Barack Does Broadway Tonight - Does Obama's Celebritology Matter in the End? At a time of high unemployment and economic uncertainty, does a presidential candidate friending and fundraising with the rich and famous matter to average voters? Republicans think so. And Democrats do, too. http://abcn.ws/LguMz2 (Dwyer and Walshe)

More on Obama's busy night in the Big Apple - http://abcn.ws/LimUaN

Romney's Tightrope - Rooting Against Obama vs. Rooting Against the Economy, Admitting Some Improvement - Republicans in several swing states walk a tightrope when criticizing the speed of the economic recovery. In states like Virginia, Michigan and Florida, where unemployment rates have dropped in the past several years, surrogates for the Romney campaign acknowledge that they've seen an economic uptick in their own states. This was on display first over the weekend when Bob McDonnell admitted the stimulus helped Virginia state lawmakers. It carried through today on conference calls set up by the Romney campaign to discuss Michigan, Florida and other states.

"I'm glad that Michigan, we're on an uptick, but you know what, the rest of the country is not, and that is really the failure of the Obama administration," state Attorney General Bill Schuette, a Republican, said in a conference call today in response to a question about the effects of the auto industry bailout on Michigan's economy.

But Elizabeth Hartfield points out: "Such comments underscore the challenge Romney surrogates in a handful of key states will face when trying to strike a balance between criticizing Obama's financial record, without ignoring the gains made by their particular states in recent months and years." http://abcn.ws/KYyECj

Tapper to Carney - Who specifically is "rooting for failure"?

CARNEY: I think that when you have a situation where action is not being taken on Capitol Hill where it is obvious, as outside economists will tell you, what actions Congress could take to help create jobs, that there is at least a failure to act. And you know, I can't tell you specifically whether or not that's rooting or just passivity, but the fact is that Americans send their members - send their elected representatives to Washington to act, not to do nothing. http://abcn.ws/KKqYFt

Jake Tapper Wonders (Hypothetically) How He Could Buy an Ambassadorship to Monaco  - (Or: Inside the World of Bundlers, which is secretive for Obama and even more secretive for Romney) - http://abcn.ws/L1MRhX

From Hope to Fear - GOP Tweaks '08 Obama - The latest from American Crossroads, according to Devin Dwyer and Michael Falcone - "Cue the ominous music and a graphic flashing on screen that reads:  'My, how time flies…' The video then presents a barrage of recent negative newspaper headlines and soundbites from journalists and Democrats questioning the tone of Obama's attacks on Romney. The tagline is 'Hope has changed to fear' as an image of the famous Obama 'Hope' poster appears with flames on the bottom." http://abcn.ws/NcZWrT

Syria and 2012 - Matt Negrin took a look at Obama and Romney on Syria, and he came away with this: "Obama says the dictator, Bashar al-Assad, has to step down, but Obama won't give weapons to the Syrian opposition. Romney says Assad should step down, and he wants to give weapons to the rebels. That's about the only substantial difference in policy for the two candidates, and the small debate has probably received all the media attention it's going to, because, as CNN's John King mentioned at a GOP primary debate, 'The American people don't often pay attention to what's going on in the world until they have to.'" http://abcn.ws/KFQVpg

Wisconsin Recall Tomorrow - A National Referendum - Or a Really Expensive Local Race? -   http://abcn.ws/LgxYe6

Walker's Slight Lead - http://abcn.ws/KYSJrY

"Paycheck Fairness" - The Senate is scheduled to hold a procedural cloture vote on the bill Tuesday even though it is not expected to get the 60 votes needed to move forward in the Senate without Republican support. The bill will most certainly become a flashpoint for talking points, campaign ads, and election-year messaging which may be part of the Democratic calculus for moving toward the bill now as a narrative in the so-called " war on women," narrative. Democrats today wasted no time to frame tomorrow's vote in the context of presidential politics, challenging Gov. Mitt Romney to support the measure. http://abcn.ws/MtAkb2 (Miller / Larotonda)

Romney Names Top GOP Woman to Lead Campaign in House -  Presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney today announced that Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the highest-ranked Republican woman in Congress, will serve as the campaign's point person in the House of Representatives. http://abcn.ws/KYAsLA (Parkinson and Friedman)

Obama '12 Chief Reassures Base With Electoral Map In the wake of a dismal jobs report and polls that show a tightening of the presidential race, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina is telling supporters to "ignore the ups and downs" and focus on the "strategy we've had since day one." http://abcn.ws/M5DgIF (Dwyer)

Remembering Anthony Weiner, Now Stay-at-Home Dad - In honor of a year without @RepWeiner, here's that video of Weiner lying to @JonKarl's face on TV - http://abcn.ws/L2sr8M

The Tragi-Comic Case of Thaddeus McCotter -   http://abcn.ws/KKmpem

Veep Beat: Portman's Starring Role in Debate Prep Portman solid debate stand-in; Portman's trip to Israel; Jeb Bush not into being VP, especially because he differs from GOP on tax reform; Pawlenty would be honored to serve as VP; Jindal, the sleeper pick?; Rubio to Indiana; Axelrod thinks picking Rubio is disgrace to Hispanics - http://abcn.ws/NbYiXy (Arlette Saenz)

Romney Taps Former Utah Gov. to Head Transition Team - Presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney has chosen former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt to lead his transition team to the White House, a move to try to ensure a seamless transition should the candidate be elected this fall. - http://abcn.ws/LZmSGb