The Note's Must-Reads for Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Compiled by ABC News' Jackie Fernandez, Jayce Henderson, Amanda Van Allen and Carrie Halperin

PRESIDENT OBAMA The Boston Globe's Brian C. Mooney: " Obama donations fall short of '08" Campaign downplays import of Jan. Figures. President Obama did not raise as much money from supporters last month as he did during January 2008 in his first campaign for the White House, a Globe analysis shows. LINK

MITT ROMNEY The New York Times' Monica Davey: " Romney Facing Unexpected Hurdles in Michigan" This was supposed to be a state, at last, where Mitt Romney could coast. After all, he grew up here. His father, an automobile executive, had been the governor. And the last time there was a Republican presidential primary in Michigan, Mr. Romney won handily. LINK

The Wall Street Journal's Peter Nicholas and Brody Mullins: " Romney Has Big Share of 'Maxed Out' Givers" Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is drawing a disproportionately high amount of campaign funds from people who have given him the legal maximum, weakening his ability to raise money from such proven donors as the GOP nomination fight drags on. Far more than his three rivals, Mr. Romney has tapped these large donors to build his campaign fund. LINK

RICK SANTORUM ABC News' Shushannah Walshe: " Rick Santorum on Satan Speech: 'I Will Defend Everything I Say'" Rick Santorum made a veiled mention this evening of a controversy that bubbled up after audio of a speech the candidate gave in 2008 in which he said Satan was attacking U.S. institutions in government and religion made its way around the Internet. "I think the reason we are doing so well is because we are available to the American public, no teleprompters, no speeches … sometimes, I've been told that when you don't read off a teleprompter, they may find a thing or two and say, 'Oh, he said this and he might mean this,'" Santorum said at a rally here. LINK

The Hill's Jonathan Easley:  " Santorum risks GOP nomination with religious rhetoric" Rick Santorum's language on religion and values is coming under deeper scrutiny and raising questions about whether he should be the GOP standard-bearer in the fall.  Santorum has always been bold about discussing his faith, but his comments took center stage after he criticized President Obama's "phony theology" on the environment.   LINK

The Los Angeles Times' Mitchell Landsberg: " The Santorum question: Is he too extreme for the middle?" Rick Santorum is winning the hearts of conservative voters with uncompromising social views that, he says, are drawn from the same well as his fiscal and environmental policies: a reading of America's founding documents that stresses their Judeo-Christian underpinnings.  In friendly settings around the country, in hotel ballrooms and public school auditoriums, Santorum has framed the 2012 election as one for the very salvation of the country and its culture. LINK

The Washington Times' Stephen Dinan: " Hopefuls mix words, deeds on E-Verify" Rick Santorum has called for every business in the country to use E-Verify, the government's database for screening out illegal immigrant workers, but his own presidential campaign has not signed up to use the program. That is not a national problem because the system is still voluntary on the federal level. But it could be a problem if Mr. Santorum hired any staff in Arizona, which holds its primary next week and which has made use of E-Verify mandatory for anyone doing business there. LINK

Politico's Jonathan Martin: " For Rick Santorum, all politics were local" In Washington and on the presidential campaign trail, Rick Santorum is known as an unflinching culture warrior with a penchant for speaking out on issues such as contraception, gay marriage and theology. Pennsylvania political insiders, however, associate the former senator with another set of issues when recalling his tenure: Sewers, housing and dredging. LINK

GOP PRIMARY RACE The Washington Post's Aaron Blake: " As Super Tuesday looms, Republican primary heads into potentially decisive phase" Starting with the Michigan and Arizona primaries on Tuesday, Republican front-runners Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum will face each other in a series of one-on-one matchups that are likely to determine the direction of the rest of the race for their party's presidential nomination. LINK

USA Today's Catalina Camia: " Polls: Romney, Santorum tied in Mich., Ariz." A new poll in Arizona shows Rick Santorum is gaining ground on Mitt Romney, with the two GOP presidential rivals now essentially tied a week ahead of the state's primary. Romney leads, 36% to 32%, among likely GOP voters in the poll by CNN/ Time/ORC International. The difference is within the survey's margin of error. LINK

Bloomberg's  Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Lisa Lerer: " Santorum, Romney to Vie for Advantage in Republican Debate Held in Arizona" Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney are vying to define each other and gain an edge in a tightening Republican presidential race as they and two other rivals meet tonight in Arizona for a potentially crucial televised encounter. The debate in Mesa, Arizona, marks the first time in almost a month that the candidates will face off on the same stage, and it's also the first since Santorum usurped Romney's perch at the top of national polls of the Republican contest. LINK

ABC NEWS VIDEOS " Rick Santorum Won't Comment on Satan Speech" LINK " Newt Gingrich Dubs President Obama 'Dangerous'" LINK  

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Peggy Orenstein in the Los Angeles Times on scrutinizing Komen As Orenstein observed the Komen Foundation rescind its Planned Parenthood funding then reverse course, she watched a friend die of metastic cancer and noted that the death rate for those with metastic disease hasn't changed in 25 years. "That controversy ought to motivate us to dig deeper, to push harder to understand how the money so generously and, frankly, blithely donated to breast cancer causes is spent," she writes. Komen, for instance, reserves 15 percent of its budget for research and almost half of it for "awareness" and mammography support. She argues Komen doesn't discriminate among its many corporate partners and marginalizes the experiences of those who won't survive the disease, and she says perhaps donors should look to other charities, too. "I hope that those who protested the Planned Parenthood move keep going, demanding — insisting — that rather than just making people feel good, the organization actually does good."

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Amy Davidson in The New Yorker on Obama and religion For years, a chain e-mail has circulated purported that President Obama had cancelled a National Day of Prayer ceremony while a Day of Prayer ceremony was held for Muslims on Capitol Hill. "Neither was true," writes Davidson, but, "The e-mail points at a couple themes that have emerged in the campaign, and the dangerous way they are intertwined." She describes how the candidates portrayed Obama's conflict with the Catholic Church as part of a broader war on Christianity. That debate feeds into one about Obama's identity, with claims that he's overly secular quickly feeding into claims of his "affinity for Islam." Beyond the election, Davidson worries about the effect of this discourse on millions of Americans who are, in fact, free from religion or practicing Islam. "The primary races have left us with a degraded political discourse. Will there be an even steeper descent once the general election begins?"

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Edwin Truman in The New York Times on aiding Europe The Euro crisis marks the third time the continent has fallen into conflict while America sat on the sideline. But as in the two world wars, "the crisis over the euro will require further American involvement — whether we like it or not," writes Truman. He notes that the U.S. doesn't want the IMF and non-European members to contribute financial assistance, and points out the good reasons for this. But to avoid macroeconomic effects, the U.S. should lead and set stronger conditions for funding among European countries. Truman lists his proposed conditions, including reversal of budget tightening measures, lowering the central bank's financing rates, and the creation of a $1 trillion safety net. "Given the economic and financial damage inflicted by Europe on the rest of the world, the United States must insist that these promises be strengthened, and speedily fulfilled."

Susan Crawford in Bloomberg View on public internet Several states are considering or have passed laws effectively banning municipalities from providing high-speed internet networks. "Mayors across the U.S. are desperate to attract good jobs and provide residents with educational opportunities, access to affordable health care, and other benefits that depend on affordable, fast connectivity -- something that people in other industrialized countries take for granted. But powerful incumbent providers such as AT&T Inc. and Time Warner Cable Inc. are hamstringing municipalities." Crawford likens it to the struggle of municipalities to set up their own electricity utilities 100 years ago when corporate providers largely ignored rural areas. She uses statistics to show that the U.S. is far behind other countries in rates of high-speed internet access, and argues that public sector involvement could help. "Congress needs to intervene. One way it could help is by preempting state laws that erect barriers to the ability of local jurisdictions to provide communications services to their citizens."Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. in The Wall Street Journal on Romney and tax reform In waiting until it was necessary before quickly and effectively destroying Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and his campaign proved themselves effective at "getting it done."  "But get what done? Off to the side persists the debate about his business career and his taxes, and meanwhile President Obama just put taxes at the center of the 2012 election ... Mr. Romney might give his candidacy some life with a straightforward promise: Tax reform will deliver prosperity, and I will deliver tax reform." Romney could borrow Obama's language of bipartisanship to point out that both parties have supported the idea of tax reform. Jenkins says Obama doesn't really want it because he prefers using tax benefits to aide certain parties and promote certain ideas. Romney "could not only point to Mr. Obama's failure to act, but explain why—because it would conflict with the campaign of class resentment that he and his surrogates are so busy denying they intend to run on in the fall."

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