Republicans said momentum is on Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's side as a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll showed Romney drawing even with President Barack Obama.

As the 2012 election enters its home stretch — 16 days and one final presidential debate remain before Election Day — Obama and Romney were tied at 47 percent among likely voters nationwide.

"I like what I see, because the trend is in our direction," said Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, a top surrogate for the Romney campaign. "The enthusiasm and energy are on our side."

NBC/WSJ poll: Presidential contest now tied

Romney has closed the gap versus Obama in a series of national and battleground state polls released since the first presidential debate earlier this month, when the Republican presidential nominee was generally acknowledged to have bested the president. The momentum for Romney has spurred Republican optimism that they may be able to defeat Obama, who's led his Republican challenger in most polls throughout the year. 

"We feel good about where we are. We feel we're even or ahead in these battleground states," said senior Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod about the new poll numbers. 

RELATED: Obama and Romney each emphasize early voting

The Romney resurgence must play out in a series of crucial battleground states — Florida, Ohio and Virginia, in particular — if the Republican challenger is to subsume Obama on Nov. 6. 

"We like the way Florida's going," said Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R) of the movement in Romney's direction. "We've always predicted it would go this way."

Both Obama and Romney have barnstormed these battleground states in recent weeks, encouraging supporters to vote early and trying to persuade a winnowing sliver of undecided voters. 

Each campaign had evidence for optimism as of Sunday. Republicans circulated an editorial from the Columbus Dispatch of Ohio, which called the president "unsuited to a second term." Axelrod pointed to state-level polls — including the NBC/WSJ/Marist polls this Thursday, which showed Obama leading by eight points in Iowa and six in Wisconsin — as evidence of the president's Electoral College firewall. 

NBC/WSJ/Marist polls: Obama holds lead in Iowa and Wisconsin

The candidates will get their next opportunity to shake up those poll numbers on Monday evening, when they meet for their third and final debate of the election. That debate, which will be hosted at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla., is supposed to focus primarily on issues of foreign policy. 

Obama and Romney have sparred most intensely on the topic of how the president and his administration have managed the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, which resulted in the deaths of four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens. 

Axelrod unleashed a harsh attack on Romney, accusing the GOP nominee of "disgraceful" behavior for releasing a statement shortly after the events in Benghazi, which essentially accused the administration of sympathizing with the attackers, and apologizing for American values. 

"There's only one candidate here who's tried to exploit it from the beginning," Axelrod said. "Even while the flames were burning in Benghazi, Mitt Romney was sending out political press releases."

The Republican nominee has latched onto the administration's shifting explanations for the attack to make the case that Obama was essentially caught off-guard by the attacks. The administration at first said the attacks were the spontaneous outgrowth of protests related to a controversial video, but has shifted to acknowledge the attack in Libya was coordinated by terrorists.

Romney has also argued the administration has been insufficiently tough toward Iran's nuclear program, an assertion that might be colored by a new New York Times report that the administration and the Iranian government had agreed to one-on-one negotiations after the election. The administration called the report untrue, and both Portman and Rubio declined to hit Obama on that basis. 

But, in anticipation of tomorrow's debate, Portman said: "I think what you're going to see is Gov. Romney lay out a clear agenda for how to get Iran to do the right thing."

"They're feeling the heat, and that's what the sanctions were meant to do," Axelrod said in defense of the administration's handling of Iran. The Obama campaign adviser also ridiculed Romney's foreign trip this past summer as a "Dukes of Hazzard  tour of international destinations."

The Obama campaign has also sought to reignite a battle over women's issues in the last week to bolster the president's advantage among women voters. Obama led Romney, 51 to 43 percent, among women in the new NBC/WSJ data, but that was a narrower advantage for Obama than in past editions of the poll. 

The president's campaign has sought to remind voters of Romney's promises to eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood, or his promises during primary season to sign legislation to curb access to abortion, should it cross his desk. The Obama campaign also seized on Romney's remarks during last Tuesday's debate that he had "binders full of women" prepared for him as governor to help increase gender diversity in his office.

Rubio argued those attacks masked a bereft second-term agenda from Obama, and that Romney had begun to close the gender gap by focusing on issues of jobs and the economy.

"You just read a poll that the gender gap is narrowing," Rubio said. "The reason why is because Barack Obama is not offering anything."

Updated 1:00 p.m. - Among the flurry of conservatives vowing to redouble their efforts to repeal President Obama’s health reform law was the handful of Republicans whom Mitt Romney might pick as a running mate.

Below is a rundown of portions of their statements, which we will continue to update throughout the day.

Ohio Sen. Rob Portman:

While the Court has deemed the law constitutional as a tax on the American people, it is still flawed policy that is unaffordable for our families, our small businesses, and our government.  The President's one-size-fits-all health care spending law is the centerpiece of a failed agenda that has increased economic uncertainty, stalled job creation, and deepened the spending hole that Washington has dug. 

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio:

What's important to remember is that what the Court rules on is whether something is constitutional or not, not whether it's a good idea. And while the Court has said that the law is constitutional, it remains a bad idea for our economy, and I hope that in the fall we will have a majority here that will not just repeal this law, but replace it with real solutions that will insure more people and cost a lot less money.

Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan

Today’s decision strengthens the case for repeal and replace. With the right leadership in place, I am confident we can advance real health care solutions for the American people. It is now in the hands of the American people to determine whether this disastrous law will stand.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell:

Today's ruling crystallizes all that's at stake in November's election.  The only way to stop Barack Obama's budget-busting health care takeover is by electing a new president. Barack Obama's health care takeover encapsulates his Presidency: Obamacare increases taxes, grows the size of government and puts bureaucrats over patients while doing nothing to improve the economy.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie:

Today's Supreme Court decision is disappointing and I still believe this is the wrong approach for the people of New Jersey who should be able to make their own judgments about health care. Most importantly, the Supreme Court is confirming what we knew all along about this law - it is a tax on middle class Americans.

New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte:

By imposing a coercive tax on the American people, the president's health care law represents an unprecedented federal overreach into individuals' personal lives. ... If we don't repeal it, Americans can expect to see higher costs, less choice and fewer jobs.  I will continue to fight to repeal this law and replace it with market-based reforms that reduce costs and expand consumer choice.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal:

Ironically, the Supreme Court has decided to be far more honest about Obamacare than Obama was.  They rightly have called it a tax. Today's decision is a blow to our freedoms. The Court should have protected our constitutional freedoms, but remember, it was the President that forced this law on us.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL -- Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) on Friday critiqued President Obama and Congress for using the issue of immigration for their own political gain -- and for putting politics ahead of true efforts for reform.

But while doing so, he also showed that he was not above using the hot button issue as an opportunity to take some political jabs himself.

Speaking at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference here, Rubio told the crowd, "I was tempted to come here today and rip open the policies of the administration."

He added, "I was tempted to come here and tell you 'Hey, [Obama] hasn't been here in three years, what a coincidence it's an election year....but that's not the direction I want to go with my speech. Because if I did, if that's what I came here to talk to you about, then I would be doing the exact same thing that I just criticized."

Rubio spoke to the conference just hours before the president -- exactly one week since he announced an executive action that granted some young undocumented immigrants the ability to gain legal status. It is a concept similar to what Rubio was proposing but had never drafted into legislation.

"Of course, a few months later, a president takes a similar idea and implements it through executive action and now its the greatest idea in the world," Rubio said of last week's announcement. "I don't care who gets the credit; I don't. But it exposes the fact that this issue is all about politics for some people," said Rubio.

A day earlier in front of this same conference, Republican nominee Mitt Romney outlined his most specific immigration policy to date. But it still left major questions, like whether or not Romney would repeal the Obama order that gave refuge to some children brought to the United States illegally. Rubio has said he is in favor of such a measure, but the president's actions have made it more difficult to form a lasting long term solution.

Both Rubio and Romney received polite applause from the crowd of nearly 1,000, but neither generated a noticeable amount of excitement. The main draw for this crowd, comprised of many Latino legislators from around the country, is the president.

In his address, the Florida senator expressed optimism for achieving lasting immigration reform. "Perhaps we are as close as we've ever been to a critical turning point in the debate about immigration," he said at the top of his speech.

Yet while Rubio expressed optimism about the prospect of achieving a long-term solution to immigration, he warned that there are still major questions that remain unsolved.

"It's complicated. If we are able to reform and modernize our legal immigration system, if we can win the confidence of the American people back, were left with the issue of millions of people that are still undocumented and then the great answer, the quick question then is: What do you do about them?" Rubio asked. "I've talked about what you do about the kids. What about everybody else?"

"Here's the truth, if were honest with ourselves: We don't know yet."

Rubio, of course, is a rising star in the Republican Party and considered a VP possibility for Romney.

Even some Democrats at the conference said they could understand Rubio's appeal. "Very impressive individual," said Utah state senate Democratic leader Ross Romero. "I think he recognized that immigration has been used as a political football, which is unfortunate. But ultimately, it's a tough issue and you're trying to accommodate many different views on immigration."

Speaking with NBC’s Andrea Mitchell today, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) expressed concern over the Obama administration’s handling of immigration reform, claiming that President Obama’s executive action halting deportation of some young illegal immigrants makes it “harder to find a long-term solution to a long-term problem.” 

Rubio, in an interview on MSNBC’s "Andrea Mitchell Reports," acknowledged that Obama's surprise move last week made it harder politically to pass any sort of immigration reform on Capitol Hill. Among the proposals, Rubio had until Monday been promoting a narrower version of the Democrats' DREAM Act that would have provided essentially the same benefits to young illegal immigrants. 

That said, before Obama's announcement last Friday, Rubio had not yet drafted any legislation on this issue.

The Florida senator said he would “continue to formulate the idea,” but “the fact that it’s gotten all mixed up in this election year and now being used to attack Republicans has only made it harder.” Rubio's comments were in line with remarks Mitt Romney gave earlier in the day to a leading group of Latino elected officials in Florida, tying the need for immigration reforms to the lagging economy and prospects for future economic growth.

Rubio’s suggestion for finding a way forward? De-politicize the immigration debate, saying: “We have to elevate this issue. We have to say this is a humanitarian issue. We’re going to deal with this without it becoming a political ping-pong back and forth.” 

Why Rubio probably won’t be Romney’s VP pick… And why T-Paw seems to be rising… Obama campaign releases two new TV ads hitting Romney’s record as Massachusetts governor… Romney’s boxed in on immigration… Romney raises money in Michigan, while the first lady stumps in Colorado… And House Republicans appear move forward on bringing contempt charges against AG Holder.

*** Why Rubio probably won’t be the pick: After reports surfaced yesterday revealing that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) either wasn’t being vetted by Mitt Romney’s vice-presidential search team or he wasn’t being vetted as much as two other choices, Romney made a statement to correct the record. “Marco Rubio is being thoroughly vetted as part of our process,” he told reporters, per NBC’s Garrett Haake. But here’s a little rule of thumb in American politics: If you have to say you’re vetting someone, is that someone really under serious consideration? Indeed, despite being the party’s rising star and a favorite of the GOP base, the signs always have pointed AGAINST Rubio being Romney’s pick. Why? For starters, he’s only been a U.S. senator for a year and a half, and he didn’t endorse Romney until late in the GOP primary season. Then there’s the opposition research out there on him -- something that the Romney folks who worked for Charlie Crist’s 2010 Senate campaign know pretty well: Rubio charged more than $100,000 to state GOP credit cards, had racked up nearly $1 million in personal debt, and nearly had his home foreclosed on. No doubt that Rubio has plenty of assets (young, Latino, from Florida). But he also carries a lot of risk for the usually risk-averse Romney.  

Jae C. Hong / AP file photo

Sen. Marco Rubio joins Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney for a news conference prior to a town hall-style meeting in Aston, Pa.

*** T-Paw rising: So if it isn’t going to be Rubio, who will it be? Politico today writes something we’ve been saying over the past couple of weeks: Don’t lose sight of Tim Pawlenty. “Tim Pawlenty has jumped to the top of the vice presidential shortlist of several Mitt Romney advisers after emerging as the most effective — and well-liked — surrogate for the GOP nominee-to-be, according to several Republicans familiar with campaign deliberations.” That story follows a Washington Post report noting that Pawlenty and Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) have undergone “a more intensive review” than Rubio has in the Romney campaign’s vetting process. If Pawlenty becomes the pick, Romney and his team would be sending this fairly implicit message: T-Paw should have been the VP choice four years ago. It also highlights just how differently Romney and McCain go about making decisions -- Romney: data-driven; McCain: gut. See the AP’s write up today on how Romney’s likely going about the VP process “The Bain Way.”

*** Team Obama’s two new TV ads: The Obama campaign has unveiled two new TV ads, both of which continue to hammer away at Romney’s record as Massachusetts governor. The first one points out that Romney raised revenues and fees as governor -- something that his GOP opponents rarely brought up during the primary season. The other one hits him for outsourcing jobs to India when he was governor. “Outsourcing jobs -- Romney economics. It didn’t work then, and it won’t work now,” that advertisement goes. The Romney campaign has issued this response to these new ads: “Mitt Romney was a successful businessman and governor with a decades-long record of helping to create American jobs, in contrast to President Obama's hostility to free enterprise that has left millions of Americans out of work.  It's still the economy and the American people aren't stupid.” Speaking of ads, the conservative group Concerned Women for America is up with a big buy in swing states hitting the health-care law.

*** Romney boxed in on immigration: Why do Republicans have a problem when it comes to immigration? And why will Romney’s speech on Thursday to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) be such a challenge for him? Here’s a reason: The first actual GOP bill that gets traction after Obama’s immigration move on Friday is an effort to reverse the president’s action. As NBC’s Frank Thorp reported yesterday, Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ) has introduced legislation that would prevent the Department of Homeland Security from enforcing a presidential executive action as immigration law. This demonstrates the box that Romney finds himself in (and which John McCain found himself in four years ago): Even if you want to try to woo Latinos by pursuing a more moderate path on immigration, the GOP base is against that. That said, the Republican National Committee is up with web video (in both English and Spanish) arguing that the economy hasn’t worked for Latinos during the Obama years. But is an economic message, with nothing to offer on immigration, really enough?

*** On the trail: Romney hits a pair of fundraisers in Michigan… First Lady Michelle Obama speaks to two gatherings of campaign volunteers in Colorado… Vice President Biden begins his day with a fundraiser in Carmel, CA before heading to New Orleans, where he addresses the National Association of Black Journalists… And the Romney sons appear on Conan O’Brien’s show.

*** Trying to pressure Merkel: Here’s the dispatch by NBC’s Shawna Thomas and one of us from the G20 summit in Mexico. “President Barack Obama expressed support for his European counterparts and their measures to manage the fiscal crisis as the G20 Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico wrapped up Tuesday, saying he believes they are ‘ready to do what is necessary to hold the Eurozone together.’ Behind the scenes, however, one senior administration official said the focus of the summit was to convince German Chancellor Angela Merkel to pull away from an austerity plan and focus more on spending and creating jobs. Another senior administration official was asked whether leaders "ganged up" on Merkel; that official replied, ‘I don’t think I’d describe it that way.’ But another official said world leaders were very blunt in their efforts to convince Merkel to sign on to the plan.”

*** In contempt? After failing to reach an agreement yesterday with Attorney General Eric Holder in handing over more documents in the so-called “Fast & Furious” matter, House Republicans appear to be moving ahead to bring contempt charges against Holder. Politico looks at the stakes for the House GOP: “The contempt fight with Holder and the White House is a big moment for House Republicans. With stubbornly high unemployment, a president with weak approval ratings, a redistricting process that has shored up Republican seats from coast to coast and a worse-than-expected economic recovery, GOP officials think they’re poised to keep the House in their control, and many believe they have a shot at taking the Senate and White House. Yet, despite public pronouncements of support from Boehner and other GOP leaders, significant pockets among GOP leadership think the spectacle of holding the attorney general in contempt of Congress would knock the party off message.”

Countdown to GOP convention: 68 days
Countdown to Dem convention: 75 days
Countdown to Election Day: 139 days

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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.

WASHINGTON, DC -- Who should be Mitt Romney's vice-presidential pick?

The answer to that question, according to interviews with several attendees here at the Faith & Freedom Coalition, is pretty clear: Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R), who addressed this crowd on Thursday. 

Jeff Biggs from North Carolina:
"Rubio. We heard him speak yesterday and he did an outstanding job. It seems like he speaks from the heart."

Barbara Samuells from Long Island, New York:
"I think there are many good choices out there. My husband and I have this discussion every now and then, and I very much like Marco Rubio, but I think just lately my favorite and who I think could bring the most to us is Paul Ryan."

Lisa Roper from Texas:
"Marco Rubio. He is pure passion and he brings America all in one voice. Just being an immigrant and his family, and I think that's something that America can relate to and it's a serious issue on the table for Republicans, so I am certainly for him."

Jim McCarroll from Blairsville, Georgia:
"Marco Rubio. I just have a feeling he's the right guy." 

Happy Shuler from North Carolina: "A good Christian, Constitutionalist and one who believes in America and what our founding fathers were about. I like a fellow that's from Florida. You know who that is? Rubio."

Ashley Taylor from Richmond, Virginia:
"There are a lot of good people out there. I think Bob McDonnell has something unique to offer. Virginia is obviously a critical state. Bob McDonnell has proven himself to be a candidate that can appeal to people throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia." [Note: McDonnell addresses this crowd later tonight.]

Rebecca Jacob from North Carolina: 
"I've heard Jeb Bush, but I hope it's Marco Rubio. He's an American man. He's very conservative, and I do believe they would compliment each other. Mitt's a little on the more liberal/conservative side, but I think once he makes president, God says the same, he'll be the best for the job and Rubio would make an awesome vice president."

Aron Randall from Georgia:
"Rubio. I think he'll balance out the ticket and think he adds something to it. He gives the ticket what it needs. Mitt Romney is a great guy, but he needs a little bit more support, he needs a little more vigor." 

Artie Post with the tri-county Tea Party in Florida:
"Oh boy, there is such a field. Rubio of course comes to mind. I don't know at this point, it's still developing." 

Kimberly Erb from Smyrna, South Carolina:
"Ron Paul. He's the person that I voted for in the primaries. I don't think that Romney is conservative enough, and maybe Ron Paul is a little too conservative so I think the two together would be really good."

Per NBC's Andrew Rafferty: "As Mitt Romney spent Thursday attempting to knock the wind out of President Barack Obama's economy-focused address, two Republican senators largely considered to be in the top tier of potential vice presidential choices did the same. Sens. Marco Rubio, of Florida, and Rob Portman, of Ohio, followed the Republican presidential nominee's lead and pre-butted Obama's speech in Ohio with appearances and statements throughout the day."

National Journal reports: "Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire will join Romney in their respective home states, and Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin will campaign with the candidate in Ryan’s hometown of Janesville, Wis., staff members for the three legislators confirmed."

RUBIO: "Sen. Marco Rubio was on the verge of dropping out of the 2010 race for the Senate, convinced that then-Gov. Charlie Crist's popularity, power and money would be too much to overcome in a Republican primary. He was also afraid any future political ambitions would be crushed by Crist's supporters, Rubio wrote in his autobiography to be released next week," USA Today reports.