memeorandum: Sarah Palin to guest-host ‘Today’ show Tuesday (Alicia M. Cohn/The Hill)

12:40 PM ET, April 2, 2012

Top Items:

Susan Page / USA Today:

Swing States poll: A shift by women puts Obama in lead — MILWAUKEE - President Obama has opened the first significant lead of the 2012 campaign in the nation's dozen top battleground states, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, boosted by a huge shift of women to his side.

Lois Romano / Politico:

Ann Romney is the Romney Democrats fear most — Ann Romney's unexpected rock star status has the political arena buzzing about how her husband's campaign will leverage her popularity in an election in which Michelle Obama — one of the most admired first ladies in history — will have an outsized and substantive portfolio.

Discussion: CNN and No More Mister Nice Blog

Justin Sink / The Hill:

‘Mad Men’ character knocks Mitt Romney's father as ‘a clown’ — Sunday's episode of “Mad Men” — the popular drama about an ad agency in the 1960s — gave a nod to the current political scene, with one character taking a not-so-subtle jab at the father of 2012 Republican front-runner Mitt Romney.

Discussion: CNN

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Obama 49%, Romney 45% Among Registered Voters Nationwide — Obama, Romney supporters equally enthusiastic about voting — PRINCETON, NJ — If asked to choose between them today, 49% of U.S. registered voters say they would vote for Barack Obama for president, while 45% would choose likely Republican opponent Mitt Romney.

Discussion: Politico, Guardian, American Spectator, Eclectablog, FiveThirtyEight, The Maddow Blog and The PJ Tatler

Amy Bingham / ABCNEWS:

‘Mad Men’ Blasts Romney, Calls Him a ‘Clown’ — The hit AMC TV show “Mad Men” took a not-so-subtle swipe at a Romney Sunday night — George Romney, the father of presidential contender Mitt Romney, that is. — In the 1960s-era series, the character Henry Francis …

Discussion: The New Republic

Christian Heinze / GOP 12:
Swing state poll makes key omissions

Discussion: ABCNEWS and The Raw Story

Washington Post:
Mitt Romney's women problem

Discussion: Associated Press, Hot Air, The Hill, The Raw Story and Hotline On Call

Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:

Former President Clinton on Mitt Romney: Etch-a-Sketch “Is What He's Got to Do” — Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, currently faces a dynamic similar to the one President Bill Clinton faced during his first presidential run 20 years ago: a long, bruising primary, driving up his unfavorable ratings.

Discussion: Politico, Yahoo! News, CNN, Taegan Goddard's … and Swampland

John E. Sununu / Boston Globe: An exciting VP? Don't go for it, Mitt

Christian Heinze / GOP 12: Clinton: Flip-flops will doom Romney

E.J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:

The right's stealthy coup — Right before our eyes, American conservatism is becoming something very different from what it once was. Yet this transformation is happening by stealth because moderates are too afraid to acknowledge what all their senses tell them.

Discussion: American Power, The Mahablog, The Maddow Blog, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Washington Examiner

Mj Lee / Politico:

Rick Santorum: I may ‘sneak’ Wisconsin win — Rick Santorum predicted Monday on the eve of the Wisconsin primary that he may “sneak in and have an upset.” — “We feel good that we're going to have a good result here in Wisconsin — we're going to have a strong showing …

Discussion: JSOnline

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Romney headed for double win Tuesday

Discussion: Firedoglake and The Week

Jonathan Easley / Ballot Box:
New Santorum ad links Romney to Obama on healthcare, bailouts

Discussion: CNN

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Pink Slime Economics — The big bad event of last week was, of course, the Supreme Court hearing on health reform. In the course of that hearing it became clear that several of the justices, and possibly a majority, are political creatures pure and simple, willing to embrace any argument …

Discussion: National Review, The Hill, The Huffington Post, Paul Krugman, Daily Kos, Suburban Guerrilla, Washington Wire and Prairie Weather

Ta-Nehisi Coates / The Atlantic Online:

Why Don't Black People Protest ‘Black-on-Black Violence’? — Juan Williams offers a meme that we are seeing repeated in response to the widespread protests around Trayvon Martin: … This is an interesting question. It's also one that Juan Williams, who's been writing about race for almost three decades, should be able to answer.

Discussion: American Prospect

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:

Sarah Palin to guest-host ‘Today’ show Tuesday — Sarah Palin will guest-host NBC's “Today” show on Tuesday. — The former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential nominee, who is also a Fox News contributor, will join Matt Lauer as co-host for the day, according to NBC News.

Discussion: Politico, msnbc.com and The Week

Chris Boyette / CNN:
Sarah Palin to co-host ‘Today’ show as Katie Couric sits in on ‘GMA’

Discussion: The Daily Dish and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Juli Weiner / Vanity Fair:

The Top Candidates in the Democratic Presidential Primary Mad Men's Henry Francis Calls George Romney a Clown! — Clown? — On last night's episode of Mad Men, Henry Francis, a high-ranking operative for Republican New York mayor John Lindsay and Betty's mostly supportive …

Discussion: Mediaite

James Crugnale / Mediaite:
Mad Men Takes A Swipe At Mitt Romney's Father, Calls Him A ‘Clown’

Discussion: Campaign 2012 and nation.foxnews.com

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

Rep. Clyburn: Obama should campaign against Supreme Court if health law falls — Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said President Obama should campaign against the Supreme Court, painting it as a conservative, activist institution if it rules that the administration's healthcare law is unconstitutional.

Discussion: Politico, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air and National Review

Wall Street Journal:
Assailing the Supreme Court

Discussion: Althouse and BizzyBlog

Politico:

Where is George W. Bush? — George W. Bush is everywhere and nowhere in the 2012 presidential race. — Reviled by Democrats and generally avoided as a campaign talking point by his fellow Republicans, the former president is in a self-imposed political exile — an absence that was underscored …

Discussion: American Prospect

Ylan Q. Mui / Washington Post:

Senior citizens continue to bear burden of student loans — New research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows that Americans 60 and older still owe about $36 billion in student loans, providing a rare window into the dynamics of student debt. More than 10 percent of those loans are delinquent.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, News Desk, US Politics and Via Meadia

Terence P. Jeffrey / CNSNews:

Obama Calls for More Redistribution of Wealth, Declaring: 'I Am My Brother's Keeper' — (CNSNews.com) - In a campaign speech in Vermont on Friday, President Barack Obama referenced the biblical story of Cain and Abel in condemning what he called “you're-on-your-own economics” …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and The Lonely Conservative

Lisa Miller / Washington Post:

Trayvon Martin: Doing justice, having faith in social media — At first, the nationwide “hoodie” protest over Trayvon Martin's death — in which Americans donned sweatshirts in solidarity with the slain teenager and his family — felt shallow and reflexive, a consumerist reaction. What's this?

Discussion: Mediaite, NewsBusters.org and Weasel Zippers