“Even as President Barack Obama's re-election effort is powering toward an impressive early fundraising haul, campaign officials are trying to reassure donors who have concerns about a range of policy decisions and pace of change during Obama's first term,” AP writes.

“Raising the specter of labor fights picked by Republican governors with public workers unions across the country, Vice President Joe Biden lambasted what he called an increasingly union-hostile ‘new’ Republican Party in remarks delivered to National Education Association representatives today in Chicago,” the Chicago Tribune writes. And this was after Biden’s trip to Las Vegas, where he warned union members against voting Republican.

The Washington Post looked at the mixed feelings for President Obama among the National Education Association, the largest teacher’s union in the country. The NEA voted to endorse Obama, but unhappiness was evident. “Biden drew applause when he briefly acknowledged there's widespread unhappiness among teachers for the Obama administration's education policies,” AP writes.

The White House will pay $37 million in salaries, Reuters reports: “Three policy advisors have a salary of zero, while more than 20 make the highest pay grade: $172,200. More than 30 percent earn between $100,000 and $200,000 a year while 154 take home less than $50,000, according to the 2011 annual report on White House staff.”

IOWA: “Everybody knows that Iowa is the corn-growing capital of America,” NPR writes. “Agriculture is king. And that means a top item on your campaign itinerary has to be the annual Iowa State Fair.”

SOUTH CAROLINA: Gov. Nikki Haley’s controversial recent votes, including one to veto state funds for election operations (which was overruled) haven’t endeared her to other state legislators, Politico writes. “If Haley’s got her eyes on going straight for the 2016 presidential race, that’s five years for the state legislators to box her in on legislation, budget measures and other issues that will build out precisely the kind of record she’d want to avoid.”

“Supporters of South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint are quietly organizing a Republican presidential forum slated for sometime around Labor Day,” CNN reports. “The event would be more of a question-and-answer session rather than a debate. Candidates will be asked to offer concrete plans for fixing the debt and growing the economy, according to one person involved in the planning.”

“Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann sit atop the standings in the first Des Moines Register Iowa poll on the Republican field, the Register reports. Romney has 23% of support from likely Republican caucus-goers, and Bachmann trails him by only one point with 22 percent. “The other candidates tested register in single digits: former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul, 7 percent each; former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, 6 percent; former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, 4 percent; and former Utah Gov. and ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, 2 percent.” (Here’s the full poll.)

Even if fundraising reports don’t always predict the winner of a primary, the second-quarter campaign finance reports candidates will fill at the end of the month will be informative, National Journal writes: “Electability is on Republican voters' minds already; now, we get a hint at just who can make the credible argument that they can go toe to toe with perhaps the best finance operation in American political history.”

BACHMANN: The Des Moines Register takes a closer look at Bachmann’s numbers in the Iowa poll: “Bachmann, 55, rates the strongest with very conservative caucusgoers, along with those who are well-educated and ages 45 to 64. More respondents pick her as their second choice, 18 percent, than name Romney, 10 percent.”

AP on the countdown to the Bachmann kickoff announcement: “Michele Bachmann, a Minnesota congresswoman with deep tea party appeal, was ready Monday to officially plow into the Republican presidential primary with a conservative and often freewheeling message honed to the party's base.”

In an interview on “TODAY,” Bachmann told NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell: "I'm a businesswoman. As a former federal tax lawyer, I've seen the devastation of high taxes on businesses, farmers and individuals. I've seen it, I've lived it, I've practiced that in the courtroom."

On the eve of her big speech, Bachmann took a stroll down memory lane in Waterloo, reminiscing about her house “near the Dairy Queen,” the old family church and eating Wonder Bread sandwiches, the Register writes.

Bachmann went up on the radio in Iowa on Friday, in which she calls Waterloo is her hometown and invited Iowans to a “welcome home” event last night, Politico reports. 

And we're not sure that Herman Cain or Gary Johnson have gotten this question, which might ignite another round of sexism charges: "On 'Fox News Sunday,' host Chris Wallace quizzed Bachmann on a series of apparent inconsistencies in her legislative record and personal background — from Medicare to government subsidies and earmarks to her opposition to same-sex marriage," the Washington Post says.

"Then, as he wrapped up the interview, Wallace asked her: 'Are you a flake?' 'I think that would be insulting to say something like that because I’m a serious person,' Bachmann retorted. In the face of sharp questioning from Wallace, Bachmann appeared steely and calm, noting that she has 'a titanium spine.'"

GINGRICH: Speaking at a Tea Party bus tour event in Indianola, IA, Gingrich said the passage of gay marriage in New York showed the nation is “drifting toward a terrible muddle,” Reuters reports. “Saying he thinks marriage is between a man and a woman, he told reporters that he ‘would like to find ways to defend that view as legitimately and effectively as possible.’”

HUNTSMAN: “Huntsman’s chances of winning South Carolina’s first-in-the-South GOP 2012 presidential primary took a hit Sunday when U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint said he will not support his candidacy,” the Greenville News writes. “Huntsman, formerly governor of Utah, has declined to sign a pledge to support a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and that’s a deal-breaker for fellow Republican DeMint.”

PAUL: Bloomberg news notes that Ron Paul, and particularly his anti-Federal Reserve message, has become more mainstream – unlike his bid four years ago.

PAWLENTY: Although Pawlenty has spent 26 days in Iowa this election cycle, has a strong stable of Iowa operatives and was the first in the state to go up with a TV ad, he registered only 6 percent in the first Des Moines Register Iowa poll, the Register reports. (But the poll was conducted just before Pawlenty went up with his ads in Iowa.) “If I were the Pawlenty camp, I would be enormously concerned about this poll,” the Cook Political Report’s Jennifer Duffy told the Register.

Pawlenty spokesman Eric Woolson compared Pawlenty’s standings to those of Mike Huckabee, the underdog who eventually won Iowa. “Sunday’s poll and others like it are a flashback to four years ago, when Mike Huckabee was at a similar position – well liked but not yet widely known,” Woolson said, according to the Register. (The silver lining in the poll is that he has high favorability ratings.)

Adding to his cable ad buy in the state, Pawlenty is running radio ads in the Des Moines Media market from June 24^th to July 4th, Politico reports.

The radio ad’s message is similar to what’s being broadcast on TV:

Pawlenty: When I ran for governor I said, look, we have to tell the truth, and the truth is, the liberal approach has failed our state.
Announcer: For decades, Minnesota spending had grown at twenty percent.  Tim Pawlenty shrank that down to one percent, and cut spending in real terms for the first time in history.
But that's not all.
Pawlenty did heath care reform the right way.  No mandates. No takeovers.
And on nominating judges?
Pro-life Pawlenty turned a liberal supreme court into a conservative one.
Pawlenty: If I can do it in Minnesota, we can do it in Washington.

ROMNEY: Though Romney led the Iowa Poll, he only got 23% of the vote. Historically, only once since 1980 has anyone gotten less than 30% of the vote and won Iowa – Bob Dole in 1996 won with 26% over Pat Buchanan who grabbed 23%. Romney was only the second choice of 10% in the poll, tied with Herman Cain. Bachmann topped the second choice column with 18%. Paul and Pawlenty finished higher than Romney, each getting 12%.

SANTORUM: The Rick Santorum campaign announced on Friday that former Rep. Gresham Barrett (R-SC) will chair Santorum’s efforts in South Carolina, the AP reports. Barrett ran for governor in 2010 and was defeated in a runoff by now-Gov. Nikki Haley, who won with 65% of the vote.

“President Obama will now take a leading role in negotiations to raise the debt limit, a test of his leadership that will have profound economic effects,” The Hill writes, adding, “Obama will meet this morning with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and this afternoon with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Democratic aides characterized these meetings as an appeal to the ‘cooler heads’ in the Senate. Cantor’s sudden move was initially seen as a blow that threatened to collapse the talks. But Republican aides said Friday it was part of an expected and natural transition to the final phase, which they said would have to take place between the president and Congress’s highest-ranking leaders.”

While the New York Times editorial page and Maureen Dowd have criticized Obama for not leading on the drive for gay marriage, the paper’s Nick Confessore  has a piece suggesting that the politics of gay marriage are a bit different outside the East Coast. “After a string of defeats in recent years from California to Maine, the movement to legalize same-sex marriage is hoping its unexpected victory in New York will revive efforts to legalize gay weddings around the nation. But the movement’s success here could prove difficult to replicate. Twenty-nine states have constitutional bans on same-sex marriage, while 12 others have laws against it. And many of those states where support for same-sex marriage is high have already acted on the issue.” 

The front page from the New Hampshire Union Leader: “7 contenders keep it civil.” From the story: “The seven candidates for president – U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota used the debate to officially announce her candidacy – continuously attacked the president on health care, spending and taxes, but also continued to avoid any pointed attacks on each other. ‘Any person on this stage would be a better president than President Obama,’ said former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.”

The New Hampshire Union Leader: “GOP debate: Candidates blast Obama, but avoid attacking each other.”

“Given opportunities to critique one another’s stances, the seven competitors repeatedly deflected the questions to attacks on the president,” the Washington Post adds.

The New York Times: “The spotlight was trained squarely on Mitt Romney… But his rivals treaded lightly, and he relentlessly turned the conversation back to Mr. Obama, emerging unscathed from his return to the debate stage four years after losing his first bid for the party’s nomination.”  

The Washington Post’s Balz says Romney “easily survived” the debate. “In his first debate of the campaign, the nominal front-runner for the GOP nomination seemed eager for the spotlight. Through two hours of questioning, he delivered a steady performance, made no obvious errors and stuck to his campaign game plan of focusing his message on the president and the economy.”

“Republican White House hopefuls assailed President Barack Obama’s handling of the economy from the opening moments of their first major debate of the campaign season Monday night and pledged emphatically to repeal the administration’s year-old health care law,” the AP writes. “In general, the Republicans on stage steered away of criticizing one another, and even the evident differences among them were expressed in muted terms.”

For viewers who live in New Hampshire, last night’s debate featured many ads highlighting Democratic opposition to Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan to replace Medicare with a voucher system, the liberal-leaning Web site Talking Points Memo writes. In addition to ads already being run by the left-leaning group Protect Your Care, two other groups – the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy for America – also ran Medicare-themed ads last night.

BACHMANN: Michele Bachmann’s “unpredictable edge was on display during Monday night's GOP presidential debate in New Hampshire when, out of the blue, she announced that she had filed papers to be an official candidate for the Republican nomination,” the AP writes.

The New York Times writes that Michele Bachmann showed herself last night to be not just a proxy for Sarah Palin, but potentially a more preferable candidate than Palin to some Republican voters.

“In a debate also notable for the quietly confident performance of front-runner Mitt Romney and the unwillingness of his rivals to target him with any kind of ferocity, Bachmann electrified the audience with folksy references to her personal history and an unwavering attack on President Obama’s stewardship of the economy and the federal government,” the Washington Post writes.

CAIN: Fact-checking website PolitiFact rated Herman Cain’s denial that he would appoint a Muslim to his cabinet “pants on fire.” Noting that Cain said on the Glen Beck his comments, made to several different organizations were “misconstrued,”  Politifact writes, “[C]ontrary to his claim on Beck’s program, Cain did say he would not have Muslims in his Cabinet. Not once or twice, but three times in as many weeks to ThinkProgress.org, Cavuto and Fischer.”

GINGRICH: When asked about his calling Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget plan “radical” on Meet the Press, Newt Gingrich said he supported the plan as a “general proposal” and said his words on the program were “taken totally out of context.” He also, however, “called for his party to have a longer conversation with the voters about Medicare, even if that means they have to ‘slow down’ the pace of action on the Hill,” Politico writes.

The Boston Globe’s Weiss writes of Gingrich’s campaign trail “shock,” that “he hasn’t run for competitive office in more than a decade. He’s been busy working at think tanks, speaking to friendly conservative groups, and making documentaries about Ronald Reagan. [University of New Hampshire professor Dante] Scala said Gingrich reminds him of Rudy Giuliani, who barely visited New Hampshire in 2008, convinced that his aura would carry him through.”

“Missing from Monday night's debate was a discussion regarding the state of Newt Gingrich's campaign,” ABC writes, although Gingrich’s daughters did defend their father’s campaign after the debate. “Newt’s going to run Newt’s campaign. We of all people know him very, very well,” his daughter Kathy Lubbers said. His daughter Jackie Cushman also defended Gingrich’s relationship with his wife Calista and their tendency to make campaign decisions as a couple. “The fact is Newt Gingrich is the candidate. They’re a great couple. He, like many husbands, like mine and I’m sure like my sisters, actually consult with their spouse,” Cushman said.

PAWLENTY: Tim Pawlenty campaign manager Nick Ayers told reporters in the “spin room” after the debate that Pawlenty did not re-use his “Obamneycare” comment because mangers don’t “program in answers on a candidate’s brain,” Politico writes.

PERRY: The New York Times writes that Rick Perry probably benefits most from what was widely seen as a weak performance by Tim Pawlenty who declined to assail Romney’s health care plan or repeat his nickname for it, “Obamneycare,” when the former Massachusetts governor was present. “Given that Mr. Pawlenty is treading water in polls… Republican elites may be wondering whether he will “click” with voters… If Mr. Perry can instead play the role of ‘generic Republican’— only with better hair and more fundraising prowess — their support could shift toward him.”

ROMNEY: The Boston Globe’s top story: “GOP debaters target Obama, not Romney.”

“Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who leads in the early polls and fundraising efforts, had a surprisingly easy two hours Monday night. He looked calm and steady, criticizing President Barack Obama on the economy and health care while rarely being forced on the defensive despite some well-known vulnerabilities of his own,” the AP writes.

In National Journal’s post-debate analysis, Reid Wilson writes that Mitt Romney succeeded last night in “own[ing] it” when it comes to his record. “He stood up for Commonwealth Care, and he even embraced his Detroit bankruptcy op-ed. Everyone knows Romney's the target, but no one has taken aim yet.”

While he didn’t necessarily stand out, the Des Moines Register’s Kathie Obradovich writes, Romney remained  “unruffled. In his first televised debate, national poll-leader Mitt Romney had a target on his back. The former Massachusetts governor emerged with nary a hair out of place, even though at least three questions invited other candidates to attack him on health care, his past abortion position and his opposition to the auto industry bailout.”

The deficit reduction talks led by Vice President Biden pick up the pace this week with three meetings on Capitol Hill starting today at 2pm, NBC’s Libby Leist reports. Ahead of the meetings, Senate Democratic leadership will forgo their usual Tuesday "stakeout" after the weekly caucus meeting and hold a press conference to spell out their negotiating position on Medicare changes, per a leadership aide. They will outline what they will and won’t accept in the search for Medicare savings. Also, look for questions on how the Democrats will approach tax increases. Until now, leadership has weighed in with very little specifics about the Biden talks.

The New York Post’s cover: “Obama beats Weiner,” based on the president telling NBC’s Ann Curry on TODAY that, “If it was me, I would resign.”

The Hill: “According to the new CBS News poll, 31 percent of Americans support converting Medicare into a sort of voucher program. Fifty-eight percent said they support keeping the program’s existing structure intact.”

“Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Monday that he would place a hold on President Obama's nominee to be the next commerce secretary unless the White House disavows a legal complaint filed against airplane manufacturer Boeing for opening a new plant in the senator's home state South Carolina,” The Hill writes.

After about six months in office, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), thought to be a possible vice-presidential candidate, will make his first speech today at 2:45 pm ET on the Senate floor, Leist reports. Rubio's four young children and wife have flown in from Miami where they live to support the Senator. He is the last of the freshman class to speak on the floor. Rubio will call for a "new American century" of leadership. He will say the government is broken and in need of repair if the U.S. is to lead the world in the 21st Century. Rubio highlights the U.S. debt problem, a complicated tax code, and a government that he says over-regulates stifling American economic growth.

Some excerpts: "There is a growing sense that for America, things will never be the same. That maybe, this new century will belong to someone else. … We do stand now at a turning point in our history. One where there are only two ways forward for us. We will either bring on another American century, or we are doomed to witness America’s decline. … A broken government is keeping us from doing what we have done better than anyone in the world for over a century: Create jobs. … If we here in Washington could just find agreement on a plan to start getting our debt under control. If we could just make our tax code simpler and more predictable. And if we could just get the government to ease up on some of these onerous regulations, the American people will take care of the rest."

Former Democratic National Committee spokeswoman (and MSNBC contributor) Karen Finney, in a column in The Hill, looks at education: “The political rhetoric of ‘spending cuts’ has largely ignored the impact cuts in education spending at the federal, state and local levels have on our ability to make progress closing those gaps. Our failure to fully utilize the potential of every American also endangers our economy.” The No Child Left Behind law is up for reauthorization this year.

“In January, I estimated in this space that redistricting would be close to a wash, with neither party making major gains, but with Republicans solidifying many of their unexpected 2010 gains,” Stu Rothenberg writes in Roll Call. “With redistricting completed in only a few states but the writing on the wall in many others, it now appears that Democrats — not the GOP — will make a small, single-digit gain from redistricting when the process finally is complete.”

IOWA: The 18-city Tea Party bus tour through Iowa kicked off last night in Council Bluffs, the Des Moines Register writes. William Owens, the publisher of Tea Party Review magazine based in Arlington, VA, says he plans to conduct live-stream webcast interviews of Republican candidates throughout the tour asking questions submitted by tea party activists around the country via social media outlets. 

The Register took an informal survey of Tea Partiers who watched the debate before attending a Tea Party event in Council Bluffs and found that “the loudest clapping went to Texas Rep. Ron Paul, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and businessman Herman Cain. No one applauded for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.”

MASSACHUSETTS: “Senator Scott Brown today signed onto a Senate bill to repeal an advisory board created as part of last year’s landmark health care overhaul, chipping away at yet another element of the Affordable Care Act that he finds onerous,” the Boston Globe reports.

A bill that would have “cut billions in tax breaks for the largest oil companies” failed 52-48 in the Senate, The Hill notes. It needed 60 votes to advance.

Here’s this from Roll Call: “‘Gang of Six’ Collapses on Itself.” “Hopes for a grand bipartisan debt limit deal took a big hit Tuesday after Sen. Tom Coburn pulled out of the ‘gang of six’ talks. … One source close to the talks said the break occurred after Coburn demanded an additional $130 billion in Medicare cuts over the next decade from current beneficiaries. That proposal goes beyond what was included in the president’s fiscal commission plan, on which the group was basing its talks. ‘He is asking for deep Medicare cuts beyond what the fiscal commission proposed and beyond even Paul Ryan’s [R-Wis.] proposal,’ the source said. ‘That is just not going to happen.’”

“House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, who as the House GOP’s lead watchdog has questioned the legitimacy of some Obama administration travel, jetted to Puerto Rico during the recess on a taxpayer-funded trip that included work and down time with a pal, POLITICO has learned.

Issa’s friend and former colleague from the House, Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuno, invited him to stay at the historic governor’s mansion in San Juan, a committee spokesman said Tuesday.”

The Washington Post’s fact checker gave Darrell Issa “two Pinocchios” for saying that the Mexican government said the Obama administration had committed an “act of war.” Issa’s office denied that he said “act of war” but “active war.” “We find it interesting that Issa’s office denied he said “act of war” but then defended his right to do so when shown a second quote,” the Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler writes.

“Former Sen. Blanche Lincoln is planning to set up shop on K Street. Alston & Bird will announce this week that the Arkansas Democrat will join its operation, according to a source close to the firm,” Roll Call reports.

The Hill: “Republicans on Capitol Hill may be in the process of learning a hard lesson: Meddling with Medicare, whatever the nation’s fiscal circumstances, just isn’t popular.”

On that note, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced it’s running automated phone calls attacking House Republicans for voting to overhaul the program for those under 55. An example of one of the calls in 20 congressional districts across the country:

“Hi, I’m calling from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee calling about Congressman Lou Barletta’s vote to end Medicare. You’ve paid into Medicare for more than 25 years and deserve the Medicare benefits you’ve earned. Under the Barletta plan, Medicare ends and you’ll have to save about $182,000 more to pay for your health care. Where will you get $182,000? Everyone agrees we must cut spending and tighten our belt, but Barletta has made the wrong choice. Ending Medicare to pay for subsidies for Big Oil making huge profits or tax breaks for the ultra rich! That’s not right.”

John Harwood on the fight over raising the debt-ceiling: "'No one wants to vote to increase the debt limit,' said Donald Marron, a former economic adviser to President George W. Bush who now runs the Tax Policy Center. But neither does any leader in Congress dispute that 'the cap has to go up.' That history explains why financial markets have shrugged off the drama now building around the debt limit. When Mr. Boehner warned last week that 'there will be no debt-limit increase' without deep spending cuts, his audience at the New York Economic Club responded with polite applause and no apparent alarm. As politicians with governing responsibility, Mr. Obama, Mr. Boehner and Mr. Reid must amass legislative majorities for an increase by August to preclude government default, according to the Treasury Department. That effort also includes, Mr. Marron noted, 'jockeying to see who wins the right to vote "no."'"

“The United States has reached a ‘critical moment’ in its relationship with Pakistan after the killing of Osama bin Laden, Senator John F. Kerry said yesterday before flying to Pakistan to address what he called ‘very disturbing’ evidence of the Pakistani government’s knowledge of insurgent sanctuaries,” the Washington Post reports, adding, “The Massachusetts Democrat is the most senior US official to travel to Pakistan since the raid on the Al Qaeda leader’s compound.”