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Romney in Utah. Wimmer pulls a draw in Vegas. Liljenquist's cardboard Hatch.
Happy Friday. Welcome to Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who will be in Utah this evening for the first time since taking on the title and earning his spot on the November ballot. Romney will hold a fund-raiser and do a grip-and-grin for Sen. Orrin Hatch while dropping by the Beehive State. [ABC4] [DNews]
Topping the news: Carl Wimmer learned the hard lesson that the Nevada GOP has some serious problems -- and also got the lesson about tweeting and putting out press releases before sitting down to a new job. [Trib] [DNews]
-> It's Liljenquist vs. Hatch in 2D. The mock debate took place as promised, with Dan Liljenquist playing Sen. Orrin Hatch's less desirable clips. The Hatch camp dismisses it as a circus side-show. [Trib] [DNews]
Tweet of the day: From @tvheidihatch: "@CarlWimmer Now would be a good time to take the "#NVGOP Political Director off your #twitter profile - Easier to pretend it never happened."
Happy birthday: To USU's Matthew LaPlante and to Derek Jensen. On Sunday, birthday wishes to Chris "Sully" Sullivan.
In other news: MSNBC's Alex Wagner offers a play on the Snow White and the Jon
Huntsman that is a too-die-for parody. [BuzzFeed]
-> The Trib's Thomas Burr offers his take on the latest political happenings, including Mike Leavitt's new role in the Romney campaign. [KCPW]
-> Sen. Mike Lee says Democrats and President Barack Obama need to stop trying to bully the Supreme Court to act a certain way. [KCPW]
-> ALEC closes the door on Alliance for a Better Utah. The progressive group says their free speech is endangered. [Trib]
-> Sen. John Valentine wants to bring up liquor licenses in a special session. [UtahPolicy]
-> Bob Bernick and Bryan Schott discuss this week's political issues. [UtahPolicy]
-> The Salt Lake County Council may be $10 million short to build its proposed administration building. [Trib]
-> UTA is a big spender when it comes to lobbying. [DNews]
-> On Salt Lake County's November ballot: Millcreek City. [Trib]
-> You win some, you lose some. Environmental groups were able to get regulations in place to reduce nitrogen oxides, but failed put measures in place to reduce uranium emissions. [Trib]
-> The Utah Air Quality Board puts stricter regulations in place despite outcry from industry representatives. [Trib]
2012 watch: NYTimes' Nate Silver does the math and says right now that Obama has an advantage for victory in November. [NYTimes]
-> Negative job reports puts the pressure on Obama and there may be little he can do to improve the situation before Election Day. [ABCNews]
-> A new Obama camp ad says the jobs are coming, but not fast enough and that it's Congress' job to stop slowing the process. [WaPost]
-> Not all of Romney's opponents are done for. Fred Karger, the Republican candidate for gay rights is poised to let everyone know about Romney's support for California's Proposition 8. [Trib]
-> Michigan is a toss-up between Romney and Obama in the swing state, but the hometown edge may even the odds for Romney. [WaPost] [CNN]
-> Obama is a "moral failure" according to Romney who goes on to say the president's policies have diminished the idea of free enterprise: "Our government has a moral commitment to help every American help himself" [WaPost]
-> The math is against him, but Ron Paul refuses to drop out. His new goal is 20 percent of the delegates. [CNN]
-> With Gov. Scott Walker's Wisconsin victory supposed to be the GOP rallying call, Obama still leads according poll. [TheHill]
-> Romney raises $77 million, beating out the Obama camp by $17 million. The GOP say it's a sign of things to come. [TheHill] Obama's adviser says it's no surprise and no big deal. [CNN]
Where are they?
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-- Thomas Burr and Andreas Rivera
Twitter.com/thomaswburr and Twitter.com/andreascrivera
