“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.” 

Candidates next week will be shuttling around the country trying raise money just before the June 30^th FEC filing deadline, “the first milestone,” the Washington Times writes, “when the candidates, aides and the press can compare who is best-positioned in the early money chase — and who is coming up short.”

“Republicans are starting to pay more attention to the candidates who hope to take on President Barack Obama next year, and so far that's been a good thing for Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty,” AP writes. “Not for Newt Gingrich. Overall, a new Associated Press-GfK poll shows, Republicans are giving the field of challengers a so-so assessment as interest in the race increases. And, with growing doubts among Americans that Obama deserves re-election, Democratic interest in the GOP field is significant, too.”

BACHMANN: “New York retiree Phyllis Hornung has never been to Minnesota and has no ties to the state -- other than the steady stream of campaign donations she sends to Michele Bachmann,” the AP reports. “Almost every other month last year, Hornung sent the conservative Republican congresswoman a check for $25, or sometimes $75. ‘She captured my heart immediately,’ said Hornung.” The big picture: “The $350 that Hornung has donated is a tiny fraction of the $13.5 million Bachmann hauled in for her 2010 race — more than any other candidate for Congress. But donors such as Hornung are the main supply line for a fundraising machine that is humming as Bachmann begins her campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.”

CAIN: The L.A. Times’ Malcolm writes: “Herman Cain may have found the perfect way to get media attention Wednesday: call the real journalists ‘stupid’ for believing the words that come out of his mouth, and deem the most popular faux journalist a racist for ... being a comedian.” What Cain said, "Don’t try to pass a 2,700-page bill.” And: "You and I didn’t have time to read it. We’re too busy trying to live — send our kids to school. That’s why I am only going to allow small bills — three pages. You’ll have time to read that one over the dinner table." Cain contends, “Some of these idiotic reporters thought I was serious. The joke’s on them.”

GINGRICH: Gingrich said yesterday in Baltimore to the Maryland GOP, per Talking Points Memo: "No administration in modern times has failed younger blacks more than the Obama administration.”

Newt Gingrich will meet the Iowa Tea Party bus tour on Saturday in Indianola, IA, his campaign announced yesterday. But Gingrich “declined to purchase a lot today to participate in the Ames straw poll, a national spokesman confirmed in an interview with The Des Moines Register. The decision is not a reflection of a troubled campaign but rather an effort to run a more focused grassroots organization, said spokesman R.C. Hammond.”

Gingrich was on with Bill O’Reilly yesterday and defended his campaign defections, NBC’s Lauren Selsky reports. O’Reilly asked if he was surprised so many people quit, to which Gingrich said he “wasn't surprised, because we had a basic difference about strategy. … I think we're in a different environment, like 1980 and 1994, and we need a very positive, solutions-oriented campaign and one that goes directly to all Americans and is very different from a traditional political campaign.

Asked why they all quit, Gingrich said, “I think part of it is just that the route I’m taking is a hard route. It’s a route that says we're going to talk about very big ideas; we're going to use the Internet…. We had a fundamental disagreement about the approach to the American people and how you should structure the campaign. John McCain went through something like this in the summer of 2007 -- the way you should focus on it.” And he said his advisers apparently thought his book on American exceptionalism was “fluff.” “I happen to think that's integral to the 2012 election,” Gingrich said of talking about the topic. “The consultants all thought it was fluff, that it was irrelevant.”

HUNTSMAN: Business Week’s McCormick this central point, “Every Presidential candidate has political baggage. Much of Jon Huntsman's is made in China. It's not just the two years he spent as Barack Obama's ambassador in Beijing, which some fellow Republicans are using to question whether he's sufficiently conservative. As he launches his campaign, Huntsman will likely find himself having to answer a much tougher question from recession-weary voters: Why is the booming family business that made him rich creating thousands of jobs in Asia and the rest of the world instead of the U.S.?”

National Journal interviews Huntsman, and he says his decision to enter the race was a last-minute one and that as of six months ago he always intended to return to the private sector. “Huntsman emphasized that his intention to resign had nothing to do with his political ambitions. ‘Heavens no,’ he said. ‘Absolutely not… That was a last-minute decision.’” National Journal notes: “The question of when Huntsman started preparing for a White House bid is a sensitive one because federal law prohibits administration officials from engaging in politics.” And: “Huntsman declined to reveal the amount of his own money he had invested in the campaign, but put the amount at $1 million to $2 million ‘in rough terms.’”

The Louisville Courier-Journal also brings up the Immaculate Campaign: “The move should prompt other questions that go beyond whether it's good form for an ambassador to resign and run against the president that appointed him. An ambassador is prohibited from taking part in partisan campaigns, but the story goes that some powerful elves were busy building Mr. Huntsman's campaign that was ready and waiting upon his return. The newly minted candidate said he was shocked and humbled to find all that groundwork done. Voters are forgiven if their skeptics' meters hit tilt.”

PAUL: “Ron Paul is ramping up his travel schedule over the next week while promoting a sometimes-overlooked part of his platform: his opposition to abortion rights,” The Hill writes. “The libertarian-leaning Texas congressman will look to burnish his credentials with anti-abortion-rights voters when he speaks at the National Right to Life Committee’s annual convention on Friday in the Sunshine State.”

PAWLENTY: “With a key fundraising deadline looming, GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty will spend nearly all of next week soliciting money from donors to fill his campaign coffers,” The Hill reports. “Between Monday and Thursday, the former Minnesota governor is scheduled to travel to New York City, Atlanta and Florida to make one last fundraising push before Thursday’s second-quarter filing deadline with the Federal Election Commission.”

A survey of the National Association of Evangelicals’ 100-some board members revealed that 45 percent of them would name Tim Pawlenty as their favored Republican candidate, versus just 14 percent for Mitt Romney, Christianity Today reports.

PERRY: Perry told McClatchy yesterday on his considering a bid for president: "I'm still giving it good cogitation," he said.

Another indication Rick Perry wants to run for president? His aides are contacting the organizer of a small 4-H fair in New Hampshire to inquire about setting up a booth at the fair, Real Clear Politics reports. The organizer, Republican consultant Fran Wendelboe, said, “My event is pretty small potatoes. You don't have someone call to inquire about renting a booth unless you're pretty sure that you may need to book one."

Perry got a lukewarm reception from audience members at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials yesterday, the Texas Tribune reports. “Perry’s appearance before the group in San Antonio came less than 24 hours before a House committee will meet to decide if one of the most divisive issues of the session, the “sanctuary cities” legislation, advances to the House floor for a debate. The timing did not appear to be lost on the crowd of more than 500. And if it was a litmus test for Perry, who is considering a run for the White House next year, it signaled the climb to woo Hispanics is currently an uphill one at best.”

ROMNEY: Mitt Romney is getting his own super-PAC, called Restore our Future PAC. The New York Times: “Citing a similar effort that recently started on behalf of President Obama and the Obama campaign’s vow to raise record amounts for his re-election, Mr. Romney’s campaign welcomed the help.”

Romney sat down with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review to criticize President Obama’s economic policies ahead of the president’s visit to the city today to talk about manufacturing. “[I[s he proud of the 160,000 jobs lost in Pennsylvania since he was elected president?" Romney said. "Or the 51,000 manufacturing jobs lost in Pennsylvania?"

A little presumptuous? “Mitt Romney is planning to travel to London next month for a fund-raiser in one of the banking capitals of the world, soliciting campaign contributions from well-connected Americans abroad as he attempts to expand his fund-raising base across the Atlantic,” the Boston Globe reports.

“Congressional Republicans abruptly pulled out of debt-reduction talks with the White House on Thursday and demanded that President Obama meet directly with GOP leaders to resolve an impasse over taxes,” the Washington Post says. “With the clock ticking toward an Aug. 2 deadline, senior Republicans said negotiations led by Vice President Biden had ceased making headway as congressional Democrats pressed for as much as $400 billion in new taxes on corporations and the nation’s wealthiest households.”

IOWA: Straw poll drama: As candidates made bids on lots for the Ames straw poll yesterday, “pressure spiked” as one candidate who made an offer declined to be identified, the Des Moines Register reports. People representing other campaigns walked out in protest, but the walk-out ended after Rep. Thaddeus McCotter agreed to be identified.

The Iowa Republican has the breakdown of bidding for spots at the straw poll. Ron Paul was the highest bidder for a lot for $31,000. 

The Washington Post’s Cilizza has a primer on what we’ll learn – and what we won’t learn – from the Des Moines Register’s Saturday release of its first Iowa ballot test.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: At a press conference in the New Hampshire Legislative Office Building, Iowa GOP Chairman Matt Strawn pledged to work with his Granite State counterparts to maintain their posts as the nation’s first two primary states, the New Hampshire Union-Leader writes. “There is no daylight between Iowa and New Hampshire in protecting our states’ roles,” Strawn said. “You have an ally in the Hawkeye State.”

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.

The New York Times previews the president’s trip on Tuesday to Puerto Rico. “When President Obama arrives here on Tuesday — becoming the first American leader to visit officially since John F. Kennedy in 1961 — his feet will be planted firmly in San Juan’s historic district but his words will be aimed mostly at Puerto Ricans in Florida, New York and Pennsylvania. Not that there is anything wrong with that, many Puerto Ricans say. After five decades of cold shoulders from a succession of presidents, most Puerto Ricans are primed for a presidential visit, even if it is brief and unlikely to sway the longstanding debate over Puerto Rico’s identity as a United States territory.”

Defense Secretary Gates, on his farewell tour, made this warning to NATO: “In his final policy speech as Pentagon chief, Gates questioned the viability of NATO, saying its members' penny-pinching and lack of political will could hasten the end of U.S. support. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed in 1949 as a U.S.-led bulwark against Soviet aggression, but in the post-Cold War era it has struggled to find a purpose.”

“‘Future U.S. political leaders - those for whom the Cold War was not the formative experience that it was for me - may not consider the return on America's investment in NATO worth the cost,’ he told a European think tank on the final day of an 11-day overseas journey.

IOWA: Des Moines Register columnist Kathie Obradovich takes on members of the nationwide and local media for trotting out the provincial stereotypes about Iowa, now that Jon Huntsman has decided he won’t campaign there. “They assume that Iowans have no knowledge or interests beyond their immediate demographic. Iowans are predominantly white and older than the national average, so we must not care about minority issues or the concerns of young families, right?... People who want to draw conclusions about Iowa may find it instructive to pay us a visit. They may find one cliché that actually holds up: Iowans are friendly, even to our critics.”

The Des Moines Register condemns Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz for releasing a politically charged statement criticizing Jon Huntsman for saying he won’t campaign in Iowa. The news release, which had the headline “Huntsman Not Ready for the Big Dance,” was deemed “completely out of line” by the Register.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Former New York Governor George Pataki, who founded the group No America Debt, said he would watch Monday’s Republican presidential debate at Saint Anselm College specifically to see which candidate offers the best debt reduction plan. “I’ll be watching to see which candidates have the courage to go beyond focus group-tested sound bites and the fortitude to address the debt in something other than politically safe rhetoric. I’ll be listening for specifics,” Pataki wrote in an op-ed for the New Hampshire Union-Leader.

Tim Pawlenty, Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman will all be in the first primary state this weekend, The Hill reports. 

“President Barack Obama and Speaker John Boehner will tee up for a round of golf on June 18, the House Republican's office confirmed Friday,” Roll Call writes.

The Sunday New York Times: “Saddled with a faltering economic recovery, President Obama is rebuilding the campaign machinery that vaulted him into office, hoping it can overcome the challenges of persistently high unemployment and a fractured coalition of supporters.”

“The federal government has moved from economic ‘recovery mode’ to focusing on ‘standing up’ the private sector to fuel a turnaround, a top White House adviser said Sunday,” The Hill writes.

Today's top story from the New York Times: "President Obama’s national security team is contemplating troop reductions in Afghanistan that would be steeper than those discussed even a few weeks ago, with some officials arguing that such a change is justified by the rising cost of the war and the death of Osama bin Laden, which they called new 'strategic considerations.'"

That said, Politico writes: "A whirlwind tour of three crucial bases shows no signs of the war winding down, or of Americans getting ready to leave following last year’s successful surge."

“President Barack Obama and Speaker John Boehner will tee up for a round of golf on June 18, the House Republican's office confirmed Friday,” Roll Call writes.

The Sunday New York Times: “Saddled with a faltering economic recovery, President Obama is rebuilding the campaign machinery that vaulted him into office, hoping it can overcome the challenges of persistently high unemployment and a fractured coalition of supporters.”

“The federal government has moved from economic ‘recovery mode’ to focusing on ‘standing up’ the private sector to fuel a turnaround, a top White House adviser said Sunday,” The Hill writes.

Today's top story from the New York Times: "President Obama’s national security team is contemplating troop reductions in Afghanistan that would be steeper than those discussed even a few weeks ago, with some officials arguing that such a change is justified by the rising cost of the war and the death of Osama bin Laden, which they called new 'strategic considerations.'"

That said, Politico writes: "A whirlwind tour of three crucial bases shows no signs of the war winding down, or of Americans getting ready to leave following last year’s successful surge."