Here are ten things you need to know today.
- Sunday shows line-up: Robert Gibbs and Ed Gillespie will represent Team Obama and Team Romney, respectively, on NBC News’s Meet the Press; White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan and religious leaders Joel and Victoria Osteen will be on Fox News Sunday; John Brennan, Govs. Bob McDonnell (R-VA) and Brian Schweitzer (D-MT) and a sneak peek of an interview with Speaker John Boehner will be on CNN’s State of the Union; John Brennan will be on ABC News’ This Week; Haley Barbour, Antonio Villaraigosa and Jerry Brown will be on CBS News’ Face the Nation.
- Sources say Gingrich will drop out Wednesday: After reports that Newt Gingrich will drop out Tuesday, then later in the week, CNN now reports that Gingrich will officially suspend his campaign on Wednesday, May 2, according to a source close to Gingrich.
- Obama camp highlights Romney’s positions on women’s issues: In a new video, “Mitt Romney: Extreme On Women’s Issues,” the Obama campaign highlights a long series of people and policies Romney supports, from the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to touting the endorsement of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett of mandatory ultrasound fame to supporting the Blunt Amendment.
- The election is not about who’s ‘cooler’: Romney advisers on Saturday said that the election is not going to be about who’s “cooler,” at a Washington Post Live Newsmaker Forum. Instead, “”The question is going to be, who do you trust to run the economy?” said senior Romney adviser Peter Flaherty. To wit, Romney, the advisers said, would never do a slow-jam with Jimmy Fallon like the president did this week.
- Rubio fined $8k for FEC filing mistake: Sen. Marco Rubio is being fined $8,000 for accepting over $210,000 in improper contributions, what the FEC called “prohibited, excessive and other impermissible contributions,” according to the AP. It’s not the biggest fine in the world, but as a potential VP pick, no FEC fine is good.
- Fehrnstrom says auto bailout was Romney’s idea: At the Washington Post Forum Saturday, top adviser Eric Fehrnstrom said that the auto industry bailout was Romney’s idea.”The only economic success that President Obama has had is because he followed Mitt Romney’s advice,” Fehrnstrom said. As TPM has reported before, Romney’s position on the bailout is very vague, but it doesn’t seem like, had Romney been in office at the time, the same rescue would have taken place.
- Bin Laden is about to become the campaign issue du jour: As we approach the one-year anniversary of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden on Tuesday, the two campaigns are staking out their positions on the issue. The Obama campaign will seek credit for taking out bin Laden, while team Romney will try to deny him all the credit and accuse him of politicizing the issue. The nominees’ national security chops will almost certainly become a topic.
- Ron Paul dominates at Louisiana GOP caucuses: After coming in last with just 6 percent in the Louisiana primary, Ron Paul dominated in the Louisiana Republican caucuses Saturday in which voters pick delegates to the state convention where delegates to the national convention are picked. A combination of disaffection with Mitt Romney and an impressive get-out-the-vote effort by the Paul campaign now guarantees Ron Paul 17 of Louisiana’s 46 delegates in Tampa.
- What’s behind Boehner’s House takeover predictions?: This week, John Boehner predicted that Democrats had a one-in-three chance of taking the House back. Many believe that rather than being an honest prediction, the Speaker was trying to grab the attention of GOP donors and make sure they contribute to House races as well as races at the top of the ticket, reports Politico.
- Romney to hit the trail with Ayotte: Mitt Romney will hit the trail in New Hampshire Monday with the Granite State’s freshman Senator Kelly Ayotte. They will hold an event at the Portsmouth Fish Pier in Portsmouth. Ayotte, along with Ann Romney and Nikki Haley, is one of Romney’s female surrogates and her name has come up in speculation over Romney’s VP pick.
