Mitt Romney’s effort to increase the amount of money wealthy backers can give to his campaign — by encouraging donations to state parties — “has hit a hurdle: new Securities and Exchange Commission rules that are making some Wall Street donors skittish about writing checks,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

At issue: “Presidential candidates in the past have asked donors to give money to state parties to help fund their election effort. But Mr. Romney’s inclusion of state campaigns has raised a red flag with some Wall Street firms because of new SEC rules enacted after ‘pay to play’ scandals.”

Jon Huntsman “took a battle axe to his own party, comparing it to China’s Communist Party and criticizing it’s standard bearer in a wide-ranging interview,” BuzzFeed reports.

He also “jokingly blamed his failed candidacy in part on his wife, Mary Kaye, who told him she’d leave him if he abandoned his principles.”

Said Huntsman: “She said if you pandered, if you sign any of those damn pledges, I’ll leave you. So I had to say I believe in science — and people on stage look at you quizzically as though you’re was an oddball.”

Huntsman added that Ronald Reagan would “likely not” be able to win the GOP nomination in this environment.

George Will says there’s no way Mitt Romney will pick former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) as his running mate:
 
“If Jeb Bush is to be Romney’s running mate, it would mean that in seven of nine presidential elections there would be a Bush on the Republican ticket. And it gets hard to argue that we’re not a tribal society at that point.”

Despite millions of dollars embezzled from her campaign and 21 challengers in a June primary, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) “isn’t a bit worried. Her campaign is on cruise control, her re-election all but certain — yet again,” the San Jose Mercury News reports.

“After holding elected office for all but five of the last 42 years, Feinstein is the doyenne of California Democrats. She’s so politically bulletproof that no A-list candidates are wasting their time and money trying to dethrone her.”

Katy Steinmetz:
“Romney’s speaking style, try as he might, often seems forced and
rather wooden… But if the economy gets worse, more Americans may be
drawn to a dry Mr. Fix-It, someone better suited to budgets than
banquets. Rousing oratorical skill is not something people require in a
good plumber or mechanic… Of course, Romney still needs to make his
audiences feel as well as think. He can achieve that by capitalizing on
frustrations that voters have about Obama.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) told CNN he’s not going to comment on Mitt Romney’s running mate selection process anymore.

Said Rubio: “Up to now it’s all been theoretical, we have a nominee now, and our nominee, Mitt Romney, the leader of the Republican Party, has a vice presidential process in place. And I think from this point moving forward, I think it’d be wise for all Republicans to kind of respect that process, myself included, and say moving forward, we’re going to let his process play itself out.”

However, he then suggested Jeb Bush would be a great pick.

“I’m going to try something different this year. I’m going to try to stay out of this one.”

— Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), in an interview on Fox News Sunday, saying he won’t endorse a presidential candidate.

An informal BuzzFeed survey of more than half of the Republican State Chairmen and national committee people at the GOP meetings in Arizona this weekend finds that two-thirds said they believe Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) is the most-likely and best-qualified running-mate for Mitt Romney.

Said one: “He’s from Ohio, and we need to win Ohio, it’s that simple.”

Mitt Romney’s top aides “plan to move quickly after the primaries on Tuesday to integrate the campaign’s growing staff with the Republican National Committee, in an effort to avoid logistical stumbles that have hampered past nominees,” the New York Times reports.

“Romney has been careful not to push the committee into a formal support role while two of his rivals — Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul — continue campaigning for the nomination. But aides to Mr. Romney expect that dynamic to change after Tuesday, when he is expected to win all five of the primaries, including those in New York and Pennsylvania.”

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) predicted he won’t be recalled from office in June, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Said Walker: “I think when we win, it will not only reaffirm what we did. It will send a powerful message to every politician…in our state and even in our city governments who are trying to take on the tough issues and do the right thing. It will send a powerful, powerful message that you can stick your neck out, you can make the tough choices and there will be voters helping you along the way.”