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


THE RIGHT SLAMS NEWT - ON THE AIRWAVES - The conservative opinion elite is just all-out unloading on former House Speaker Newt Gingrich for criticizing Paul Ryan's budget plan, with thought leaders from Rush Limbaugh to Rich Lowry joining in the pile-on. Limbaugh used his show to accuse Gingrich of cynically seeking out a "niche to occupy" in the 2012 field." RUSH: "It's amazing how many people seek out niches ... So the niche here is, 'Everybody but me is radical. Republicans are radical here with their social engineering. Democrats are radical. We need somebody more reasonable, like me.' That's the niche that Newt's trying to find here ... I know what he's trying to do with that, but this is the politics of it right now. There's a groundswell here for a massive, massive reduction in the size of government." http://bit.ly/j7F9UJ


AND - IN PRINT: National Review editor Rich Lowry dedicates his column today to ridiculing Gingrich, arguing that the Georgian turns every debate into "a grand sociological clash between different regions of the country." RICH: "He can't help himself. Gingrich prefers extravagant lambasting when a mere distancing would do, and the over-arching theoretical construct to a mundane pander. He is drawn irresistibly to operatic overstatement - sometimes brilliant, always interesting and occasionally downright absurd ... It's Newt's misfortune to want a high-pressure executive job with monarchical trappings where steadfastness and dignity matter." http://bit.ly/ljK6nG


NEWT CLEANS UP - "Gingrich accuses critics of playing 'gotcha'" - Radio Iowa's O. Kay Henderson: "Gingrich says his proposals will be 'evolving' as he gathers input from ordinary Americans rather than 'slick advisers' hired to shape presidential campaigns. And Gingrich dismisses criticism of statements he made during a nationally-televised interview on Sunday [on NBC's 'Meet the Press']... 'We need people who have the stamina and the willingness to have a conversation with the American nation,' Gingrich said, 'not just buy commercials, not just have slick consultants with slick advisers.'" http://bit.ly/kmVIDC


MORE RYAN WARS - HAMMERING CORWIN - The Democratic group House Majority PAC is going up on the air in New York's 26th Congressional District this morning with a previously announced ad buy targeting Republican Jane Corwin. The subject of the hit is - unsurprisingly - the Ryan's budget's plans for Medicare. "The budget Corwin supports actually increases the national debt by 8 trillion dollars over ten years," the ad says. "While Corwin's plan would 'essentially end Medicare,' it increases the debt by giving tax breaks to big oil and millionaires." Watch the ad here: http://bit.ly/keE3U1


THE BIGGER HOUSE CAMPAIGN - SCARE FOR A SCARE - The National Republican Congressional Committee is firing back on the Medicare issue, charging a dozen Democratic lawmakers with menacing the popular entitlement program. The hit should familiar to veterans of the 2010 campaign - and comes after sustained Democratic attacks on the Ryan budget. From one script, targeting Oregon Rep. Kurt Schrader: "Schrader and President Obama's plan threatens to deny treatment for seniors in Medicare by allowing bureaucrats to interfere with their doctors. Worse, Schrader would let Medicare go bankrupt - that'd mean big cuts to benefits."


As Kentucky goes to the polls, Sarah Palin hits the mail and Todd Akin gets a warm welcome from the DSCC, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily guide to the permanent campaign.


THE OPENING BID - $10.25 MILLION - Supporters of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney brought in an eye-popping eight-figure sum during yesterday's fundraising phone-a-thon yesterday in Las Vegas. That's more than most (all?) of the 2012 field will raise in the entire second quarter, and shows that Romney is well on his way to beating his 2007 quarterly record of $23.4 million. Romney finance chair Spencer Zwick: "The results are a strong indication of the national enthusiasm for Governor Romney and his pro-jobs platform. As today's event makes clear, Governor Romney will have the resources to be competitive and to spread his jobs and economy message."


MEET THE JUGGERNAUT - "Romney money machine cranks up" - POLITICO's Jonathan Martin: "Romney's total haul for this quarter, to be revealed in July, will be revealing. One fundraiser here said assuredly that the Republican would raise $40 million, a sum that could give him a financial advantage so strong that it partly compensates for his considerable weaknesses. Considering what Romney raised here Monday and that he will, according to a campaign official, hold over 30 fundraisers between now and when the quarter ends in June that figure seems quite possible. His biggest asset, however, could be the millions in his own bank account. The former venture capitalist plowed $42 million of his own money into his failed 2008 bid for the nomination ... Romney indicated that he was again open to funding his own campaign. 'With regards to my own resources and the campaign, that's counsel I'm going to keep with Ann and myself,' he said, alluding to his wife ... "[I]t was clear, in not-for-attribution conversations with donors here, that [Indiana Gov. Mitch] Daniels is the [potential candidate] Team Mitt is eying. In fact many said without prompting that Romney's one-day haul should send a message all the way to Indianapolis. 'Could Mitch do this?' asked one. 'He's got to ask - could I do this?' said another Romney contributor. 'Could I raise even $25 million [for the quarter]?'" http://politi.co/mvHQAP


BACHMANN LEANS IN - 'VERY LIKELY' - Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann is moving toward a 2012 campaign after "receiving an outpouring of encouragement to run," a top Bachmann adviser told CBS News. Said the adviser: "I can now say it is very likely she will decide to run for president." CBS reporter Jan Crawford: "Bachmann's insiders say they expect the Minnesota Republican representative to get into the presidential race in June--and that Mike Huckabee's decision not to run created a significant opening for her." http://bit.ly/iWz9Og


ALL TOGETHER NOW - 'HMMM ...' SarahPAC, the political vehicle for former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, is sending out 400,000 direct-mail fundraising solicitations, including to voters in early primary states. The Washington Post's Rachel Weiner: "While the mailing, which aims to raise contributions for Sarah PAC, says nothing specific about Palin's own political future the decision to send it will surely raise eyebrows. 'Taking back control of the House last year was only the first step,' Palin writes in the mailer. 'Now you and I must fix our eyes on 2012. Our goal is to take back the White House and the Senate.'" http://wapo.st/mQvFKC


MOVEMENT IN S.C. - Tim Pawlenty hired his first South Carolina staffer, bringing on board Kurt Pickhardt, the operations director for the state Republican Party http://politi.co/kmMNi7 ... And Jon Huntsman picked up the endorsement of Mike Campbell, the son of the late Gov. Carroll Campbell and a former state chairman for Mike Huckabee http://bit.ly/mibkiB


GIULIANI JOINS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN - IN PERU! Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has signed on as a paid adviser to Peruvian presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori, even as he insists he's considering a run for president back here in the United States. Reuters: "Giuliani, whose tough and popular police tactics were credited for cutting crime and who cast himself as a global expert on terrorism after the September 11 attacks, will help Fujimori's campaign design public safety programs ... Her announcement comes after weeks in which analysts said she needed to distance herself from her father, jailed former President Alberto Fujimori who ruled Peru with an iron fist in the 1990s, if she hoped to woo moderate voters in the tight race for the June 5 election." http://reut.rs/jDXJM5


TRUMP LEAVES IOWA HANGING: Non-presidential candidate Donald Trump may back out of his plans to speak at the Iowa Republican Party's Lincoln Day Dinner next month, potentially leaving hundreds of paid-up ticket holders in the lurch. No one could have seen this coming. Via AP: "In a statement issued Monday, spokesman Casey Mills says the state party has learned that Trump is reassessing his agreement to speak at the June 10 dinner. Mills says party leaders anticipate a final decision will be made Tuesday ... Mills says the invitation to Trump never was linked to whether he would seek the GOP nomination." http://bit.ly/jk0HDk


AKIN LAUNCHES - DSCC PREEMPTS - Missouri Rep. Todd Akin is expected to join the race against Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill later today, setting up a primary against former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman. The Senate Democrats' campaign arm will strike him on the launch pad, like so: "In Congress, 'Big Oil' Todd voted six times to protect Big Oil tax breaks, all while taking $47,000 in campaign cash from the oil and gas industry. Meanwhile, Big Oil companies have been raking in billions in profits while prices at the pump skyrocket ... '[T]here's nothing about Big Oil Todd's record that Missouri families would ever celebrate,' said Matt Canter, spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee."


KENTUCKY VOTES - BESHEAR AWAITS - Kentucky Senate President David Williams is poised to claim the Republican nomination for governor and move on to a tough fight against Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear. The Herald-Leader reports: "Beshear and [running mate Jerry] Abramson are unopposed in Tuesday's Democratic primary election. Williams faces two opponents in Tuesday's primary - Louisville businessman Phil Moffett and Jefferson County Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw. Moffett and Holsclaw have been unable to raise enough cash to buy television advertising and have trailed Williams badly in all publicly released polling." http://bit.ly/lQmNJQ


BERG GETS IN - GOING, GOING ... North Dakota Rep. Rick Berg announced for the Senate seat of retiring Democrat Kent Conrad, instantly becoming the strong favorite in the red-state race. The Bismarck Tribune: "Berg, who has been in office roughly four months, said he is running for the Senate because he wants to tackle the economy, improve job growth and repeal health care reform - all tenets of his recent House campaign ... Standing in front of his Fargo home, Berg talks about protecting the future ... Berg does not discuss his brief tenure in Congress, something already becoming an attack point for Democrats. 'What can I say? Nice house,' Democratic Party chairman Mark Schneider said." http://bit.ly/jj305e


GREGG DECLARES - PRAISES DANIELS - Democrats have found their candidate in the Indiana governor's race: former state House Speaker John Gregg. Assuming he gets his party's nomination, Gregg is expected to face GOP Rep. Mike Pence in the general election. The Courier-Journal: "Gregg, 56, said Monday that a far-right agenda pushed by Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels and the GOP-controlled General Assembly started grating on him this year and the idea of running for governor 'built up as a slow fire' until he decided it was time to act. Still, Gregg had some kind words for Daniels' handling of a few issues, urged him to run for president (in part to take GOP money out of the state), and said he does not intend to run a negative campaign. 'We're going to have a lot of fun,' Gregg said. 'It's going to be a happy campaign because a happy campaign is a winning campaign.'" http://bit.ly/jPAFo7


CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Get out now before you make a bigger fool of yourself" - Iowa voter Russell Fuhrman, to a stunned Newt Gingrich, in an exchange reported by the Des Moines Register http://bit.ly/mUf6fi

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