Here are ten things you need to know today.
- Romney, Obama virtually tied in key swing states: Mitt Romney, who was polling behind President Obama in Florida and Ohio, is now tied with the president, a new poll from Quinnipiac University finds. In Florida, Obama’s a seven-point lead from their latest poll on March 28 was completely erased, with Romney now leading Obama 44 percent to 43 percent. In Ohio, Obama takes 44 percent and Romney 42 percent. In March, Obama led Romney in the Buckeye State by six points.
- Obama widens lead in Pennsylvania: The same Quinnipiac Poll shows President Obama has widened his lead in Pennsylvania, going from a three-point lead in March to an eight-point lead, beating Romney 47 percent to 39 percent. The gender gap is small in Florida but much larger in Ohio and Pennsylvania, giving Obama a boost in those states.
- Romney meets with conservative media: Mitt and Ann Romney met for two hours in a closed-door session with members of the conservative media Wednesday in Washington, D.C., reports the Huffington Post. Attendees told HuffPo that the meeting was an “olive branch” to conservative media and an effort to get them on their side and “working with the campaign.”
- Bachmann to endorse Romney: Michele Bachmann will endorse Mitt Romney Thursday at a campaign event in Portsmouth, Virginia. Romney has been trying to woo conservative tea partiers and evangelicals, the same folks who backed Bachmann.
- Reports that Grenell left after being kept off conference calls: Richard Grenell quit the Romney campaign after being told not to speak on conference calls, a source tells CNN. Grennell was hired as a national security and foreign policy spokesman. Openly gay, his role on the campaign was criticized by anti-gay conservatives.
- ROF ad campaign uses old, positive Romney spot: Pro-Romney super PAC Restore Our Future is finally up on the air in nine swing states with its $4.3 million ad campaign (previously reported at $3.7 million and $3.9 million). The ad they are running between May 3 and May 16 is a positive spot about Mitt Romney helping find his business partner’s daughter who went missing in New York City. First Read reports that the ad is word-for-word the same as a 2007 spot made by the Romney campaign, then called “The Search.” As First Read notes, ROF is run by former Romney staffers. The big positive campaign is likely an attempt to help Romney’s underwater favorability.
- Warren explains Native American Heritage listings: Warren explained that she placed herself on minority directories as a Native American to try to meet people with similar roots, the Boston Herald reports: “I listed myself in the directory in the hopes that it might mean that I would be invited to a luncheon, a group something that might happen with people who are like I am. Nothing like that ever happened, that was clearly not the use for it and so I stopped checking it off.” Scott Brown’s campaign has used the listings to suggest Warren used her ancestry to try to further her legal career.
- Brown attacks Warren’s ‘elitist attitude’: Sen. Scott Brown issued one of his nastier attacks against Elizabeth Warren Wednesday, accusing her of having an “elitist attitude” after a speech in Washington Wednesday. “Listen, the bottom line is the way that she’s approaching things, knowing better than others how to do things,” Brown said. “The federal government can do things better than individual businesses and individuals, I think there is an elitist attitude there in the way that she’s communicating to us as citizens and telling us how to do things, who should be taxed, who should not be taxed.”
- Romney mocks Obama camp slogan: Romney mocked a new slogan “forward” rolled out by the Obama campaign in recent days at a fundraiser in Arlington, Virginia. “Forward,” Romney said, “Forward, what, over the cliff?” Romney didn’t think it was a great slogan. “His new slogan is: Progress. No, forward. Forward! That’s it! Progress would be better. I might use that one myself, actually,” said Romney.
- Walker courts evangelicals: Scott Walker held a tele-town hall Wednesday night hosted by Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition, seeking to mobilize support from evangelicals ahead of the June 5 recall election.
