Rick Santorum “sounded no closer to endorsing Mitt Romney than when he dropped out of the presidential race last week, telling supporters on a conference call that he hasn’t even had a chance to speak to his onetime rival,” CBS News reports.

Santorum has spoken with Newt Gingrich, however.

Said Santorum: “I haven’t had a chance yet to talk to Governor Romney, but we’ll be talking to both of them and we’re going to go out and do what we believe is in the best interest of our country.”

“I even endorsed Newt Gingrich at one point because I thought that he had a shot. Well, not now. He doesn’t have a shot.”

— Herman Cain, quoted by ABC News, backing off his presidential endorsement.

Jon Huntsman “has forked over another $1.5 million from his personal fortune to pay down campaign debt since abandoning his presidential bid, but he still owes more than $1.3 million to vendors,” the Salt Lake Tribune reports.

“Huntsman, who has now loaned his campaign just over $4 million, said recently that he planned to pay down his debt through a combination of loans and fundraisers, though he collected only $6,000 in donations in recent months.”

Ann Romney told ABC News that Seamus, the family’s Irish setter, “loved” their vacation trips even though he was in a crate strapped to the top of a station wagon.

Said Mrs. Romney: “The dog loved it. He would see that crate and, you know, he would, like, go crazy because he was going with us on vacation. It was to me a kinder thing to bring him along than to leave him in the kennel for two weeks.”

McKay Coppins: “The religious dynamic of the Romneys’ Leave It To Beaver lifestyle has been largely lost on the partisans making hay out of the latest flare-up in the mommy wars, which was sparked by a Democratic strategist charging that Ann ‘has never actually worked a day in her life.’ But while much of the debate has centered on class — with liberals casting full-time motherhood as a luxury for the rich, and conservatives hoping working-class women will identify with her — the fact is that even if Mitt were a middle-class schoolteacher, there’s a good chance Ann still would have foregone a career.”

“That’s because for many Latter-day Saint women, staying at home to raise children is less a lifestyle choice than religious one — a divinely-appreciated sacrifice that brings with it blessings, empowerment, and spiritual prestige.”

A new ABC News-Washington Post poll finds Mitt Romney has emerged from the Republican primary season with the weakest favorability rating on record for a presumptive presidential nominee since 1984, trailing President Obama in personal popularity by 21 percentage points.

Romney is the first likely nominee to be underwater – seen more unfavorably than favorably – in eight presidential primary seasons across the past 28 years.

A new CNN/Opinion Research poll finds President Obama holds a nine-point lead over Mitt Romney, 52% to 43%.

The survey indicates women voters back Obama over Romney by 16 points, 55% to 39%, virtually unchanged from an 18-point advantage among women for the president in CNN polling last month.

The Gallup daily tracking poll of the presidential election kicks off with Mitt Romney leading President Obama 47% to 45% among registered voters nationally.

Both Obama and Romney are supported by 90% of their respective partisans, but independents break for Romney 45% to 39%.

Rep. Ed Towns’ (D-NY) retirement announcement “makes him the 25th House retirement of this cycle. Add in the 10 Senate retirements, and you’ve got the most combined retirements since 1996, when Democratic lawmakers retired in droves after the Republican Revolution of 1994 (and many Republicans joined them),” The Fix reports.

“Add in another 15 House members running for other/higher office, and the next Congress is already promising to include plenty of turnover — with 50 out of 535 members (nearly 10 percent) already leaving their seats.”

That said, filing deadlines “have passed in 30 of the 50 states so far, meaning there may not be that many more retirements to come.”

A new Public Policy Polling survey in Wisconsin shows Gov. Scott Walker (R) leading each of his potential Democratic challengers in a recall election.

Walker leads Tom Barrett (D) 50% to 45% and tops Kathleen Falk (D) 50% to 43%.

Priorities USA Action, the pro-Obama super PAC, released a new television ad in Ohio, Virginia, Florida and Iowa today, Yahoo News reports.

The ad focuses on Mitt Romney’s effective tax rate features the now infamous picture of Romney and his Bain Capital colleagues with money stuffed into their suits.

[Read more…]

Joe Klein: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a presidential election that was a pure referendum, and every presidential election I’ve covered involved a choice. There are good reasons for this.”

“The presidency is our most intimate office. The President lives in our homes for four years. The media spend considerable amounts of time, sometimes too much, telling us who these people are. And then in October we get to see two, occasionally three, men — only men, sadly, so far — on the stage and we decide which one we want to invite into our homes for the next four years. Barring a national disaster, issues are secondary — although an impression of how you might handle those issues is important.”

“Angus King, in my view, is like electoral comfort food. We know him as a little bit bland, a smart man and a thinker. Sending mac ‘n cheese down to Washington is not good enough.”

— Maine U.S. Senate candidate John Hinck (D), quoted by the Bangor Daily News at a Democratic primary forum, with a memorable attack on likely independent candidate Angus King.