Residents of Maine and Maryland voted to legalize gay marriage. It was the first time same-sex marriage was approved by voters rather than being legalized in a legislature, as it was in New York in 2010. As of this writing, a gay marriage referendum was also leading in Washington, which rejected same sex marriage in 2009.

Along with the wins for gay marriage, Democrat Tammy Baldwin became the first openly gay U.S. Senator with her win in Wisconsin. Here in New York, the state gained an openly gay congressman in the Hudson Valley after Democrat Sean Patrick Maloney defeated Republican incumbent Nan Hayworth in the 18th district.

Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize the production sale and possession of medical marijuana for recreational use. Massachusetts also legalized marijuana for medical use. Despite these victories for marijuana advocates, a recreational marijuana initiative failed in Oregon, as did a medical marijuana proposal in Arkansas. Montana also voted to make its medical marijuana laws more restrictive. However, In spite of these setbacks the passage of bills legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes was a major landmark for advocates of the substance.

John Hickenlooper, the governor of Colorado, initially opposed his state's medical marijuana initiative. However, on NBC he indicated that, though the drug is still illegal federally, his state would at least "want to decriminalize it" in the wake of last night's vote. Mr. Hickenlooper also issued a statement indicating his desire to "respect" the wishes of voters.

"The voters have spoken and we have to respect their will," Mr. Hickenlooper said. "This will be a complicated process, but we intend to follow through. That said, federal law still says marijuana is an illegal drug, so don’t break out the Cheetos or gold fish too quickly."

John Kerry (Photo: Getty)

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, who served as a stand-in for Mitt Romney during President Barack Obama's debate prep sessions, stopped by the media filing room to talk with reporters ahead of tonight's clash between the two candidates. Mr. Kerry wouldn't discuss his strategies for impersonating Mr. Romney, but he gave his thoughts on the former Massachusetts governor's record in the Bay State and another important New England issue--the Boston Red Sox's horrendous 2012 season. 

Mr. Kerry said he thinks President Obama is "very excited aout talking about his vision for the next four years" tonight. For his part, he wanted to talk about Mr. Romney's record as Governor of Massachusetts.

"Mitt Romney has spent a lot of time trying to pretend that he had a great record in the state of Massachusetts," said Mr. Kerry. "Let me just tell you, I spent months now studying Mitt Romney's record. I know everything about it, more than I ever imagined or might have wanted to. And I will tell you that the numbers don't add up, the record is not real. This is the--it's one of the great charades of all time in my judgement."

The senator went on to cite several things he said occurred during Mr. Romney's tenure including; a loss of manufacturing jobs, a "billion dollar deficit" and fees levied "on the middle class."

"You just run down the list of what he did in Massachusetts and I'll tell you, the most telling thing of all, he's not even contesting the state that he governed. He's 25 points behind in his own state," Mr. Kerry said of Mr. Romney. "I'll tell you why, because the people of Massachusetts know him. They know what happened and they don't want any more of it....I can't think of a time when a governor's run for president and his own state didn't support him. Well, Massachusetts is not there for Mitt Romney because they know what happened."

Since Mr. Kerry was discussing Massachusetts, Politicker asked whether he was glad Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine was fired immediately after the team's awful season which saw them fall to last place in the AL East.

"I'm glad to see the season ended that's for sure," Mr. Kerry said.

A short while later, Mr. Kerry took to Twitter to say how he might have answered the question if he was still impersonating Mr. Romney.

"Reporter asked me if I'm glad Bobby V gone, if in-character, as Mitt mighta said, I love firing people," Mr. Kerry wrote.

Kirsten Gillibrand (Photo: Wikimedia)

CHARLOTTE, NC -- New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand apparently really enjoyed the speech Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren delivered at the Democratic National Convention last night. Shortly after Ms. Warren left the stage, Ms. Gillibrand sent an email to her supporters encouraging them to give money to Ms. Warren.

"I can’t stop thinking about Elizabeth Warren’s speech," Ms. Gillibrand wrote. "You could hear it in her voice and see it in her eyes: Elizabeth will never give up on the middle class. She’ll be relentless in making sure everyone gets a fair shot."

Ms. Gillibrand is also at the convention where she has sparked increased speculation she may be planning to enter the presidential race four years from now. In her email, Ms. Gillibrand noted Ms. Warren is currently behind her Republican opponent, Scott Brown, in both fundraising and polls.

"She’s the fighter I want alongside me in Washington," Ms. Gillibrand said of Ms. Warren. "But right now, the polls show her tied and her opponent has a $2 million cash advantage."

Ms. Gillibrand described Ms. Warren as a "middle-class champion" and said her campaign is vital to the Democrats' hopes of retaining their slim, four seat majority in the Senate. She urged would-be donors to open their wallets "now" so Ms. Warren "can come out of the convention with a wave of momentum that will carry her to victory in November."

Read Ms. Gillibrand's full email below.

"I can’t stop thinking about Elizabeth Warren’s speech.

You could hear it in her voice and see it in her eyes: Elizabeth will never give up on the middle class. She’ll be relentless in making sure everyone gets a fair shot.

For those reasons and more, she’s the fighter I want alongside me in Washington. But right now, the polls show her tied and her opponent has a $2 million cash advantage.

To hold our majority in the Senate, we need to elect Elizabeth. That’s why I’m asking you now to join me in making a direct contribution to her campaign. It has to be now so she can come out of the convention with a wave of momentum that will carry her to victory in November.

Rush $5 or more to help elect Elizabeth Warren to the U.S. Senate. She’s the middle-class champion we need in Washington.

Thanks,

Kirsten "

Jeffrey Toobin (Photo: CNN.com)

In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision upholding President Barack Obama's healthcare law, CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin gave a lecture about the case at the Hebrew Center in the well-heeled beach haven of Martha's Vineyard, however according to at least one attendee, the July 5 event turned into "utter mayhem." Doreen Kinsman penned a letter to The Martha's Vineyard Times describing how an "unruly mob" descended on Mr. Toobin's event leading to "utter pandemonium" and a scene straight out of Lord of the Flies.

Ms. Kinsman said the "shameful debacle" began shortly before the event's scheduled start as "a long line of patient would-be attendees" waited outside the Hebrew Center to hear Mr. Toobin speak when "suddenly" a woman came from inside and waved to the last group of people on line to come in as she had apparently been saving them seats.

"Then came the deluge," Ms. Kinsman wrote. "Suddenly, and totally unexpectedly, a sea of folks from Pine Street descended en masse, dashing across the lawn, rushing to the entrance, creating utter pandemonium. All law, order, and self-discipline departed as this appalling horde of people clamored to enter. It was utter mayhem."

According to Ms. Kinsman, many people remained in line and "watched helplessly as the unruly mob stormed the doors." In her letter to The Martha's Vineyard Times, Ms. Kinsman described her shock at seeing the "mostly older" crowd behave like "desperate, starving people."

"How could such civilized? educated? mostly older folk sink into a herd mentality?" Ms. Kinsman asked. "We have viewed on TV mob scenes at rock concerts, football matches, and desperate, starving people when food supplies are delivered, but for a lecture? It reminded one disappointed man of the novel Lord of the Flies, where mere children resorted to anarchy."

As if the horror of being cut in line was not enough, according to Ms. Kinsman a "second disaster loomed" when those who waited in line and were unable to enter Mr. Toobin's lecture gave up and tried to leave.

"Because they came early to the event and parked their cars in the adjacent lot, latecomers parked their cars perpendicular to the early arrivals. So now, not only did the conscientious folk who had stood in line, some since 6:00 pm, not hear the speaker, but they could now not retrieve their cars," wrote Ms. Kinsman.

Ms. Kinsman concluded her dispatch from the front lines of the Martha's Vineyard lecture circuit by noting that there is "no doubt" that "the staff at the Hebrew Center will attempt in future to prevent a re-occurrence." Though she came away from the horrific ordeal optimistic future events at the Center will be better managed, Ms. Kinsman's faith in humanity was permanently damaged.

"It was indeed a sorry sight and one which gives me cause to believe that civility is indeed only skin deep," she wrote.

As of this writing, the Martha's Vineyard Hebrew Center has not responded to a request for comment on this story.

Mitt Romney on stage at the NAACP Convention. (Photo: Getty)

Back in 2002 when he was running for Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney and his aides had no problem admitting he retained his position as CEO of Bain Capital after 1999. Press articles from the time describe how Mr. Romney was on a "leave of absence" after 1999 and had not fully cut ties with the private equity firm.

Now that he's running for president, Team Romney has repeatedly said he left the company after 1999, a claim that was called into question by yesterday's Boston Globe report revealing Mr. Romney signed documents identifying him as chief executive and chairman of Bain Capital as late as 2002. Mr. Romney being on a "leave of absence" would explain the discrepancy and it doesn't mean he played any role in managing the company, however, according to at least one former Bain Capital executive, during a prior leave of absence, Mr. Romney still remained in a very active role with the company.

The Obama campaign jumped on the reports of Romney's appearance on Bain Capital's SEC filings after his purported departure with a slew of statements on the "big Bain lie" and a conference call with the press where Obama For America Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter suggested Mr. Romney may have committed a felony by "misrepresenting his own position at Bain to the SEC." Mr. Romney's campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul attempted to brush off the Bain brouhaha with a statement this morning saying, as the Romney campaign has throughout this election cycle, that Mr. Romney "left Bain Capital in February of 1999 to run the Olympics and had no input on investments or management of companies after that point."

However, it seems that Mr. Romney did not simply leave Bain Capital in 1999. Rather, he took a leave of absence to work on the Salt Lake City games. In 2002, when he was running for Governor of Massachusetts, Mr. Romney and his aides, including Eric Fehrnstrom who remains his senior advisor, spoke to the Boston Globe for a story after questions were raised about two businesses that taken over by Bain Capital and hit with layoffs while he worked with the company. That article refers multiple times to the fact that Mr. Romney "was CEO of Bain Capital until 2001," an assertion that apparently went unquestioned by Mr. Romney and his staff who defended him by saying he was on leave when the incidents occurred.

"Romney, who was CEO of Bain Capital until 2001, has repeatedly said he was on leave from the company in 1994, when strikes erupted at Ampad's now- closed Indiana paper plant, and again in 2001, when GST Steel, a Kansas City plant, laid off workers and closed," wrote Globe reporter Yvonne Abraham.

At the time, Mr. Romney's gubernatorial campaign provided the Globe with a letter clarifying his post-1999 role with Bain Capital.

"The campaign also produced a letter from Bain's lawyers, saying Romney was not actively involved with Bain after Feb. 11, 1999, even though he was sometimes called on to sign Bain's SEC filings," Ms. Abraham wrote.

Clearly it would have been more correct for Mr. Romney's presidential campaign to say he went on a leave of absence from Bain Capital in 1999 rather than, as they have repeatedly, claiming he left the company.  Since Mr. Romney was on a leave of absence and retained his title with Bain Capital, it would make sense that he would appear on SEC 13D forms even if he had no management role as the purpose of those forms is simply to outline the investors and titleholders of publicly traded companies. However, other press reports published during Mr. Romney's 2002 run for governor in the Bay State raise questions about whether Mr. Romney was actually absent during his leaves of absence from Bain Capital.

Prior to taking leave to run the Olympics in 1999, Mr. Romney took a leave of absence from Bain Capital during his 1994 Senate campaign. Another Globe article published in 2002 contains a quote from a former Bain Capital executive named Marc B. Wolpow who said Mr. Romney remained in a very active role at Bain Capital while he was supposedly on a leave of absence for his Senate race.

"I reported directly to Mitt Romney . . . You can't be CEO of Bain Capital and say, `I really don't know what my guys were doing,'" Mr. Wolpow said of Mr. Romney role at the company during his leave.

Mr. Wolpow declined to comment on this story. The Politicker reached out to Mr. Fehrnstrom multiple times yesterday to see why his current explanation of Mr. Romney's departure from Bain is different than the one he gave the Globe a decade ago but we have yet to receive a response.

Mitt Romney

The Obama campaign released a new ad this morning calling Mitt Romney's performance as governor of Massachusetts "one of the worst economic records in the country." In the ad, which is called "We've Heard It All Before," criticism that the state fell to 47th in job creation and fell into debt on Mr. Romney's watch is interspersed with footage of Mr. Romney campaigning by touting his business record.

"Now, when Mitt Romney talks about what he'd do as president ... remember, we've heard it all before," a narrator says in the ad. "Romney economics, it didn't work then and it won't work now."

Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul quickly issued a response calling the ad an attempt to shift the discussion after the weak May jobs report.

"Having abandoned ‘Hope and Change,' the Obama campaign only ‘Hopes To Change The Subject' from an abysmal jobs report," Ms. Saul said. "We're happy to compare the 4.7 percent unemployment rate Mitt Romney achieved in Massachusetts to President Obama’s weak record any day."

Ms. Saul also highlighted statistics showing the unemployment rate in Massachusetts fell from 5.6 percent to 4.7 percent while the state gained jobs and closed a budget shortfall during Mr. Romney's tenure.

"President Obama's policies have failed to get Americans back to work," said Ms. Saul. "It’s time for a president who has worked in the real world economy and understands how to get this economy moving again."

Watch President Barack Obama's new campaign ad below. The ad will air in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

Mitt Romney

With the Romney campaign blasting President Barack Obama's handling of the economy in the wake of the new jobs report, the Obama campaign has continued their attack on Mitt Romney's record as Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 until 2007. Pennsylvania Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz and several local Massachusetts politicians held a conference call this afternoon arguing Mr. Romney "failed Massachusetts."

"Mitt Romney's made his business experience a centerpiece of his campaign for president and he claims that the experience and the lessons he learned would result in economic growth for this country," Ms. Schwartz said. "Yet when you look at his experience and record as the Governor of Massachusetts at a critical time, you can see that it did not work. It failed Massachusetts at that time and it would fail this country as well at a time when economic growth is obviously of keen interest to all of us."

Ms. Schwartz said job creation in the Bay State lagged behind the rest of the country "every year of Romney's term as governor."

"The national economy was emerging from the recession in November 2001, new jobs were being created across the country by the middle of 2003, and yet, Romney as Governor of Massachusetts didn't see any job creation until 2004. It lagged at least six months behind the recovery in the rest of the country," said Ms. Schwartz.

Joseph Curtatone, the mayor of Somerville, Massachusetts, was also on the conference call. He said Mr. Romney's health care reform was the single positive aspect of his governorship.

"Here in Massachusetts, Romney and his policies were unpopular then and unpopular now, except of course for healthcare reform, which he's now running away from," Mr. Curtatone said. "Think about that. The one thing which he should be genuinely proud of is the one thing he now says is wrong for America. He stuck with the right wing script and it doesn't match the facts."

Mr. Curtatone also pointed to President Obama's wide lead over Mr. Romney in Massachusetts polls.

"The people who know him best, the people he actually governed for four years, they weren't impressed then, by a wide margin, and they won't vote for him now," Mr. Curtatone said.

David Axelrod (Photo: Twitter)

The web video begins with footage of Mr. Romney vowing to improve the Massachusetts economy by creating jobs while running for governor and turns to similar claims he has made during this presidential race. Several members of the Massachusetts Legislature former mayors and the current Mayor of Melrose then share their opinions that Mr. Romney's policies led to less jobs, more debt for the state and a long list of fees for residents.

"There are times when I watch Mitt Romney saying the exact same things now that he said here in Massachusetts in 2002 in a robotic way that is completely hollow," State Representative Carl Sciortino says in the clip. "It didn't work here, so I'm not quite sure why he thinks it would work nationally."

Watch the Obama campaign's Massachusetts attack ad below.

FishbowlDC's Betsy Rothstein and Ben Adler of The Nation got into an especially epic Twitter feud with over 30 messages sent back and forth that was a perfect illustration of the level of political discourse in this country.

Why hasn't betsy rothstein gone to work for @FoxNews yet? her laziness and reactionary anti-intellectualism would be a perfect fit for them

—
Ben Adler (@badler) May 30, 2012

What, a wannabe Boybander is an absurd thing to call you @badler? I don't think so. It's spot on.

—
  (@FishbowlDC) May 30, 2012

Brian Walsh, Communications Director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, wasn't interested in Governor Deval Patrick's endorsement in the Massachusetts Senate race.

Is Deval Patrick endorsing Elizabeth Warren really news? In other "news" the sun came up this morning and it will go down tonight.

—
Brian Walsh (@brianjameswalsh) May 30, 2012

Libertarian presidential candidate and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson celebrated the anniversary fo the day he climbed Everest.

9 yrs ago today, I reached the summit of #Mount Everest. Making a more important climb in 2012! Join me at garyjohnson2012.com. #tlot

—
Gov. Gary Johnson (@GovGaryJohnson) May 30, 2012

Politico's Roger Simon poked a little fun at Mitt Romney for his "Amercia" gaffe.

Romney withdraws from Scripps National Spelling Bee, fears loss to 6 year old.

—
Roger Simon (@politicoroger) May 30, 2012

Elizabeth Warren (Photo: Getty)

Earlier this evening National Review blogger Katrina Trinko published a story accusing Democratic Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren of plagiarizing a passage in the book she co-wrote with her daughter, All Your Worth: The Ultimate Money Lifetime Plan. One hour and five minutes later, Ms. Trinko published a correction apologizing for the story.

"I took down my earlier post on Elizabeth Warren plagiarizing from the book Getting On the Money Track," Ms. Trinko said. "I apologize for the error."

Ms. Trinko originally accused Ms. Warren of lifting a passage from a book by the author Rob Black in All Your Worth, which she co-wrote with her daughter, Amelia Warren Tyagi.

"That book includes a passage that appears to include parts of two paragraphs directly lifted from a book published in 2005, Getting on the Money Track by Rob Black," Ms. Trinko wrote.

Ms. Trinko incorrectly believed Ms. Warren's book was published after Mr. Black's, but she was actually not looking at a first edition of the book. Her mistake was first pointed out by Salon's Alex Pareene.

"On Amazon.com, the Warren book All Your Worth is listed as having been published January 9, 2006. As it turns out, that is the paperback publication date; the hardback book was published in March 2005," Ms. Trinko wrote in her correction. "As such, it appears that Getting on the Money Track (published in October 2005) plagiarized from All Your Worth, not the other way around."

Ms. Trinko, who dealt with the situation with admirable speed and transparency, is currently using Twitter to send out her correction to outlets that ran with the original story on Twitter.

It seems Mr. Black has some explaining to do.

Update (8:18 p.m.): The Politicker managed to get ahold of Mr. Pareene, who explained how he managed to debunk this story.

"I honestly think that my writing this was mostly a factor of me being one of the few people still at his computer on a lovely day at 7 p.m.," Mr. Pareene said.

According to Mr. Pareene, he and his editor, Ben Crair, initially believed the plagiarism story.

"We'd been talking about writing something about all the mini-scandals surrounding Elizabeth Warren," said Mr. Pareene. "At first, we just took it at face value and we were talking about how serious it was, and then, my editor was like, 'I'm just kind of hoping that they just got this massively wrong.'"

Shortly afterward, Mr. Crair's wish came true. Mr. Pareene said he realized National Review had made a mistake after "just literally a few seconds of Googling the book that they talked about."

"I can see how they got this wrong, but honestly, five more minutes of Googling it would have disproven it before they even published it," Mr. Pareene said.

Mr. Pareene also told us he was disappointed the story was corrected so quickly.

"It was a really exciting few minutes when I thought I was the first one with the story," he said. "And then, they corrected it right away, which was very disappointing."