Charles Dharapak / AP

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, accompanied by his Ann, address a crowd after they walked in the Fourth of July Parade in Wolfeboro, N.H., Wednesday. At right is son Craig Romney.

WOLFEBORO, N.H.-- Mitt Romney contradicted a top aide to his campaign and aligned himself instead with the Republican establishment in labeling the health care mandate a tax, not a penalty, as Democrats have contended.

"Now the Supreme Court has spoken and while I agreed with the dissent, that’s taken over by the fact that the majority of the court said it’s a tax," Romney said in an interview Wednesday with CBS. "Therefore it is a tax. They have spoken. There’s no way around that.  You can try and say you wish they’d decided a different way, but they didn't. They concluded it’s a tax. That’s what it is."

Romney's description of the health care mandate as a tax aligns his position with that of GOP leaders, who have for days used the Supreme Court's majority decision upholding the law under Congress's taxation authority as a cudgel with which to attack Democrats and the president as having raised taxes.

Earlier this week, Romney senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom took a position in an interview with NBC's Chuck Todd that the mandate should be labeled a fee or a penalty, not a tax, and repeating again that Romney agreed with the Supreme Court's dissenting opinion, written by Antonin Scalia, that the mandate should be considered a penalty or fee and would therefore be unconstitutional.

By stating that the mandate is indeed a tax, Romney can now join a chorus of Republican leaders in attacking the president for what he claims was breaking a central pledge of Obama's candidacy -- not to raise taxes on middle-income Americans. But in doing so, he opens himself up to a similar attack: that the mandate in the health care law he passed in Massachusetts was also a tax.

"The American people know that President Obama has broken the pledge he made," Romney said in the CBS interview. "He said he wouldn’t raise taxes on middle-income Americans."

Wednesday morning's interview was Romney's first public appearance in several days, as the candidate took the weekend off to vacation at his summer home here on Lake Winnepesaukee. Romney was joined here by all five of his sons and their children, filling his lakeside compound to the brim with activity over several days of boating, volleyball and at least one meeting with top campaign aides on the house's back deck. 

That meeting, attended by campaign manager Matt Rhoades and senior adviser Beth Myers, who heads Romney's vice presidential search effort, has fueled speculation that Romney may be close to picking a number two on the ticket.

Wednesday, Romney took part in the Wolfeboro Independence Day parade, along with most of his family and with Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), who is considered by many political analysts to be on Romney's vice presidential short list. If parade-goers were looking for clues to the candidate's intentions or to hear policy discussed, they may have come away disappointed.

Instead, the attitude along the parade route through Main street was patriotic and festive, with the candidate criss-crossing the street to shake hands with supporters, snap photos and guzzle lemonade from a roadside stand. At the parade's conclusion at Brewster Academy, which overlooks the lake, Romney praised the "fighting men and women around the world continue to inspire me," and gave brief remarks saluting America on her birthday.

"I love this country," Romney said. "I love the people who have built this country."

SALEM, VA -- Mitt Romney said Tuesday that President Obama will have "wasted" much of his first term if the Supreme Court decides Thursday that the president's health reform law is unconstitutional.

Amid a flurry of politically important rulings by the high court this week -- including yesterday's immigration decision -- Romney positioned himself in anticipation of Thursday's scheduled verdict on "ObamaCare."

"If Obamacare is not deemed constitutional, then the first three and a half years of this president's term will have been wasted on something that has not helped the American people," Romney told a crowd of some 1,500 supporters here today. "If it is deemed to stand, then I'll tell you one thing. Then we'll have to have a president, and I'm that one, that's gonna get rid of Obamacare. We're gonna stop it on day one."

Romney has long been forced to wrestle with conservative skeptics, who see Romney's health care reform law in Massachusetts -- including the requirement that individuals to purchase health insurance or face a penalty -- as a model for the president's reform. Romney's pledge to repeal the national law is a daily part of his stump speech, but takes on added meaning as the clock ticks down toward Thursday, the final day on which the court has scheduled the release of opinions.

If the entire law (or just the individual mandate) is struck down, Romney's comments today suggest he will use the ruling to batter the president for wasting his time and political capital on a law that was ultimately wiped out, rather than focusing on the economy.

Romney also used his rally here today to respond for the first time publicly to yesterday's Supreme Court ruling on Arizona's stiff immigration law, elements of which Romney praised during the primary campaign.

The former Massachusetts governor described the court's involvement in the Arizona case as an example of a presidential failure in leadership, saying that had the president and a Democratic congress just passed immigration reform, immigration issues would not be the "muddle" they are now.

"The Supreme Court had to step in because states had to step in," Romney said. "States looking to find a way to solve the problems he didn't address, tried to address it in their own ways, and now the Supreme Court's looked at it, and what we're left with is a bit of a muddle, but what we know is the president failed to lead."

Romney also addressed the immigration case at a private fundraiser yesterday, in which he pledged to pass his own immigration reform plan -- which revolves around simplifying legal immigration and placing strict limits in place to prevent the hiring of illegal immigrants -- within one year of taking office.

In neither appearance did he clearly state whether or not he agreed with the Supreme Court's ruling, focusing instead on each state's right to address immigration issues if the federal government fails to do so.

Today's rally took place in the Roanoke media market, which NBC's First Read reported this morning is the second most active media market for political advertising in the country this week with Romney and his GOP allies narrowly outspending Obama and Democrats. With that focus in mind, the presumptive GOP nominee said today that he would take back the Old Dominion this election, after the once-reliably Republican state flipped into the Democratic column in 2008.

"We're going to win in Virginia," Romney said as he wrapped up his remarks. "We're going to win in November."

SCOTTSDALE, AZ -- Mitt Romney pledged to reform the nation's immigration laws in his first year as president while criticizing the Supreme Court's immigration decision on Monday in broad terms.

Romney told donors in Arizona that he would have preferred that their state have more discretion in enforcing its immigration laws following a ruling by the high court throwing out much of Arizona's tough immigration law.

"Now you probably heard today there was a Supreme Court decision relating to immigration and given the failure of the immigration policy in this country, I would have preferred to see the Supreme Court give more latitude to the states not less," Romney told some 200 donors seated in a hotel ballroom for his remarks. "And there are states now under this decision have less authority, less latitude to enforce immigration laws."

Throughout the primary campaign, Romney defended the immigration law here, which called for local law enforcement to check immigration documents for anyone who they suspected may be in the country illegally (among other provisions), as the right course for a state to take when the federal government has failed to address immigration.

The court invalidated much of the law except for one of its most controversial prongs: the requirement that authorities check the immigration status of individuals whom they detain and suspect of being in the U.S. illegally.

Romney didn't address that provision directly, pivoting instead to accuse President Obama of a failure to lead on immigration and creating a "muddle" of the issue.

"The president promised in his campaign that in his first year he would take on immigration and solve our immigration challenges, put in place a long term program to care for those who want to come here legally to deal with illegal immigration, to deal with securing our borders," Romney said. "All these things he was going to in his first year he had a Democrat House and a Democrat Senate but he didn’t do it. Isn’t it time for the American people to ask him why?"

Romney has not remarked publicly on the Supreme Court case or immigration today, but in addressing the topic of reform with a group of donors here who collectively gave more than $2 million dollars to the campaign, Romney pledge to forgo stopgap measures and reform the U.S. immigration system within the first year of his administration.

"In my first year I will make sure we actually do take on immigration, we secure our border, we make sure that we grow legal immigration in a way that provides people here with skill and expertise that we want," Romney said. "This is an issue that has to be tackled."

TROY, Mich. – For Mitt Romney and his finance team, it's good to be home.

Here in Michigan -- where Mitt Romney was born and raised and where he recently concluded a five-day bus tour by dipping his toes in Lake Michigan with his wife Ann – the campaign announced it hit a record fundraising haul of between $6 million and $8 million dollars in a single day.

"Michigan has been great,” John Rakolta, Jr., the national finance co-chairman of the campaign told donors gathered for the second of two fundraising events on Wednesday. “Tonight and today we will exceed every single event that has been held for Governor Romney from the beginning of the campaign.”

Spencer Zwick, the campaign's national finance chairman, later told reporters he did not yet have a final figure. The campaign had only two finance events on the books Wednesday; a reception in Grand Rapid earlier in the day and a dinner event outside Detroit, where tickets ranged in cost from $2,500 to $50,000.

"It’s hard to write a check to a politician, it’s harder to get a friend to do it. You guys have done that, thank you. And to each person who is here this evening, you have helped us break records, and that's not just important from the standpoint of breaking records, it’s important because we recognize what’s at stake," Romney told donors Wednesday. "I realize this is not about me. You're not giving a check to me; you're not giving a check to the Republican Party. You're concerned about America. This is about our country."

Disclosure forms posted at the Federal Election Commission’s web site Wednesday showed that Romney's campaign raised $23.4 million dollars in May, compared with $39.1 million raised by the Obama campaign. When the campaigns' receipts are lumped in with the state and national parties that make up their "Victory" committees, Romney and the Republicans out-raised Democrats and the president.

Obama campaign officials said Wednesday they expect to be outraised by Romney again in June, and outspent for the cycle by Romney and the outside PACs and groups which support him.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Some of Mitt Romney's most deep-pocketed donors will flock to Utah for an exclusive gathering this weekend featuring top Republican political figures and strategists.

More than 100 of the GOP's top fundraisers and bundlers will attend the "First National Romney Victory Leadership Retreat," a weekend-long retreat intended to rally, educate and reward the men and women who have been the primary financial backers of the presumptive nominee's campaign thus far.

The attendees will be treated to presentations, briefing and panel discussions featuring an all-star cast of Republican politicians, including several thought to be among Romney's top vice presidential choices.

Among the possible VP contenders a Romney campaign adviser confirmed would be in attendance are former Govs. Tim Pawlenty (MN) and Jeb Bush (FL), Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The GOP's last presidential nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain, will also attend, according to Republican sources familiar with the event's schedule.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell will speak at one of the weekend's two major dinners, according to a McDonnell staffer.

The Washington Post has reported that Sen. John Thune, Rep. Paul Ryan -- two other rumored VP short-listers will attend, as will Republican power-broker Karl Rove. NBC News has not independently confirmed this information.

"All the major players of the party will be there," Dallas businessman Ray Washburne, who will attend the retreat, told NBC News. "Its kind of a reunion of all the people who worked hard on the campaign so far."

Washburne is indicative of the type of Republican rainmaker the Romney campaign intends to woo, and reward, at the retreat. The real estate developer, investor and restauranteur headed up a recent Romney fundraiser in Dallas that brought in $3.6 million for the campaign, and has co-chaired Romney's fundraising effort in the Lone Star state after the first candidate he supported -- Pawlenty -- dropped out of the race.

The invitees are primarily those donors who have raised enough money to qualify as national finance committee members, one Romney adviser said.

"The party is all falling in behind the candidate now, and this is kind of the first kind of anointment of Mitt by everyone," Washburne said.

On Saturday, attendees will be briefed by top Romney campaign officials, including political director Rich Beeson, and the famously media-averse campaign manager Matt Rhodes, on the state of the campaign and strategy going forward. That night they will also attend the second of two dinners with the candidate himself.

Attendees at the weekend-long retreat will at gather at a resort hotel in the mountains surrounding Salt Lake city, not far from where Romney first rose to prominence by running the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002, and in the state where he still retains a rock star-like political status.

Romney and his guests will be far from the prying eyes of most media. The entire three-day conference is closed to the press, and Romney has no public events in Utah to draw reporters here otherwise. His campaign has refused most official requests for comment on the conference, including several made for this report.

When the conference concludes at the end of the weekend, the campaign will continue with one major question -- likely to be discussed all weekend -- that will remain unanswered: Was the vice presidential nominee among those in attendance?

"That's all anybody wants to know," Washburne said.

NBC's Alex Moe contributed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Evan Vucci / AP

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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