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By Alexander Burns (@aburnspolitico, aburns@politico.com )


THREE ANNOUNCEMENTS - COUNTDOWN TO ROMNEY: Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will officially enter the presidential race six days from now, with a June 2 event in New Hampshire. The Union Leader: "[A] noontime barbecue at GOP stalwart Doug and Stella Scamman's Bittersweet Farm in Stratham will be the venue for the Romney announcement ... Romney will be the first of the 2012 cycle to announce in the Granite State ... Romney intends to call for limited government, a cut in the federal debt and a need for strong leadership in international affairs." THEN SANTORUM: The Pennsylvanian is jumping in on June 6, Fox News reports: "A Santorum Aide tells FOX News Santorum will make the announcement from southwestern Pennsylvania 'near where his grandfather worked in the coal mines after he came here from Italy.'" AND THEN BACHMANN: Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann is eyeing a June launch from the Iowa town where she lived as a child, telling reporters last night: "The announcement will be made in Iowa, and it will be made in Waterloo and we'll give you the date and the time." http://bit.ly/kQNGLX and http://bit.ly/ifJvH L and http://politi.co/m7N3h7


TODAY - MITT'S IOWA ROLLOUT: Romney is making stops this afternoon in Des Moines, Ankeny and Cedar Rapids, in his first visit to the early presidential state since the 2010 elections. AP's Tom Beaumont reports that Romney has settled on a 2012 Iowa leadership team: "The former Massachusetts governor who finished second in the 2008 caucuses is expected to wage a less aggressive Iowa campaign this time, aides say. But Romney will have former state GOP Chairman Brian Kennedy on his 2012 Iowa team. Kennedy is a lawyer from Bettendorf who helped Romney's 2008 Iowa campaign. Romney's Iowa team also includes state lawmaker Renee Schulte of Cedar Rapids and a handful of other veteran Iowa GOP activists and officials." http://bit.ly/iY1fX6


RESPECT PAID - TO BRANSTAD: Romney spoke by phone Wednesday with Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, a spokesman for the governor told Morning Score. The two won't meet today, (Branstad is preparing for his son's wedding this weekend) but the Republican urged Romney as recently as Monday to compete seriously in Iowa: "Maybe you don't have to win, but doing relatively well - and he's considered the national front-runner - so I think being in the top three is important in Iowa." http://bit.ly/lDHwRZ


SET YOUR DVR - WRAPPING TPAW'S WEEK: Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty finishes his launch week in New York City today, taking his "Time for Truth" tour to the four big cable morning shows. His hit schedule: "Fox and Friends" at 7:15 a.m., MSNBC's "Morning Joe" at 7:38 a.m., CNBC's "Squawk Box" at 8:05 a.m. and CNN's "American Morning" at 8:40 a.m.


As Nevada Dems get their candidate, Tiffany's leaves no wiggle room and Roger Stone tells us what he really thinks, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily guide to the permanent campaign.


PALIN WATCH - SEVEN KEY WORDS - Sarah Palin's acting more like a presidential candidate, but Fox isn't treating her like one - yet. Responding to new speculation that Palin could enter the presidential race, network VP Bill Shine told reporters Thursday: "We're not changing Sarah Palin's status." In other words, if Palin is serious about running in 2012, Fox doesn't yet think she's as serious as Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum. CBS: "Palin has not set up a presidential exploratory committee. She has been raising money for her political action committee, which cannot go to a presidential campaign. Palin announced Thursday that she was embarking on a bus tour across the East Coast in what is being seen as a precursor to a possible presidential run. 'We'll celebrate the good things that bring Americans together; those things that will give us the needed strength to meet the heady challenges ahead,' she said." http://bit.ly/iTbGbG


NOTED ON THE SCHEDULE ... Palin's bus tour, which starts this weekend in Washington, will take her to New Hampshire for the first time in more than two and a half years. POLITICO's Andy Barr: "The first stop will be at the annual Rolling Thunder motorcycle rally. Palin will then travel up the East Coast in a trip that will include her first stop in New Hampshire since running as the GOP's vice presidential nominee ... Palin will also be stopping at other spots of symbolic national significance on the East Coast, including the Civil War battlefields at Gettysburg and Antietam, and the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia." http://politi.co/iAcZ1a


2012 TALKER - "Palin, Bachmann eye each other" - POLITICO's Smith & Haberman: "Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann are nominally allies, two maverick conservative women who are among the GOP's brightest stars ... Already, their interests are coming into conflict as Palin makes moves designed to reclaim some of the media sparkle she's ceded to Bachmann during the spring ... [E]ach camp views the other with a level of suspicion, with some of Palin's supporters seeing Bachmann as a B-list version of their icon, and some in Bachmann's camp regarding Palin as a short-timer without Bachmann's record or tenure ... Palin 'doesn't seem like a credible candidate,' said Iowa state Senator Kent Sorenson, who will reportedly serve as Bachmann's political director in the state. He said he thought Bachmann would beat Palin there head-to-head if need be. 'She has not made any inroads at all to people in Iowa.'" http://politi.co/ilemeJ


BACHMANN'S COMMENT - On CNN: "I have great respect for Gov. Palin. I consider her a friend and if she gets in, she gets in ... That won't impact whether or not I get in or not."


ABOUT THAT TIFFANY STORY ... Newt Gingrich has been taking a new round of heat this week, following a report that Tiffany & Co. lobbied the congressional committee his wife worked for, even as the couple was taking out big loans from the jeweler. But in a statement shared via the Gingrich camp, Tiffany's shot down that story in no uncertain terms: "We had no reason to lobby the Agriculture Committee and we did not. Nor did anyone at Tiffany & Co. (or Cassidy & Associates on behalf of Tiffany) ever speak to Speaker Gingrich or Mrs. Gingrich about either of these matters ... To re-iterate, there is nothing unusual or extraordinary about the credit extended to Speaker Gingrich."


MORE TPAW - CORNERED ON RYAN: Scratch one more name from the list of GOP presidential candidates avoiding yes-or-no questions on the Paul Ryan budget. Pawlenty told reporters Thursday that if he had to choose exclusively between signing the Ryan plan or not signing it, "of course I would sign it." The New York Times: "Pawlenty ... said he would eventually propose his own Medicare plan, but conceded that if Mr. Ryan's plan came to his desk as president, he would sign it ... Speaking to reporters in New Hampshire, Mr. Pawlenty said Thursday that his plan would have some similarities and some differences with Mr. Ryan's proposal, which the House and Senate Republicans endorsed." http://nyti.ms/kX949S


PLUS - HE SCORES IN FLORIDA - The Minnesotan has picked up two brand-name Florida operatives for his presidential run: former Jeb Bush campaign chair Phil Handy and speechwriter-operative-Florida blogger of record Justin Sayfie. The Palm Beach Post: "Sayfie, proprietor of the must-read Sayfiereview.com political site, will be a Florida co-chairman ... Handy was chairman of Jeb Bush's 1994 and 1998 campaigns and a 2002 Bush co-chairman. He was state chairman for John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign." http://bit.ly/mxTwKJ


AWK-WARD - TRUMP STICKS AROUND: Donald Trump is out of the GOP presidential race, but he still plans to attend next week's Faith and Freedom Coalition summit in Washington. More from Maggie Haberman: "'We can confirm that Mr. Trump will kick off the Friday evening June 3rd session,' said FFC conference director Tommy Sears, in a statement forwarded out by Trump's aides ... After bowing out of the 2012 race last week, Trump canceled a high-profile appearance as the keynote speaker at the Iowa GOP Lincoln dinner next month. That dinner was then canceled ... Since then, though, Trump - whose nation poll numbers rose and then sank quickly back to earth - has started making noises about possibly making a late entry to the presidential contest, apparently as an independent." http://politi.co/jXoiEG


CURVE BALL IN WISCONSIN - THE COURT WEIGHS IN: The Wisconsin law sharply scaling back collective bargaining for government workers has been struck down by a Dane County judge, foreshadowing a lengthy court fight even as a wave of state legislative recalls gets underway. The Journal Sentinel: "Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi overturned the legislation and ruled that GOP lawmakers broke the state's open meetings law in passing it March 9 amid raucous protests by union supporters ... On March 18, Sumi had placed a temporary hold on the law, but Thursday's ruling voided it - at least until the Supreme Court decides whether to act in the case. 'It's what we were looking for,' said Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne, a Democrat, even as he acknowledged the higher court could have the final say." http://bit.ly/jR50Pz


THE NEVADA SPECIAL - DERBY DROPS: Former Nevada Democratic Party Chair Jill Derby pulled out of the special election for Sen. Dean Heller's old seat, giving state Treasurer Kate Marshall a cleaner shot on the Democratic side. The Review-Journal: "Derby's reversal comes after growing behind-the-scenes pressure for her to drop out from Democratic Party leaders in Nevada and Washington, D.C., who are promoting Marshall ... Democrats still may face an uphill battle to capture the House seat if a district judge's ruling holds and the political parties are required to nominate just one candidate each for the ballot." http://bit.ly/iX5N6V


CODA - TWEET OF THE DAY: "Michelle Bachman consulting with Dick Morris? Dick Morris is always wrong ! That's the end of her campaign." - Republican strategist and dark-arts master @RogerJStoneJr, on a New York Post report that Morris may be advising Bachmann http://bit.ly/jKmAzS

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