Updated 12:20 p.m. - President Obama called Mitt Romney on Wednesday to congratulate the former Massachusetts governor on winning the necessary delegates to secure the Republican presidential nomination.

The Obama campaign released a short readout of the call, which occurred at 11:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday.

"President Obama said that he looked forward to an important and healthy debate about America’s future, and wished Governor Romney and his family well throughout the upcoming campaign," said an Obama campaign statement emailed to reporters by spokesman Ben LaBolt.

"It was brief and cordial," said a Romney campaign aide. "Gov. Romney thanked the president for his congratulations and wished him and his family well."

Romney, per NBC News projections, surpassed the necessary 1,144 delegates he needs to clinch the nomination after winning last night's Texas primary.

Neither Obama nor Romney has any public campaign events on the schedule today.

Garrett Haake contributed.

Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter talks to The Daily Rundown's Chuck Todd about the Obama campaign's response to claims that "Obama for America" has started with a negative campaign focus.

With the GOP nomination now secured, Mitt Romney appeared at a Las Vegas fundraiser Tuesday evening alongside controversial real estate mogul Donald Trump, who renewed questions about President Obama's U.S. citizenship. NBC's Peter Alexander reports.

Mary Altaffer / AP

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks in Craig, Colo. Romney is calling for more "assertive measures" against Syrian President Bashar Assad, including arming the Syrian opposition.

The hottest 10 advertising markets: Still fighting on GOP turf… If you’re looking to explain why the Obama-Romney race is close, look no further than the fundamentals… Romney gets trumped by Trump on the day he mathematically clinches GOP nomination… It’ll be Dewhurst vs. Cruz in July… And congressional incumbent Silvestre Reyes goes down in Texas.

*** Still fighting on GOP turf: What do this week’s 10 hottest advertising markets (from May 28 to June 4) in the presidential contest tell us? The race is still being fought on GOP turf -- all states that George W. Bush carried in 2004 (and three that John Kerry never contested). Six of the top 10 advertising markets are in North Carolina and Virginia, according to NBC/SMG Delta. (Still don’t think that North Carolina is a true battleground?) The other four markets are in Colorado, Ohio, and Iowa. The New York Times confirms that Team Romney has placed “a priority on winning Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia,” plus one more. Come October, if the major battlegrounds are only those first four states, then that will be very good news for Team Obama. But if you start seeing Pennsylvania or Michigan added to this list, then you know the worm has turned. Here are the top 10 advertising markets (in advertising points):

1. Norfolk-Portsmouth (Obama/1500, Romney/1400, Crossroads/730, Priorities/450)
2. Roanoke-Lynchburg (Obama/1500, Romney/1500, Crossroads/750)
3. Greensboro-High Point (Romney/1400, Obama/1100, Crossroads/780)
4. Columbus, OH (Romney/1400, Obama/1000, Crossroads/525, Priorities/365)
5. Raleigh-Durham (Obama/1200, Romney/1100, Crossroads/840)
6. Richmond-Petersburg (Obama/1100, Romney/1100, Crossroads/340, Priorities/315)
7. Cedar Rapids (Obama/1300, Romney/1100, Crossroads/340)
8. Charlotte (Romney/1200, Obama/1000, Crossroads/515)
9. Cincinnati (Romney/1200, Obama/1000, Crossroads/460)
10. Colorado Springs (Obama/1400, Crossroads/630, Priorities/420)

*** Where everyone is advertising: Here’s also a snapshot of where everyone is advertising this week:
Obama ($7.3 million): CO, FL, IA, NC, NH, NV, OH, PA, VA,
Romney ($2 million): IA, NC, OH, VA
Crossroads ($5 million): CO, FL, IA, MI, NC, NH, NV, OH, PA, VA
Priorities ($1.1 million): CO, FL, OH, PA, VA

*** Romney and the Republicans are already outspending Obama and the Democrats: By the way, it’s now official: With the addition of the new Romney ad buy, Romney and the GOP outside groups have passed Obama and the Democratic outside groups in total ad spending for the general election,  $45 million to $39 million. Team Obama $38.7M; anti-Obama $35.6M; Team Romney $9.3M.

*** It’s the fundamentals, stupid: It seems like everyone is chasing narratives to explain why all the current polling shows the Obama-Romney contest to be close. Is Romney stronger than people expected? Did the Bain attacks backfire? (Folks, remember that the two-minute Obama TV ad on Bain had less than $100,000 behind it.) To us, the answer is: “It’s the fundamentals, stupid.” Earlier in the year, Obama enjoyed a larger lead over Romney 1) during the throes of the contested GOP primary race, and 2) when the economy was adding 200,000-plus jobs a month. Now? The GOP primary race is over, and that job creation has slowed down. Plus, there are now new economic worries coming out of Europe. Funny how this works with the Obama numbers: When the economic anxiety level lowers, his numbers rise; when anxiety rises, his numbers fall. To some of our media buddies: Don’t go chasing narrative waterfalls. Yes, we have spent too much time watching the movie “The Other Guys.”

*** Trumped by Trump: Remember what we wrote yesterday -- that hanging out with Donald Trump could overshadow you, for all the wrong reasons? Or what we wrote on Friday -- that associating with him is playing with fire? Or what we wrote in February -- that getting his endorsement could backfire? Well, yesterday Trump hijacked Romney’s big day of clearing the 1144 delegate number when 1) the Romney campaign scheduled a fundraiser with Trump on that same day; 2) Trump engaged in more “birther” talk on CNBC; and 3) Trump did it again on CNN. Unfortunately for the Romney camp, this was entirely preventable; you could have seen it coming from miles away. The Obama campaign gleefully fired off this statement yesterday: “If Mitt Romney lacks the backbone to stand up to a charlatan like Donald Trump because he's so concerned about lining his campaign's pockets, what does that say about the kind of President he would be?" Today’s optics for Team Romney aren’t that great, either: Romney hits a California fundraiser co-hosted by Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman, whose troubled firm is planning to lay off some 25,000 workers. But Meg Whitman is no Donald Trump.

*** Romney passes the 1144 number: But here was the good news for Team Romney yesterday: Winning the Texas primary last night, he surpassed the 1144 delegates needed to clinch the GOP nomination. As of earlier this morning, here’s where the delegate count now stands: Romney 1183, Santorum 261, Gingrich 135, Paul 129.

*** It’ll be Dewhurst vs. Cruz in July: Also in Texas last night, Lt. David Dewhurst failed to get 50% in the Senate GOP primary -- instead he got 45% -- and that will force a July run-off against second-place finisher Ted Cruz. (By the way, Craig James got less than 4% of the vote; The Leach mob got him?) Make no mistake: Dewhurst is in real trouble. A run-off against a Tea Party insurgent, especially in the dead of summer, is an establishment candidate’s worst nightmare.

*** Reyes goes down: And in Texas, we saw a congressional incumbent -- Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D) -- lose his primary. Reyes “was narrowly defeated by former city councilman Beto O'Rourke, who favors legalizing marijuana but has said he wouldn't push for that in Congress,” the AP writes. “O’Rourke’s bid was boosted by a Texas-based super PAC, the Campaign for Primary Accountability, which invested heavily in two House contests in the Lone Star State,” Roll Call adds. But Nathan Gonzales of the Rothenberg Political Report makes a very important point: In 15 states so far, 130 out of 132 House incumbents (98%) have been re-nominated in races not featuring members vs. members.

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LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- In a whirlwind half-day visit to Sin City, Mitt Romney is enlisting a powerful new financial backer, rallying the troops with the state's governor and is set to collect millions at a high-dollar fundraiser with the ever-controversial Donald Trump, all before the sun sets in the desert tonight.

No sooner had Romney's campaign parked the chartered 737 plane (right next to Donald Trump's black and gold emblazoned jet), the candidate was off to meet with billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who almost singlehandedly kept Newt Gingrich's campaign afloat with millions of dollars in donations to Gingrich's super PAC, but signaled months ago he would support the Republican nominee.

Aides said the meeting lasted nearly an hour at the Venetian Las Vegas Casino, Hotel and Resort, but there was no word of a formal endorsement or gift to the pro-Romney super PAC.

Romney next visted a Somers Furniture warehouse, but not for a new ottoman. The former Massachusetts governor campaigned for the first time with Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, a rising star in the Republican party who originally backed Texas Governor Rick Perry early in the primary campaign.

Romney took aim at President Barack Obama's 2009 comments not to "blow a bunch of cash in Vegas," by pledging his love for the city, which helped deliver a major caucus win for the all-but-certain Republican nominee back in February.

"I'm counting on you guys to go out and make sure that you elect a president who tells people to come to Las Vegas, not to stay away from Las Vegas. Who gets us on the track to have a strong and vibrant economy again," Romney said.

As Romney continued to attack the president as "hostile" to business, he veered into new territory, passing along the story of a restaurant owner he met with in a closed-door roundtable who suggested adding a new provision to the constitutional requirements of the presidency: time in business.

"I’d like to have a provision in the Constitution that in addition to the age of the president and the citizenship of the president and the birthplace of the president being set by the Constitution, I’d like it also to say that the president has to spend at least three years working in business before he could become President of the United States," Romney quoted the restauranteur as saying. "You see then he or she would understand that the policies they’re putting in place have to encourage small business, make it easier for business to grow."

And perhaps no man is more embroiled over the constitutional requirements of the presidency than Romney's host at his final Vegas event of the day, Donald Trump, who today doubled-down on his controversial beliefs that President Obama's birth certificate may be fraudulent, telling CNN that "a lot of people don't agree with that birth certificate," a charge host Wolf Blitzer labeled "ridiculous."

Trump hosted the fundraiser for Romney tonight at the Trump International Hotel just off the Las Vegas strip with a top asking price of $50,000. Trump spokesman Michael Cohen said the event tonight could raise "millions" for Romney campaign's victory fund.

Among the guests was Newt Gingrich who said, “We believe this is an American-born, job-killing president.”

Answering a question about Trump, he continued: “Others believe he was born elsewhere and kills jobs. But Obama is a jobs-killing president. He was born in Hawaii. That doesn’t affect that he is killing jobs.”

On Tuesday, Mitt Romney's campaign message was overshadowed by Donald Trump stoking the fires of the 'birther' conspiracy. NBC's Peter Alexander reports. 

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Mitt Romney walks to an awaiting car after walking off of his campaign plane at McCarran International Airport on May 29, 2012 in Las Vegas.

Updated 9:45 p.m. ET -- Mitt Romney won the Republican primary in Texas on Tuesday, a victory that gives him more than the 1,144 delegates needed to secure his party's presidential nomination.

Following a bruising primary season earlier this year that extended longer than many Republicans had hoped, NBC News projected that Romney had finally won the necessary delegates to secure the nomination, though the former Massachusetts governor won’t earn the official nod until August's Republican National Convention in Tampa.

The race for the Republican nomination has been largely over since the April 3 primary in Wisconsin. Romney's win in that contest prompted the eventual withdrawals of his remaining rivals: Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, and Ron Paul. It also hastened the onset of President Barack Obama's own re-election offensive versus Romney.

"I am honored that Americans across the country have given their support to my candidacy and I am humbled to have won enough delegates to become the Republican Party's 2012 presidential nominee," Romney said in a statement Tuesday evening. "Our party has come together with the goal of putting the failures of the last three and a half years behind us."

Romney spent the evening at a closed-doors fundraiser in Las Vegas with Gingrich and reality television star Donald Trump.

While conservatives appear to have rallied behind the former Massachusetts governor, the long campaign season was not without its consequences for Romney.

The Republican has been fundraising aggressively to make up for money spent during the nomination battle, which depleted, in part, his relative financial parity versus Obama. 

But more significantly, the Obama campaign has been turning some of the most stinging attacks on Romney from other Republicans and revived them for use in the general election.

"I have no illusions about the difficulties of the task before us. But whatever challenges lie ahead, we will settle for nothing less than getting America back on the path to full employment and prosperity," Romney said in his victory statement. "On November 6, I am confident that we will unite as a country and begin the hard work of fulfilling the American promise and restoring our country to greatness.”

Case-in-point: the Obama campaign has spent much of the past two weeks attacking Romney's experience at Bain Capital, the private equity firm Romney had co-founded. That is a line of attack first advanced by Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry in January.

Romney's continued advantage versus Obama, though, lies with an economic recovery that still rests on precarious footing.

May's NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that half of Americans judged last month's jobs report as unsatisfactory. That dampened optimism for a recovery -- and, in turn, for Obama -- could become a potent political weapon for Romney, especially if continued economic unrest in Europe slows the pace of the recovery in the U.S.

CRAIG, CO -- Deep inside Colorado's coal country, Mitt Romney on Tuesday accused President Obama of grasping for a "twig" to hold onto as evidence the administration's economic policies had succeeded.

Romney said that, if he were elected, he would usher in a more business-friendly administration before a crowd of several hundred supporters gathered for a rally in Craig's rustic downtown.

"Now [President Obama's] campaign these days is trying to find a twig to hang on to, some little excuse they can grab and say, ‘Look, things are getting a little better, aren’t they?’ And the answer is yeah, things are getting a little better in a lot of places in this country, but it’s not thanks to his policies. It’s in spite of his policies," Romney said.

The presumptive GOP nominee continued: "You see, every recession ultimately comes to an end, but you’d expect that this deep recession might come back to an aggressive turnaround, but it didn’t happen."

The former Massachusetts governor's campaign has said his focus this week would be on an administration "hostile" to business, and Romney pressed this thesis during today's rally as well.

"Government sees small business and big business as the enemy. We’re not the enemy. Some of these liberals say they like a strong economy but then they act like they don’t like business. An economy is nothing but the collection of all of our businesses together," Romney said. "I want our government to support small business, middle-size business, big business. I want jobs. I want government that’s an ally of business not an enemy of business.”

Romney, who will likely clinch the nomination with the results of tonight's primary in Texas, also continued to lash the president's energy policy; his remarks found a welcome audience composed of roughly 150 coal workers, dressed in dirty overalls and hard hats.

"He said he was going to create some 5 million green energy jobs. Have you seen those around here anywhere?" No, as a matter of fact he's going after energy," Romney said of the president. "He says he for all of the above when it comes for energy, you heard that. And yet he's made it harder to get coal out of the ground, he's made it harder to get natural gas out of the ground, he's made it harder to get oil out of the ground."

But Romney's pessimism about energy and the economy was not echoed by the citizens of Craig (Population roughly 10,000. Elevation: 6,185 feet) who came out in droves to see the Republican candidate, and listen to a local high school band cover pop hits on a glorious Colorado morning. A number of residents described for reporters a recovering economy based on hunting and fishing, and coal mining and oil exploration along the western slope.

Is Mitt Romney playing with fire in his dealings with Donald Trump?

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee will appear with Trump, the pugnacious real estate mogul and reality television star, at a fundraiser Tuesday in Las Vegas. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a nemesis of Romney's throughout the Republican presidential primary, will round out the group.

Steve Marcus / Reuters

Real estate mogul Donald Trump's ties to presidential candidate Mitt Romney run deeper than most run-of-the-mill supporters of the former Massachusetts governor.

Setting aside Gingrich’s own bombast, it’s Trump who could prove the bigger long-term headache for Romney. The latest example of that came Tuesday morning, when Trump said he’s still unconvinced that President Barack Obama was born in the United States, further linking Romney to that sentiment in a subsequent tweet from his @realDonaldTrump handle:

@BarackObama is practically begging @MittRomney to disavow the place of birth movement, he is afraid of it and for good reason. He keeps using @SenJohnMcCain as an example, however, @SenJohnMcCain lost the election. Don’t let it happen again.

It’s become clear that Trump’s ties to Romney run deeper than most run-of-the-mill supporters of the former Massachusetts governor. Romney and Trump appeared together when the “Apprentice” host made official his endorsement on Feb. 2. Since then, Trump’s become an involved surrogate for Romney, doing radio interviews and robocalls during the height of the GOP primary. He’s also hosted fundraisers for Romney, most notably one on Ann Romney’s birthday that netted the campaign $600,000.

“Donald Trump is playing an extremely important role, which has been acknowledged by both Ann and Mitt Romney, which has been acknowledged by them in election night speeches,” said Michael Cohen, a spokesman for Trump, in an interview.

Romney put some distance between the two men, though, before taking off for Colorado late on Monday night. "You know, I don't agree with all the people who support me and my guess is they don't all agree with everything I believe in. But I need to get 50.1 percent or more and I'm appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people," he told reporters aboard his campaign charter plane.

Romney was burned back in April when conservative rocker (and campaign supporter) Ted Nugent called Obama “evil,” and said if the incumbent were to win re-election, “I will be either be dead or in jail by this time next year.”

FIRST THOUGHTS: Playing the Trump card

Democrats stoked that story in the media, forcing Romney to personally address the Nugent controversy; now, it appears as though they’re hoping for another opportunity to do the same with Trump.

That is, when — not if — Trump goes off-message, Romney will have to answer for the controversy. His campaign won’t have the luxury of shrugging off a figure like Trump, who’s undeniably much closer to the Republican nominee than Nugent.

"It raises a question, that's come up before during this campaign, as to whether Gov. Romney will embrace these extreme voices in his party, or stand up to them," Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said Friday on MSNBC.

And already, the Obama campaign released a video on Tuesday bracketing the fundraiser this evening, contrasting Romney's relative silence toward Trump with the actions taken by Republican nominee John McCain in 2008 to shun extreme voices in the GOP.

For now, the Romney campaign has emphasized its singular focus on the economy, casting media firestorms around Trump or Romney’s previous work at Bain Capital as nothing less than a distraction.

"In a world of record job loss, record home loss, more people falling into poverty than time since the Depression, I don't think this stuff matters," said a Romney aide. "I would think the last few weeks would be a good lesson in that. From the anniversary of the Osama bin Laden killing to gay marriage, this election is just about one thing: are you happy with the economy and who do you think will do a better job?"

But the irony for Romney is that, for a campaign that prides itself on discipline and focus, its association with Trump threatens at any moment to knock the candidate off-message.

• Consider just a small sampling of the things Trump has recently said:
  May 22: Trump said on CNN that invoking Obama’s association with the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright in the campaign, which Romney had disavowed, is fair game. "These tapes are devastating for the president. I mean, Rev. Wright is an angry man. He's extremely angry at the president,” Trump said on CNN. “I see nothing wrong with using it."
  May 22: Also on May 22, Trump stoked the flames of “birtherism,” skepticism of whether the president was born in the U.S., despite Obama having released his long-form birth certificate a year earlier, showing he was, in fact, born in Hawaii. Trump tweeted: “I wonder if @BarackObama ever applied to Occidental, Columbia or Harvard as a foreign student. When can we see his applications? What do they say about his place of birth.”
  May 7: Trump suggested, during the Chen Guangcheng incident, that the United States’ economic tension versus China could translate into an actual war in due time. “It's not a war with bullets, but it's certainly a war,” Trump said of those economic tensions. “Maybe someday, it ends up with bullets because, frankly, they're building a military like you wouldn't believe.”

And there are more politically substantive examples of Trump breaking with Romney and the GOP.

“I just think it’s very dangerous,” he said of Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget proposals this March on FOX. “Already, the Democrats are just starting to write their campaign literature based on this plan. I think it’s very dangerous for the Republicans.”

Cohen said that Trump didn’t presume to speak for Romney.

“Donald Trump is his own individual, and he will make statements that he feels are accurate, are on the minds of other Americans and are significant in showing the voters who the real Barack Obama is,” he said. “Whatever questions will be posed to Gov. Romney and the Romney camp, they are certainly entitled to answer as they see fit. The current president and vice president don’t agree on all topics. Not all Republicans agree with all Republicans, and not all Democrats agree with all Democrats. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.”

And to Trump’s credit, he’s never been known as a shrinking violet. His views have certainly been publicly aired at this point, and voters may be able to better distinguish between his headline-grabbing comments and the more staid sentiments of Romney.

But in a campaign cycle driven by grievance politics (“When will Mitt Romney/Barack Obama apologize for…?”), it’s difficult to imagine Romney not having to answer for some outburst of Trump’s between now and November.

“He’ll stand up next to Donald Trump, and he’ll talk about why he wants to be president, and why he believes the economy needs to be turned around,” Romney adviser Kevin Madden said Friday on MSNBC of the way Romney would relate to Trump. “Anytime that something goes off of that – or something where Gov. Romney would disagree – he’s going to make that very clear, just as he has in the past, and he’ll do it in the present, and he’ll do it in the future.”

NBC’s Garrett Haake contributed to this report.

The Daily Rundown's Chuck Todd sits down with Gov. Bob McDonnell, R-Va., chairman of the Republican Governors Association, to talk about the Wisconsin recall election and the RGA's hand in the race. 

With a win in today's Texas primary, Mitt Romney will clinch the GOP nomination in time for the grueling summer campaign against President Obama. Over the Memorial Day weekend, both candidates made pitches to the crucial veterans' vote. NBC's Peter Alexander reports.

Romney plays his Trump card again… But is this a smart card to play?... More Dem handwringing… The Romney camp’s pushback on Bain… Primary Day in Texas -- watching Romney cross the 1144 magic number and that Senate GOP primary… Odds and ends: Scott Brown up with new TV ad, while Dem convention marks less than 100 days out with new web video… Recapping Friday’s Walker-Barrett debate… And Christie’s sports-gambling push.

Ethan Miller / Getty Images

Ann Romney and Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, look on as Donald Trump endorses Mitt Romney for president during a news conference at the Trump International Hotel & Tower Las Vegas February 2, 2012.

*** Playing the Trump card: Here's a little thought exercise: What if a chief Obama surrogate/fundraiser happened to be the nation's foremost critic of the Mormon faith, who argued that it was nothing more than a cult? Or what if the Obama campaign was holding a fundraising contest with a celebrity who believed that 9/11 was an inside job? Or even if Obama held a joint fundraiser with Bill Maher? It’s hard to differentiate those hypotheticals from Mitt Romney’s association with Donald Trump, who in recent days has said that hitting Obama with Jeremiah Wright is fair game and that there are still doubts about Obama’s place of birth. The Romney-Trump association tonight includes a fundraiser with “The Donald,” as well as an upcoming fundraising dinner contest with him. Why hang out with someone -- multiple times -- who could overshadow you, for all the wrong reasons? Could you imagine John McCain or George W. Bush doing something similar? In fact, the Obama campaign is out with a web video contrasting McCain from ’08 with Romney’s association with Trump in this campaign.

*** Guilt by association: Look, we’re not big fans of “guilt by association” attack politics. And while it’s as old as the Republic, it’s cheap and usually has little impact on the public at large. But Trump is not exactly someone who is helpful to Romney in his attempt to warm himself to swing voters, particularly women. Perhaps there’s something else the Romney campaign is up to; maybe they believe by hugging Trump now, it’ll be easier to tell him “no” when he asks to speak at the Republican convention. As George Will put it, “I do not understand the cost benefit here. The costs are clear. The benefit — what voter is going to vote for him because he is seen with Donald Trump? The cost of appearing with this bloviating ignoramus is obvious, it seems to me.”

*** Romney responds to the criticism of Trump: Last night, Romney was asked about his association with the nation’s most famous “birther.” His answer didn’t address the controversial topic. “I don't agree with all the people who support me and my guess is they don't all agree with everything I believe in. But I need to get 50.1% or more, and I'm appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people,” he said, per NBC’s Garrett Haake. By the way, msnbc.com’s Mike O’Brien today will have a more in-depth piece looking at Romney and Trump.

*** Dem handwringing: From our coverage of past presidential campaigns, Republicans have always been better -- and more comfortable -- when it comes to hand-to-hand political combat. Exhibit A: Some of the Democratic handwringing we saw over the past two weeks about whether the attacks on Bain Capital are fair. And here’s Exhibit B: More handwringing about whether President Obama has engaged too early in the campaign. The handwringing is mostly taking place in the Acela corridor by folks that haven’t seen any polling data in the industrial Midwestern states or any focus groups, at least when it comes to Bain. The more intriguing debate folks will have in December is about how quickly and sharply the president decided to personally attack Romney. He could have easily decided to stay above the fray for longer, but the decision was made they couldn’t do that. Team Obama will argue, they needed to fire up their own base and running AGAINST someone helps fire them up faster than simply asking them to help re-elect the president. So they may have had no choice but to engage earlier than planned simply to get their own base motivated. Still, hand wring all you want. The problem, though is that the toothpaste is already out of the tube.

*** The Romney camp’s pushback on Bain: Speaking of Bain, the Romney camp has a counterattack of sorts with a new web video noting that firms like Solyndra received federal loans but have since gone bankrupt. It’s their attempt to muddy up all the Bain enterprises that went belly up with the stimulus-assisted firms that did the same. The Romney camp tells First Read that its message this week is that Obama “is hostile to job creators.” Says a Romney official: “Take a look at Solyndra -- that is a perfect example of how President Obama is hostile to job creation. President Obama believes we would be better off if political appointees were making decisions on where taxpayer money is spent. President Obama’s economic leadership has failed and at times has shown the worst of cronyism, like in the case of Solyndra.” Some outside groups also have a similar hit on the president, turning the “private equity” argument into a question of “what did the president do with public equity”?  It’s a clever non-response response.

*** Texas’ “two step” primary: It’s primary day in the Lone Star State, and there are two primaries to watch. The first is the presidential: Mitt Romney is expected to reach the 1144-delegate magic number tonight. Here’s currently at 1,084, and he’ll get a lion’s share of Texas’ 155 delegates. The second primary is the crowded Senate GOP race to fill the seat being vacated by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. The top-two contestants are Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and state Solicitor General Ted Cruz. If no one gets a majority of today’s primary vote, there will be a run-off featuring the top-two finishers. Don’t miss this Club for Growth TV ad that’s been hitting Dewhurst for being labeled “a moderate.” This ad tells you everything you need to know about your U.S. Senate, particularly on the GOP side. Polls in Texas close at 9:00 pm ET.

*** On the trail: Romney campaigns in Craig, CO and Las Vegas, NV before attending his fundraiser with Trump at the Trump International Hotel in Vegas.

*** Scott Brown ad, Dem convention video: Here are some final odds and ends today: Sen, Scott Brown (R-MA) is up with a new TV ad emphasizing his moderate and “bipartisan” credentials. (It’s kind of the opposite to that Club for Growth ad above.) “We're Americans first and I'll work with anyone to get things done,” Brown says to the camera. "I was the tie-breaking vote on Wall Street reform, led the way on a jobs bill for veterans and helped pass a strong new ethics law for Congress. You know what makes me really proud? Being called one of the most bipartisan senators in the country.” In addition, the Democratic convention has a new web video marking that we’re less than 100 days out until the Dem convention in Charlotte and launching its effort to get the grassroots involved in the convention.

*** Recapping Friday’s Walker-Barrett debate: On Friday night, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) and challenger Tom Barrett (D) participated in their first debate tied to next week’s recall. The Wall Street Journal says that Barrett, who is trailing in the public polling, came out swinging. “‘Scott Walker started this political civil war. I will end this civil war,’ Mr. Barrett said early on in the debate in a prelude to the aggressive posture he maintained all evening. ‘His plan was to divide and conquer, that's not how you get things done.’ Mr. Walker, a first-term Republican, took his shots at Mr. Barrett—calling him a weak mayor at the helm of one of the poorest cities in the nation--but he also intermittently tried to distance himself from the attacks by stressing his accomplishments lowering taxes and creating better business environment for the state.”

*** Christie’s sports-gambling push: And be sure not to miss New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) push to legalize sports gambling in his state. Why is this important in politics? It’s a way -- and perhaps the last way -- for Republican governors to get increased revenues without raising taxes.

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Countdown to Dem convention: 98 days
Countdown to Election Day: 162 days

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“U.S.-led coalition troops battling Afghan Taliban insurgents have killed Al Qaeda’s second-in-command in Afghanistan in an air strike in the country’s eastern province of Kunar, the coalition said Tuesday,” the L.A. Times writes.

Meanwhile, the New York Times takes an in-depth look at Obama’s war with al Qaeda. “Mr. Obama is the liberal law professor who campaigned against the Iraq war and torture, and then insisted on approving every new name on an expanding ‘kill list,’ poring over terrorist suspects’ biographies on what one official calls the macabre “baseball cards” of an unconventional war. When a rare opportunity for a drone strike at a top terrorist arises — but his family is with him — it is the president who has reserved to himself the final moral calculation. ‘He is determined that he will make these decisions about how far and wide these operations will go,’ said Thomas E. Donilon, his national security adviser. ‘His view is that he’s responsible for the position of the United States in the world.” He added, “He’s determined to keep the tether pretty short.’” 

The L.A. Times: “Most Memorial Day messages from presidents involve the sort of solemn boilerplate remarks that barely break through the barbecue smoke and picnic chatter. On Monday, President Obama took a decidedly different tack: He noted the end of one war, promised the end of another and sought closure and healing for a third.”

“Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Sunday urged a divided Congress to unite and avoid scheduled budget slashing that would bring total defense cuts to almost $1 trillion in the coming decade,” the Boston Globe writes.

Michelle Obama talks to USA Today’s Susan Page about her new book on the White House vegetable garden, “American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens  Across America.” Will she ever run for office? "Absolutely not. It will not happen. … No chance at all."

Over the weekend, the first lady and daughters were in Atlantic City, N.J., for a Beyoncé concert.

“For so long, he was the putative front-runner, the nominal front-runner, the weak front-runner. Then he became the all-but-certain nominee. And by Tuesday night, he’ll be able to ditch those modifiers,” the Washington Post writes.  “Willard Mitt Romney is about to do what his father didn’t and no one in his church ever has. With Tuesday’s Texas primary, he is poised to secure the 1,144 delegates required to clinch the Republican presidential nomination at the party’s August convention.”

The AP also notes that Romney is set to clinch the nomination today, and will raise money with Donald Trump, someone he “has declined to repudiate” for his “fringe view” questioning that President Obama wasn’t born in the United States. “Trump again contended this week that Obama was born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia, pointing to information in a catalog from a literary agency that represented Obama two decades ago. That view has been debunked repeatedly,” AP notes.

And there’s this: “Now that the issue of the president’s birth certificate has been laid to rest (mostly), some conservatives are turning their attention to a new obsession: Barack Obama's college transcripts,” the L.A. Times notes. “Last week, a website that already had offered a $10,000 reward for Obama's transcripts from Occidental College, Columbia University and Harvard Law School, increased the bounty to $20,000. About a year ago, Donald Trump, among the highest-profile ‘birthers,’ helped get the mini-movement started. After the president released his long-form birth certificate, Trump abruptly changed subjects: ‘The word is, according to what I’ve read,’ said Trump, ‘that he was a terrible student when he went to Occidental. He then gets into Columbia; he then gets to Harvard. ... How do you get into Harvard if you’re not a good student? Now maybe that's right or maybe it’s wrong, but I don't know why he doesn’t release his records.’”

The Boston Globe goes to Utah: “For Mormons, this is a potentially volatile moment. They are deeply proud that their faith’s most prominent adherent, Mitt Romney, is steps away from a presidential nomination and could push the faith further into the mainstream of American life. With these feelings, though, comes a nagging fear that their beliefs, often misunderstood, will again be subjected to scrutiny, even ridicule, on a national scale.”

Romney and John McCain got a crowd of about 5,000 on Memorial Day in San Diego, near his beach home in La Jolla.

On Monday, Memorial Day, Romney promised the world’s strongest military. He said he would maintain a military "with no comparable power anywhere in the world."

“A member of the National Labor Relations Board who was facing scrutiny for allegedly leaking sensitive information to a former adviser to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, is stepping down, the NLRB said Sunday,” USA Today writes.

Mutual admiration was the rule for Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson's listening session at the University of South Florida.

School provost Ralph Wilcox introduced the two-term senator as a "steadfast advocate for all Floridians." Nelson, a former astronaut, flattered the more than two dozen students present, saying they had a keen sense about people running for elected office. "You guys can usually smell out folks. You can spot a phony," he said.

Nelson collected their personal stories about the unbearable weight of student loans for a Senate speech days later on the need to keep the interest rate low. At the conclusion of the hour-plus session, he posed for photos with students.

Don't go looking for compliments and congeniality in the Republican primary to decide Nelson's election-year challenger. It's one of the meanest races in the country.

George LeMieux calls rival Connie Mack a congressional no-show, claiming that the four-term House member spends more time in California with his wife, Rep. Mary Bono Mack, than either in Florida or on Capitol Hill. A devastating web video from LeMieux portrays Mack as Hollywood bad boy Charlie Sheen, highlighting years-old bar fights and Mack's previous experience as an events coordinator for Hooters.

Privately, top Republicans in the state bemoan their choices and the GOP candidates' anemic fundraising.

It wasn't supposed to be like this in Florida or Pennsylvania or Michigan, three presidential battleground states. Republicans romped in all three in 2010, grabbing governorships, seizing majority control of state legislatures, and winning House and Senate seats. The three Democratic senators facing re-election in 2012 — Nelson, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan — were certain to face top GOP recruits and strong political headwinds.

Now, roughly five months to Election Day, the three states look like missed opportunities for the GOP.

In Pennsylvania, Republican Gov. Tom Corbett's choice to challenge Casey finished an embarrassing third in the April primary. The GOP nominee is Tom Smith, who made a fortune in the coal mining business but lacks the name recognition of Casey, the son of a popular former governor.

In Michigan, former Rep. Pete Hoekstra, who finished second in the 2010 GOP primary for governor, stumbled in January with a controversial ad in which a young Asian woman spoke in broken English about China taking U.S. jobs. He faces a challenge from Clark Durant, who has the support of top Republicans Spencer Abraham and Saul Anuzis in a likely five-man primary on Aug. 7. Abraham represented Michigan in the U.S. Senate until he was ousted by Stabenow in the 2000 election, while Anuzis is running for Republican National Committee chairman.

The GOP envisions a road to a Senate majority — it needs a net gain of four seats to win control — but at this stage, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Florida aren't prime real estate.

"The environment can change in pretty short order," Casey said in an interview, recalling his father's success in 1990 and President Bill Clinton's in 1992, followed by Republican wins in 1994 and 1998. "We don't know what 2012 will be. We don't know whether it will be a dramatic departure from 2010 or not."

Christopher Borick, assistant professor of political science at Muhlenberg College, describes Casey as the prohibitive favorite based on his solid approval ratings, crossover appeal with Republicans and independents and his willingness to challenge President Barack Obama on several issues, most notably the requirement — later amended — that religious schools and hospitals provide insurance for free birth control to their employees.

Votes in Pennsylvania for Romney and Casey "won't be uncommon," Borick said.

Casey has $5.3 million cash on hand to Smith's $2 million, though the senator said "it's always a struggle when you're running against someone who can take out a pen" and write a personal check. Stabenow, who recently completed work on a five-year farm bill as chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, has close to $7 million cash on hand, while Hoekstra and Durant have about $1.5 million apiece.

In Florida, Republicans describe Nelson as one of the luckiest politicians, with support they insist is a mile wide but only an inch deep. They point to his less-than-formidable opponents in past elections, former Rep. Bill McCollum and divisive 2000 recount figure Katherine Harris, whom he beat 60-38 percent in 2006.

Mack, in the first rush of fundraising, emerged with just $1.38 million cash on hand at the end of March, according to Federal Election Commission reports. LeMieux had $1.19 million. By comparison, Nelson reported $9.54 million cash on hand to run in a state with 10 expensive media markets.

This spring, Republicans, including freshman Sen. Marco Rubio, had talked up the candidacy of Florida's chief financial officer, Jeff Atwater, but he decided against running.

LeMieux claims Mack — great-grandson of baseball Hall of Fame manager Connie Mack and son of the former senator — is in Washington on name recognition only.

Mack "doesn't have the competency or character to be U.S. senator. If his name were Connie Smith, he wouldn't have been elected to anything," LeMieux said in an interview. LeMieux, who served as interim senator, added, "It's hard to ask for a promotion when you're not showing up for work."

Mack has the backing of likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and is considered the front-runner in the Aug. 14 primary. He's answering LeMieux's attacks with his own assault.

Seizing on published reports last week, Mack's campaign called for a Justice Department investigation into allegations that LeMieux pressured then-Gov. Charlie Crist to appoint him to the Senate for the remaining 16 months of Republican Mel Martinez's term in 2009. The newspaper reports suggested the two had a quid pro quo, with LeMieux backing Crist's unsuccessful Senate bid in 2010.

Mack shrugs off LeMieux's criticism as "juvenile" and insists that the former senator should be ashamed.

"George LeMieux is fixated on making a joke of his own campaign. We're fine to let him do that," Mack said in an interview, arguing that he's more focused on addressing the nation's problems.

Stepping into this scorched earth race is former Rep. Dave Weldon, who launched his late bid arguing that none of the candidates, including businessman Mike McCalister, has won over conservatives.

The races are certain to tighten as the November election closes in, especially with a divided electorate, outside money in the millions, and Obama and Romney spending millions more.

"Keep your eye on Florida because it is ground zero," Nelson said in an interview, pointing out that Florida's 29 electoral votes make it the biggest prize among swing states.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently spent $2 million on an ad criticizing Nelson for his support for Obama's health care law.

"Obamacare will be a nightmare for seniors," the ad says. "Did Bill Nelson consider the consequences when he cast the deciding vote for Obamacare?"

Among several locations, the ads ran in Tallahassee and Panama City, part of the Florida Panhandle in the northwestern part of the state. The choice was intentional as state Republicans and Democrats say the folksy Nelson runs stronger in the Panhandle than most Democrats, including Obama.

Mack is already trying to undercut that support, referring to Obama and Nelson as "two lock-step liberals who are joined at the hip."

Nelson will benefit, though, from the Obama campaign's strong organization in the state, said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, a Democrat who recently was re-elected.

"They've been at it for a year already in central Florida. ... They have a very visible presence," Dyer said.

Denis Poroy / Reuters

Mitt Romney, center, war veteran Nick Popaditch, left, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., applaud during a Memorial Day event at the Veterans Museum & Memorial Center in San Diego on Monday.

SAN DIEGO-- Mitt Romney took advantage of one of his largest crowds of the campaign season on Memorial Day to warn of the dangers of a shrinking U.S. military in a dangerous world.

Echoing portions of his stump speech in which he cites the threat of a resurgent Russia, a nuclear Iran and a rising China as obstacles to an "American Century," Romney closed his speech at this Memorial Day tribute to veterans with a political message about a choice between divergent military philosophies this November.

"We have two courses we can follow: One is to follow the pathway of Europe. To shrink our military smaller and smaller to pay for our social needs. And they of course rely on the strength of America and they hope for the best. Were we to follow that kind of course, there would be no one that could stand to protect us," Romney told an audience his campaign said numbered roughly 5000 people.

"The other is to commit to preserve America as the strongest military in the world, second to none, with no comparable power anywhere in the world. We choose that course. We choose that course for America not just so that we can win wars, but so we can prevent wars."

Regular rally trappings like pro-Romney signage were absent at this event, which took on a more solemn character than a traditional campaign stop. Romney did not mention or attack the President in his remarks today, which were instead focused on saluting military veterans and their families, including his predecessor in the role of Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, who joined him on stage Monday.

"We're a nation that has been formed and preserved by heroes," Romney said. "John McCain is one of them."

Obama honors fallen troops on Memorial Day

McCain, for his part, also praised Romney, calling him "fully qualified to be commander in chief."

The two men and their pro-military message were warmly received here under the blazing midday sunlight. San Diego is home to the US Navy's Pacific Fleet, and Naval Base San Diego is the largest such military community on the West Coast. 

Campaigning with Donald Trump could be a double-edged sword for candidate Mitt Romney as the real estate mogul continues to question whether President Obama was born in the U.S. NBC's Mike Viqueira reports

Maria Shriver and Michael Lewis talk about their commencement speeches as college graduates head into the world.

A Meet the Press roundtable discusses the rules of engagement in the presidential race.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and former GOP candidate Newt Gingrich discuss the 2012 race with NBC's David Gregory.

Former Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich re-affirmed his support for Mitt Romney this morning saying he is "totally committed" to helping Romney win the White House.

Gingrich also critiqued President Obama's recent campaign strategy of attacking Romney's economic record as well as his time at Bain Capital.

"This is a little bit like the reverse of James Carville in '92," the former House Speaker said. "Obama picking a fight on the economy is probably the worst possible strategy for his campaign."

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, a supporter of President Obama, attempted to contrast the President's record with Mitt Romney's.

"What the leader of the whole economy must be concerned about is not the short-term return of profits to a few, but a long-term economy that creates jobs for the many."

O'Malley, a man often mentioned as a possible 2016 presidential candidate received advice this morning from Newt Gingrich about how to prepare for a run for the nation's highest office.

"Raise a lot of money," Gingrich advised.

Our roundtable broke down the ground rules for the campaign and tried to answer the question: What is fair game in this election.

With personal attacks coming from both campaigns, David Brooks contended that it's likely to get worse, "Both people in both campaigns are going to get their juices flowing, and they're going to take meaner and meaner shots."

You can watch our entire program on our website including a special discussion with two sought-after commencement speakers and their advice for the class of 2012: Maria Shriver, and best-selling author Michael Lewis.

We'll be back next week. If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press.