Here are ten things you need to know today.
- Gingrich downsizes campaign: Newt Gingrich is scaling back his presidential campaign, though staff swear he’ll stay in the race till the convention. About a dozen staffers are leaving the campaign; Gingrich will cut back on travel, and focus more on cheaper forms of communication online.
- Obama ahead of Romney in 3 swing states: A new Quinnipiac poll in the key swing states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida, shows the President leading Mitt Romney in all three. Obama’s smallest lead is in Pennsylvania, where he’s ahead 45% to 42%. In Ohio, he leads 47% to 41%, and in Florida, a state where Romney has done well previously, he’s up 49% to 42%.
- In popularity contest, Obama way ahead of Romney: A Washington Post/ABC News poll on favorability shows that President Obama is far more popular than Mitt Romney. Fifty percent of adults view Romney unfavorably and only 34% view him favorably. Obama’s unfavorability is at 43% while his favorability is at 53%. Romney’s numbers follow a general pattern: as more Americans get to know him, his unfavorables rise much faster than his favorables.
- Romney up in Wisconsin: Mitt Romney hasn’t spent the last several days in Wisconsin like Rick Santorum has, yet Romney’s overtaken him in the polls. A new poll from Marquette Tuesday showed the former Massachusetts governor up 39% to 31%.
- Conservatives warming to idea of brokered convention: A majority of Republicans, according to a new CNN survey, want their party to pick its presidential nominee during the primary. But 43% would like to see the nominating contest go all the way to the convention in late August. It’s another signal that Mitt Romney may be wrapping up the nomination, but still has to win over Republican voters.
- Restore Our Future buys more airtime: Pro-Romney super PAC Restore Our Future is up with ads in more upcoming primary states, purchasing cable airtime in Connecticut ($8,920), Delaware ($2,040), New York ($137,726), Pennsylvania ($76,551) and Rhode Island ($13,615), according to CNN.
- Santorum could lose Pennsylvania: Rick Santorum needs to win his home state of Pennsylvania, but it’s looking like Mitt Romney could take it from him. A new poll of Republican voters from Franklin and Marshall College shows Romney down just 2 points, 30% to 28%.
- Biden speaks in Iowa: Vice President will speak about the economy and innovation while attacking Mitt Romney’s record on manufacturing in Davenport, Iowa Wednesday. The speech, at PCT Engineered Systems, is the third of four speeches the Vice President will deliver on the economy and middle class. The point is to frame the main issues of the general election.
- Santorum on the trail in Wisconsin: Rick Santorum is campaigning in Wisconsin again Wednesday with three scheduled stops. Santorum is the only candidate who has been vigorously campaigning this week. Newt Gingrich is making a speech this evening at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and Ron Paul will be just outside the beltway at the University of Maryland in College Park.
- Romney fundraises in Texas: Mitt Romney is beginning a two-day Texas tour, where he’ll raise money and campaign in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Democrats have used the occasion to attack Romney on his stance on immigration.
