & Co.” line-up: MSNBC’s Chris Jansing interviews Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT), USA Today’s Susan Page, Republican ad executive Brad Todd, Dem strategist Chris Kofinis, American University political scientist Allan J. Lichtman, NBC Latino’s Adrian Carrasquillo, and APIA Vote Chair Toby Chaudhuri.

*** Tuesday’s “NOW with Alex Wagner” line-up: Alex Wagner’s guests include the Huffington Post’s Sam Stein, Time’s Michael Scherer, Politico’s Glenn Thrush, and Bloomberg View’s Margaret Carlson.

*** Tuesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza, NBC’s Chuck Todd, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), former State Department spokesman PJ Crowley, New York Times Columnist and author Gail Collins, and foreign policy analyst Robin Wright.

*** Tuesday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: MSNBC’s Tamron Hall interviews PA attorney general candidate and former Lachawanna prosecutor Kathleen Kane (on Sandusky), and Anne Kornblut and Earl Offari Hutchinson (on politics of the day).

Bloomberg: “President Barack Obama is winning the opening round in the battle over immigration, according to a Bloomberg poll released today, putting Republicans on the defensive with his decision to end the deportations of some illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. Sixty-four percent of likely voters surveyed after Obama’s June 15 announcement said they agreed with the policy, while 30 percent said they disagreed. Independents backed the decision by better than a two-to-one margin.”

“Cristina Saralegui, who has hosted The Cristina Show for 21 years, said Obama ‘understands the Hispanic community and has supported it unconditionally and that is why I was moved to endorse and campaign for our president's re-election,’” USA Today writes. “Saralegui also cut an ad for the Obama election team.”

The Obama campaign released this statement today: “On CBS’s ‘Face the Nation’ Sunday, Mitt Romney attempted to link his own tax and fiscal plans with the recommendations of the President's Simpson-Bowles budget commission. But the reality is that Gov. Romney's plan is fundamentally incompatible with Simpson-Bowles or any responsible approach to deficit reduction. Romney said again in Sunday's interview that he would not ask the wealthiest Americans to contribute even one additional dollar to help reduce our deficits. In fact, his plan would include an additional tax cut of $5 trillion.  Yet he refused again to answer specifically how he would pay for this cut. Simpson-Bowles would reduce the deficits.  The Romney plan would explode them.”

The Boston Globe goes to Ohio: “[A]s grateful as autoworkers are for the help, the $85 billion government rescue that pulled GM and Chrysler from the brink might not be enough to guarantee President Obama the same overwhelming support he received here in 2008… Any erosion of support in lunch-bucket Toledo could prove disastrous for Obama, who will need the 2-to-1 ratio he garnered here in 2008 to offset Romney’s strengths elsewhere.”

Does the Obama campaign need to go “Moneyball” to overcome the power of Super PACs? Huffington Post’s Stein talks to the creator of the concept in baseball who offers some political advice and looks at whether a deep analytical look at statistics can break through in political strategy.

Obama will be in Tampa Friday.

Romney’s five-day bus tour ends today with stops in his native state of Michigan.

“Mitt Romney has been criss-crossing Midwestern swing states over the past few days as part of an expansive bus tour through Middle America, but on Monday the presumptive Republican nominee found himself on a boat,” The Hill writes. “Romney held a campaign event Monday afternoon on the ‘Spirit of Dubuque,’ a Mississippi River boat that provides tours of the Iowa border town.”

“The Mitt Romney campaign continued to turn President Obama’s words against him Monday in a new Web video that shows a confident Obama accepting responsibility for the state of the US economy,” the Boston Globe writes.

All five of Romney’s sons will be on Conan tomorrow night.

Romney’s “bus tour -- a quest for exposure and votes in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin,  Iowa and Michigan -- has showcased no less than four Republican leaders often mentioned as prospective running mates for Romney. In addition to Ryan and Portman, Romney has appeared with New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty in what amount to auditions for the second most powerful position in the United States government,” National Journal writes. It goes on to write about each one’s role.

Kelly Ayotte and Marco Rubio will speak at a Restore Our Future fundraiser.

CHRISTIE: GOP 12 pulls this out of the New York Times story: “Mr. Romney has formed some early impressions, according to several Republicans who spoke on the condition of anonymity: Mr. Christie is often late, as he was during a $5 million fund-raising dinner in New York City last month. After a few uncomfortable moments, Mr. Romney finally had to take the stage and speak first. When Mr. Christie did arrive, it was left to Mr. Romney to introduce him to the crowd.”

JINDAL: “Gov. Bobby Jindal has vetoed a bill that would have allowed small-town officials to do business with a person who has a business relationship with the municipality,” the New Orleans Times Picayune reports. “However, Jindal signed into law House Bill 206 by Rep. Girod Jackson III, D-Marrero, that would allow members of the Jefferson Parish Council and the boards that run East Jefferson and West Jefferson general hospitals to hire immediate family members as doctors, nurses or other health professionals.”

Getting personal? “Treasurer John Kennedy, a critic of the Jindal administration's financial policies, has found his budget cut with Gov. Bobby Jindal's line-item veto,” AP writes.

Jindal may get plaudits from conservatives about his ed reform policy, but it’s not without controversy. “The debate over public school reform often ends up in court,” the Shreveport Times writes. “Critics of Gov. Bobby Jindal's education legislation, passed by the Louisiana Legislature in April, already have filed lawsuits against it, citing violations of the state constitution and other matters.”

MCDONNELL: “Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell is again playing hardball with regional transportation officials, and one key Northern Virginia Democrat is questioning the Republican administration's commitment to the $6 billion Dulles Rail line,” the Washington Examiner writes. “Even though the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority gave in to McDonnell's demands and killed off a union-friendly labor agreement, McDonnell last week ordered the ouster of an authority board member with union ties, replacing him with a new member that the authority had previously refused to seat.”

McDonnell was in Europe hoping to broker trade deals.

PAWLENTY: He was on CNN hitting Obama on immigration for Romney.

RUBIO: ABC’s Jonathan Karl is reporting that -- as of right now -- Marco Rubio isn’t being vetted by the Romney campaign. (NBC News has been unable to confirm this report, and Rubio himself declined to talk about the VP process in an interview with CNBC.) “Knowledgeable Republican sources tell me that Rubio is not being vetted by Mitt Romney’s vice presidential search team. He has not been asked to complete any questionnaires or been asked to turn over any financial documents typically required of potential vice presidential candidates.”

USA Today’s Page profiles the Florida senator: “Rubio bats away speculation about whether Romney will choose him as the GOP vice presidential nominee this summer — ‘Look, it's flattering; it's also fleeting’ — and says he hasn't thought about whether he might run for president down the road, though he doesn't dismiss the idea.”

More: “It is a curiosity of American politics that, while Latino voters are overwhelmingly Democratic, the highest-ranking Latino officeholders are just as likely to be Republican. Both Hispanic governors now in office, Susana Martinez of New Mexico and Brian Sandoval of Nevada, are Republicans. In the Senate, the only other Hispanic is Democrat Bob Menendez of New Jersey.”

“Marco Rubio was so consumed making fundraising calls for his U.S. Senate race that he didn't notice his youngest son had slipped out of their Miami home and nearly drowned,” the Tampa Bay Times writes. “It is one of many regrets about his political career that Rubio shares in An American Son, his memoir out today.”

More: “The book presents a paradox. Rubio's rise has been fueled by a rich family narrative, the son of hard-working Cuban immigrants, but a relentless political drive leaves him questioning whether he entered politics too early and missed too much time with his wife and four children.”

“Unlike the Tampa convention, where events so far have been private, invitation-only affairs, the Democrats are encouraging participation by as many members of the public as possible. Hundreds of local students attended a ‘Kids Convention,’ for instance, and 2,000 people showed up for a year-out party,” the Tampa Bay Times writes. “The GOP host committee's opening party, expected to be at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, will be private, while Democrats are kicking things off with a public Labor Day family fun festival at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Likewise, the public is invited to the final night of the convention to see Obama at the 74,000-seat Bank of America Stadium.”

FLORIDA: FreedomWorks is endorsing Connie Mack (R).

MAINE: “Angus King is running for the Senate on a campaign pledge to tell voters how he will vote right after they elect him in November,” USA Today’s Davis writes. The independent candidate, a popular former governor, is the front-runner in the open race for the seat held by retiring GOP Sen. Olympia Snowe. He is running a campaign on a platform of changing Congress and resisting partisanship, which is complicated by the fact that senators must align with a party to receive committee assignments and determine control of the chamber. King won't say before Election Day whether he will align himself with Republicans or Democrats if he wins. ‘I don't answer that question because I don't know,’ King told USA TODAY in an interview.”

A new poll has King up 50-23% over Secretary of State Charlie Summers (R). State Sen. Cynthia Dill (D) gets 9%.

NEVADA: Dean Heller’s up with his first ad. And again… it’s anti-Washington and anti-Congress. He says if Congress doesn’t pass a budget, members shouldn’t get paid.

President Obama and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, met on Monday for the first time since the violent uprising in Syria began to discuss possible actions to limit further bloodshed in the meeting.

Putin, who reassumed the presidency of Russia earlier this year, met with Obama in bilateral talks that stretched for some time; both leaders were in Mexico for this week's G-20 summit.

Both leaders said they found common ground on the conflict, but shed little light on the steps upon which they agreed were needed to mount the violence between the Syrian people and the country's rulers. Putin is an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has generally resisted imposing more sanctions on that regime.

Putin shared just two sentences on the issue of Syria, speaking through a translator: “We also discussed international affairs, including the Syrian affair. From my perspective, we've been able to find many commonalities pertaining to all of those issues.”

Obama said the leaders “agreed that we need to see a cessation of the violence, that a political process has to be created to prevent civil war, and the kind of horrific events that we've seen over the last several weeks, and we pledged to work with other international actors including the United Nations, [UN Special Envoy] Kofi Annan, and all the interested parties in trying to find a resolution to this problem.”

At a press briefing after the two leaders met, Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, stressed that Putin supports a political transition in which Assad loses power, even if the Russian president is not as vocal about such views as other leaders. 

“It's true the Russians have not publicly issued the same type of call for Assad to step down,” Rhodes acknowledged.

During the meeting, President Obama also said the two leaders discussed negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, stressing the “shared approach” among members of the P5+1, a group that includes the U.S., Britain, Russia, France and China plus Germany, in their dealings toward the Iranian regime.

That emphasis on a shared approach highlights Russia's opposition to unilateral sanctions against Iran, such as the ones installed by the United States against countries that do business with Iranian oil companies. Just last week, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said during a press conference in Iran that “unilateral sanctions by others will never have a positive and constructive outcome.”

Obama also made a passing reference to an issue that has been a key factor in US-Russia relations, but over which the president recently got into domestic political hot water: missile defense.

During a meeting in March with then-Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, Obama was caught on a hot microphone saying he would have “more flexibility” on the missile shield issue after the November elections, to which Medvedev uttered the now-infamous response, “I will transmit this information to Vladimir.” Republicans pounced on the exchange, saying it represented American weakness on the international stage.

But today, Putin gave little indication of just what was transmitted, as the only thing either leader said on the topic was that it was discussed among a “range of strategic issues,” according to Obama, and that they “resolved to continue to work through some of the difficult problems involved there.”

The interaction between the two leaders, meeting for just the second time, was perceived by the press in the room as somewhat chilly. As the group of journalists was ushered out of the room, “Messrs. Obama and Putin remained seated, their interpreters had stepped away, sitting side-by-side on the other side of the room -- and they just stared straight ahead. No interacting or chit chatting,” one pool reporter wrote.

But administration officials later urged observers not to read in to the encounter.

“This isn’t the first Body Language-Gate that we've had with the Russians,” Rhode said, noting that relations between Obama and Medvedev, who are considered to have a more friendly relationship than that between Obama and Putin, have also been perceived as frosty.

“That's just his style. I would encourage you not to read too much into that as part of relationship,” said U.S. ambassador to Russia Mike McFaul, also at the briefing today.

The Obama campaign has tapped Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) -- the party's presidential nominee in 2004 -- to play Mitt Romney in the mock debate preparations, according to officials in the campaign and in the senator's office.

Kerry is a logical choice here, having both home-state experience with Romney and being in the spotlight himself with debates against George W. Bush in 2004, as well as a series of high-profile debates against Republican Bill Weld in 1996.

The Romney campaign hasn't announced who will play Obama in its mock debates. But Sen. Rob Portman, who is one of Romney's VP possibilities, played Barack Obama for John McCain in 2008. 

President Obama's nominee to become ambassador to Iraq withdrew on Monday in light of revelations of personal conduct that spurred questions about his fitness to serve.

Brett McGurk wrote the president and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday to notify them that he had withdrawn his name from consideration over the position. Conservatives had questioned McGurk's nomination after emails surfaced detailing an extramarital affair between McGurk and a reporter, whom he subsequently married.

"[A]fter much thought over the past week, and having discussed the issue with my wife ... I bvelieve it is in the best interests of the country, and of our life together, to withdraw my nomination and serve in another capacity," McGurk wrote.

Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said: "While we regret to see Brett withdraw his candidacy there is no doubt that he will be called on again to serve the country."

The withdrawal means that the president must nominate another ambassadorial candidate for the high-profile position in Iraq. The relationship between the U.S. and Iraq is at an especially important inflection point, given the transition to a post-war relationship between the two nations.

Attorney General Eric Holder will meet with Rep. Darrell Issa on Tuesday, NBC's Pete Williams reported, in hopes of resolving a Republican threat to hold Holder in contempt of Congress.

Holder wrote a letter to Issa on Monday proposing the two of them meet on Tuesday; his offer came in response to a letter Issa, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, had sent to the attorney general last Friday.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Attorney General Eric Holder answers questions while testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill.

Issa and House Republicans are angry that Holder has so far refused to turn over most documents subpoenaed by the oversight panel in its investigation of "Operation Fast and Furious," a government gun-running operation in Mexico. Issa has scheduled a meeting of the committee on Wednesday to consider holding Holder in contempt, though it could be postponed if Republicans are satisfied by Holder's efforts to comply.

Read Holder's full letter to Issa here

JANESVILLE, WI -- Mitt Romney made a bold prediction in Wisconsin to open the fourth day of his swing state bus tour: he would steal the Badger State from the Democratic column this November.

"I think President Obama had just put this in his column, he just assumed at the very beginning Wisconsin was going to be his," Romney told a crowd of more than 700 supporters gathered on a factory floor here. "But you know what, we’re going to win Wisconsin. We’re going to get the White House."

Romney made only one stop here today on his five-day, six-state bus tour, and it might be for the best -- his campaign bus might not have seats for all the surrogates who came out to support him this morning.

Evan Vucci / AP

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney gestures during a campaign stop at Monterey Mills June 18 in Janesville, Wis.

There was Sen. Ron Johnson, who toppled Democrat Russ Feingold in 2010, and Reince Priebus, the Kenosha-born former Wisconsin GOP chairman who now leads the Republican National Committee.

"I got to tell you we have a little stimulus plan of our own and the stimulus plan is renowned by economists, like Paul Ryan," Priebus said. "Here is the stimulus plan: elect Mitt Romney, fire Barack Obama, and save America, right?"

But the loudest cheers weren't for Rep. Paul Ryan, the hometown favorite in Janesville and possible vice presidential contender; Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, the recent victor in a recall election who introduced Romney, who elicited the loudest cheers from the crowd.

“It is my honor to still be the 45th governor of Wisconsin and it is my honor to be on the stage with the man I hope is the 45th president of these United States,” Walker said.

Walker's retention in the face of a labor-backed recall challenge, has fired up the Republican base here. The governor emerged as a hero to conservatives after eliminating most public workers' collective bargaining rights. Despite sharp disagreements over the implications of Walker's victory over Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D) earlier this month, the Romney campaign's senior advisers say they plan to compete aggressively in Wisconsin this fall, if only to keep President Obama on defense.

Romney was also on the attack this morning, accusing the president of replacing a slogan of "hope and change" with a hope to change the subject away from the economy, and of being unable to run on a tepid economic recovery the president insists needs more time to catch fire.

"These are challenging times for Americans, and because of [President Obama's] failed record his campaign is having a hard time deciding what to talk about, because they’d like to talk about the economy, they'd like to talk about his record but you know, the last time his campaign slogan was hope and change this time he’s going with: we hope to change the subject," Romney said.

Romney and Democrats also traded charges of evasiveness in the speech and subsequent spinning from the Obama campaign, with a spokesperson for the president's campaign declaring Romney's speech to be packed with "evasive and angry rhetoric," and Romney accusing the president of trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the American people as he fought for more time in office.

"He tries to tell people that his policies are actually working, that its just taking longer than we had all been told—promised," Romney said. "And I can tell you that I know he’s a very eloquent person and he’s able to describe these policies in great detail and in some respects tell you that night is day and day is night, but people know better."

In his interview with CBS over the weekend, Mitt Romney joined the chorus of GOP critics arguing that President Obama played politics with his immigration announcement on Friday.

Romney: I think the timing is pretty clear, if he really wanted to make a solution that dealt with these kids or with illegal immigration in America, than this is something he would have taken up in his first three and a half years, not in his last few months. 

Schieffer: So he did it for politics. 

Romney: Well, that's certainly a big part of the equation.

But when it comes to immigration, perhaps no presidential candidate has politicized the issue more than Romney has over the past five years -- during his 2007-2008 bid and during his current one.

Indeed, the issue was a clear way for the former Massachusetts governor to prove his conservative credentials. And it was a weapon he used -- often with success -- against John McCain, Rick Perry, and Newt Gingrich, all of whom had supported some liberal policies toward illegal immigrants.

For instance, before the New Hampshire primary in Jan. 2008, Romney's campaign blasted McCain on immigration. "McCain pushed to let every illegal immigrant stay here permanently -- even voted to allow illegals to collect Social Security," went one Romney TV ad. "And Mitt Romney?... He opposes amnesty for illegals."

Here's another Romney ad, which aired in Nov. 2007 and which used Romney's own words: "We all know Hillary Clinton and the Democrats have it wrong on illegal immigration. Our party should not make that mistake. As governor, I authorized the state police to enforce immigration laws. I opposed driver's licenses and in-state tuition for illegal aliens."

Romney added in the ad, "As president, I'll oppose amnesty, cut funding for sanctuary cities and secure our borders. Legal immigration is great, but illegal immigration -- that's got to stop."

And during this cycle's GOP presidential primary, Romney hammered Perry on the fact that young illegal immigrants in Texas qualify for in-state college tuition rates.

"With regards to illegal immigration, of course we build a fence. And of course we do not give instate tuition credits to people who come here illegally," Romney said at a Sept. 12, 2011 debate in Florida. "That only attracts people to come here and take advantage of America's great beneficence."

At a following debate, Romney stated, "I've got be honest with you, I don't see how it is that a state like Texas -- to go to the University of Texas, if you're an illegal alien, you get an in-state tuition discount. You know how much that is? That's $22,000 a year."

More from Romney: "That kind of magnet draws people into this country to get that education, to get the $100,000 break. It makes no sense."

And after Gingrich began to see his poll numbers climb in the fall of 2011, Romney knocked Gingrich's call to give illegal immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for years a chance to gain residency status.

"To say that we're going to say to the people who have come here illegally that now you're all going to get to stay or some large number are going to get to stay and become permanent residents of the United States, that will only encourage more people to do the same thing," Romney said at a Nov. 2011 debate.

"People respond to incentives. And if you can become a permanent resident of the United States by coming here illegally, you'll do so. What I want to do is bring people into this country legally, particularly those that have education and skill that allows us to compete globally."

Edited by NBC's Natalie Cucchiara

When world affairs (in Greece, Egypt, and in Mexico) meet American politics… Obama’s immigration announcement and the power of the bully pulpit… The GOP’s big immigration mistake: Why did it wait so long?... Romney still not filling in the blanks on what he would do as president… Romney’s bus tour, on its fourth day, goes through Wisconsin and Iowa… Sheldon Adelson shelling out millions more… And the Romney horse goes for the gold.

*** When world affairs meet American politics: The past weekend was a rare couple of days when world events influenced domestic American politics. For starters, the Obama White House breathed a sigh of relief when the Greek political party that supports a bailout for the country and remaining in the euro zone narrowly won in elections yesterday, giving observers some optimism about the situation in Europe. But for every step forward there, there are often two steps back. And as if on cue, world stock markets -- which had welcomed the outcome at the start of the day -- have since turned south.) In addition, the events in Egypt are something that could turn into a bigger political story here, especially given the role President Obama played in the transfer of power there in early 2011. The Washington Post: “Egypt’s military leaders issued a constitutional decree Sunday that gave the armed forces sweeping powers and degraded the presidency to a subservient role, as the Muslim Brotherhood declared that its candidate had won the country’s presidential runoff election.” And today at the G20 summit in Mexico, Obama meets with Russia’s Putin, and the situation in Syria will obviously be an issue. Quick reminder: This is the president’s final SCHEDULED international trip before November.  

*** Obama’s immigration announcement and the bully pulpit: After his worst three political weeks of the year, Friday was a reminder why the bully pulpit matters -- and why an incumbent president has so many powers at his disposal: Obama changed the subject immediately. His announcement that the administration would no longer deport young illegal immigrants who have graduated from high school, served in the military, and have a clean criminal record clearly put Mitt Romney on the defensive over the weekend. In fact, after previously saying he’d veto the DREAM Act and using immigration as a political weapon in the GOP primaries (remember him blasting Rick Perry for supporting the so-called Texas DREAM Act?), Romney declined to say if he would overturn the policy if elected president in his interview on CBS. And he charged Obama for playing politics on the issue. Don’t forget: If one side is accusing the other of playing politics, they’ve typically lost the argument. Three good days -- the immigration announcement and the Greek vote -- don’t make up for three bad weeks. But Plouffe and company would call it a start.

*** The GOP’s big immigration mistake: Regarding this immigration story, Romney and Republicans have to be asking themselves this question: Why did they wait so long in trying to craft an alternative that could woo Latino voters? Make no mistake, Marco Rubio’s DREAM Act alternative could have been a get-out-of-jail card with this voting bloc. But Republicans, including Romney, never grabbed on to it, and Rubio never even drafted actual legislation. It was a trial balloon, it seems, that crashed and burned with the GOP base. Romney said this in his interview on CBS: “If [Obama] felt seriously about this [issue] he should have taken action when he had a Democrat House and Senate, but he didn’t. He saves these sort of things until four and a half months before the general election.” But the same thing applies to Romney and the GOP: They should have taken action on a DREAM Act alternative that could have Etch A Sketch-ed away the Republican Party’s rhetoric on immigration, including Romney’s. But they didn’t. (Had the GOP rallied around Rubio’s alternative and had Senate Dems killed it, well, then their charge over the weekend of “politics” would be taken more seriously.) By the way, the Romney camp is up with a new Spanish-language TV ad, but it’s simply another ad that’s just translated into Spanish (the one hitting Obama on the “the private sector is doing fine”).

*** Still not filling in the blanks: Here’s a final observation we had after watching Romney on CBS yesterday: If he’s not attacking Obama on the economy, the former Massachusetts governor doesn’t perform as well. Indeed, not only did he struggle in answering the questions on immigration -- Will he overturn Obama’s action? Does he support Rubio’s proposal? He never really said -- Romney was unable to identify a single loophole he’d close to pay for his additional tax cuts. CBS’s BOB SCHIEFFER: “Which of the deductions are you going to be willing to eliminate?... When are you going to be able to tell us that?” ROMNEY: “We’ll go through that process with Congress.” Bottom line: We’re nearly four months away from Election Day, and the GOP’s presumptive presidential nominee can’t say how he’d act on a new immigration policy, or which tax loopholes he’d close to pay for his tax cuts. Romney’s camp has decide how to go forward on this issue of allowing his stances remain vague. On one hand, when he’s only attacking Obama’s record, he does well; it’s the “referendum” argument. But when he’s talking about his plans (or avoiding it), he provides the Obama folks with “choice” fodder. It explains why Romney has been careful about his media interviews but doesn’t it argue for Romney to spend more time filling in the blanks so that he can get over the “choice” hump?

*** On the trail: Romney is on the fourth day of his bus tour, which today takes him through Wisconsin and Iowa. At 10:00 am ET, he hits Janesville, WI (along with Gov. Scott Walker and Rep. Paul Ryan). Then he holds events in Dubuque, IA (at 2:30 pm ET) and Davenport, IA (6:10 pm ET).

*** More millions for Adelson: We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: The biggest story this election season could very well be the outside groups and money influencing the major races. And after learning the casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his wife will give $10 million to the pro-Romney Super PAC, the New York Times writes that the Adelsons also plan to give millions more to GOP-leaning groups like Crossroads GPS and the Koch Brothers’ Americans for Prosperity. “Mr. Adelson, whose net worth approaches $25 billion, has suggested that he is willing to spend up to $100 million to defeat Mr. Obama and elect Republicans this year. ‘He’s fully committed to beating Barack Obama,’ said Fred S. Zeidman, a Texas energy executive and a friend of Mr. Adelson’s. ‘We think ‘$100 million, wow!’ But it’s a meaningless amount of money to him.’”  Wow indeed…

*** Going for the gold: Lastly, we learned over the weekend that the horse that the Romneys own will compete in the Olympics. “Jan Ebeling, Mrs. Romney’s longtime riding tutor, and his horse Rafalca, co-owned by Mrs. Romney, earned a berth on the United States Olympic dressage team on Saturday,” the Times says. When CBS’s Schieffer asked Romney about the horse and its competition in the Olympics, Romney said: “Yes, it's the sport of dressage, not many people are familiar with it. But something for which [Ann Romney] has a passion and frankly, her getting back on a horse after she was diagnosed with MS, was able-- she is convinced to help her regenerate her strength and renew that-- that vigor. And so she cares very deeply about-- about this sport and about-- and about horses. She's-- she's a real-- I-- I joke that I'm going to have to send her to Betty Ford for addiction to horses.”

Countdown to GOP convention: 70 days
Countdown to Dem convention: 77 days
Countdown to Election Day: 141 days

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*** Monday’s “Daily Rundown” line-up: Latest from the G20 in Mexico with one of us (!!!)… NBC’s Peter Alexander and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) live from the site of Romney’s stop in Wisconsin…. Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt… Marking the 40^th anniversary of Watergate… More 2012 headlines with Politico’s Lois Romano, Voto Latino’s Maria Teresa Kumar and GOPAC’s David Avella.

*** Monday’s “Jansing & Co.” line-up: MSNBC’s Chris Jansing interviews TheGrio’s Perry Bacon, Mother Jones’ David Corn, publisher and journalist Goldie Taylor, former Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Kerry Healy, and Jesse Jackson.

*** Monday’s “MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up: MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts interviews America Urban Radio’s April Ryan, GOP strategist Hogan Gidley, Dem strategist David, and CNBC contributor Ron Insana.

*** Monday’s “NOW with Alex Wagner” line-up: Alex Wagner’s guests include Politico’s Jim Vandehei, New York Magazine’s Jonathan Chait, MSNBC Political Analyst Richard Wolffe, and the Washington Post’s Melinda Henneberger

*** Monday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interivews the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza, former Sen. Tom Daschle, Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin, HIS CERA Chairman Dan Yergin, and author and journalist Peter Popham.

*** Monday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: MSNBC’s Tamron Hall interviews Michael Smerconish on Sandusky, and USA Today’s Raul Reyes on the president’s immigration announcement.

Joe Raedle / Getty Images

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney along with his grandsons Parker Romney, right, and Nick Romney, center, serve pancakes during a campaign event at Mapleside Farms on Sunday in Brunswick, Ohio.

BRUNSWICK, Ohio -- While Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney campaigned across the battleground state of Ohio Sunday, he has his family standing by his side this Father’s Day.
 
“Let's wish a happy Father's Day to my dad,” Craig, one of Romney’s sons, told the cheering, rain-soaked crowd. “Happy Father’s Day.”
 
Kicking off the third day of Romney’s “Every Town Counts” tour, Romney and his wife, Ann, plus two sons, daughter-in-law, and a handful of grandkids served up pancakes at a breakfast here. 
 
“We love to help my dad and my mom and any chance we get to fly and meet up with them we just love to do it,” Romney’s other son in attendance, Matt, told the several hundred people at Mapleside Farms. Matt went on to fondly tell a story about how his dad helped his pregnant wife when she was on bed rest.
 
“He [Mitt] spliced the cable, built a TV cabinet, put a TV upstairs went and found someone who could help her do errands and got this all arranged in a matter of like 30 minutes,” Matt said. “I just look at that…he taught me to be both a father and a husband."
 
While the two sons shared insight on Romney’s personal side this Father’s Day, the all-but-certain GOP nominee continued to jab his competitor -- President Barack Obama.
 
“It looks like the sun is coming out,” Romney said as he began his nearly 20-minute speech just as the rain clouds parted. “I think that’s a metaphor for the country, the sun is coming out guys.  Three and a half years of dark clouds are about to part and it’s about to get a little warmer around this country, little brighter.”
Romney promises to seek immigration reform law

The Buckeye State is setting up to be the site of a fierce battle between Romney and Obama in this fall’s election. This visit marks Romney’s second visit to the state just this week and is a state Ohio GOP Sen. Rob Portman says the president should be spending more time in.
 
“We’re concerned for our families, our state, for our country. We’re concerned because we have a president of the United States who doesn’t know how to turn things around,” Portman, a Romney supporter and highly speculated vice presidential candidate, told the crowd while introducing Romney. “Folks he [Obama] needs to spend less time in Hollywood at fundraisers and more time with small businesses here in the state of Ohio.”
 
Romney served pancakes with Ann while Portman poured the syrup. The trio and Romney's two sons will all continue campaigning across Ohio on Father’s Day – two more events are planned Sunday in Newark and Troy.