Romney and Santorum in Wisconsin, plus more to watch for Monday in politics

Phil Pruitt

Two words define politics on Monday: Wisconsin primary.

Oh, there also are primaries coming up Tuesday in the District of Columbia and Maryland, but Wisconsin is where the showdown is taking place between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.

Romney is out in front of Santorum in the polls in Wisconsin. A Rasmussen Reports poll this past weekend found him leading Santorum by 10 points among likely Republican voters, 44 percent to 34 percent. That was a slightly larger lead than a NBC/Marist Poll released Friday that found Romney with a 7 point advantage over Santorum.

And Romney picked up another big endorsement over the weekend when Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, a favorite of tea party supporters, lined up behind him. Santorum's interpretation of Romney's endorsements is that they show the Republican establishment is in a state of "panic."

Romney shows no signs of taking Wisconsin for granted despite his lead in the polls and endorsements. He will be campaigning in the Badger State on Monday. And Santorum shows no signs of giving up. He'll be there, too, with numerous stops on his schedule.

Newt Gingrich will be in Maryland, and Ron Paul had nothing on his campaign calendar for Monday.

Back in Washington, President Barack Obama is hosting Canada Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexico President Felipe Calderon in the North American Leaders Summit. Topics will include economic growth, competitiveness, citizen security, energy and climate change. There will be a joint press conference at 1:15 p.m. EDT.

And then there is this: The Tax Foundation will announce the date of Tax Freedom Day 2012 on Monday. That's when average income earners begin working for themselves and not the government. Tax Freedom Day was April 12 in 2011, but the date fluctuates from year to year.

Sources: Yahoo! News, Yahoo! News reporters Holly Bailey and Chris Moody, Associated Press.

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