Debt Ceiling Fight... the Sequel: House Speaker John Boehner is promising another bruising battle over raising the debt ceiling. Boehner has become Mitt Romney's top ally on Capitol Hill, and this move is part of a multi-pronged assault by the Romney campaign to portray President Obama as an ineffective steward of the economy.

Don't miss Nate Silver's analysis of where the presidential race stands right now. 

14 female Republican members of the House say their party is the "real party for American women."

Grover Norquist argues Mitt Romney's best choice for running mate is Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal.

And in Nebraska last night, the establishment was beaten by a state senator seeking statewide office for the first time: Deb Fischer has captured the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate, and now she'll face off against former senator Bob Kerrey for the seat. Fischer was endorsed by Sarah Palin late in the primary campaign.

Let me finish tonight with this.

I want the American government to work. I want elections to matter, to have Congress act on what people decide in the voting booth. I want this republic to be alive with new ideas, new approaches, and, yes, experimentation. We have problems--out-of-control unfair immigration process, the pile-up of long-term debt, the plight of our inner cities--but it's a do-able list, don't you think?

So let's try to get working on that list. Let's set about fixing these challenges. 

But we don't, do we? And there's no reason to believe this election is going to change things.

If Obama wins, the Democrats may keep hold of the Senate by a vote or two. But he won't have anywhere near the 60 votes necessary to kill a filibuster.  

So nothing's going to get done. Another two years and nothing's going to clear the Senate. They won't be able to deal with anything positive, like passing a fair, enforceable immigration policy. 

But let's say Romney pulls a squeaker. The Republicans will have the House and could have the Senate as well. That will give them just enough power--all they need, really--to push through a big tax cut for the wealthy, and a big cut in social and economic programs for the working poor and middle class. They can do it through "reconciliation."    

This is the difference, the big reason why Democrats should junk the filibuster. It's really only good for either not doing anything or for "cutting."  

If you want to do something, it's a towering obstacle against you. 60 votes? To get them, you have to deal away what may be the margin of success.  

Look at the stimulus package. Look at the health care bill. Think of what Obama could have done with 50 votes. Think of what could be done if we had majority rule, if we had something closer to real democracy.

This is a cause worth working toward. It is a cause that makes a point and clarifies the real difference between the two major parties. Democrats want to use government to play a positive role in American life. Republicans are content with a governing process that bends the system toward those who really, deep down, only want to cut spending and, of course, cut taxes for those with the most clout to begin with. 

It's simple: if you're a progressive, if you're interested in a positive, get-it-done role for government, then we've got to junk the filibuster.

What’s the state of the presidential race? Chris asks former Mississippi governor Haley Barbour and the Huffington Post’s Sam Stein.

Watch Hardball at 7 p.m. ET.

Republicans have found themselves in hot water lately after opposing the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) -- something that's usually routine for Congress. The GOP has objected that the bill would include women in same-sex relationships and could let more undocumented immigrants secure temporary visas, and has offered its own version of the bill that drops these sections. 

On Hardball Monday, Chris Matthews hosted Rep. Gwen Moore, a Wisconsin Democrat, and Rep. Kathy McMorris Rodgers, a Washington Republican, to debate the VAWA reauthorization and how the issue might play this November. 

Matthews asked McMorris Rodgers why Republicans objected to including protections for women in same-sex couples.

"Those are side issues that have been attached to this bill," McMorris Rodgers said.

Matthews seemed genuinely taken aback. "They're not side issues if you're getting beat up by your partner," he responded. "That's not a side issue, that's your life!"

"I can't imagine going back to a district, rural, urban, or suburban and saying to people, 'I can't protect wives against their husbands because I don't want to do anything that suggests equality and gay relationships,'' continued Matthews. 

Let me finish tonight with this.

Over the weekend, I received an honorary degree from Howard University. It was extraordinary to be given this honor before thousands of students, parents, faculty, and friends at this historic American institution. As I said on Saturday from up on that grand stage, there is a glow in every graduate of this great university, a glow of pride in having attended an icon of African-American history, of American history.

Let me share what I said to the graduates because I gave it considerable thought. 

I said that the words we speak could be forgotten at these kinds of occasions. I wanted these students going out in the world, out to form their careers, to think of one picture: of this young man driving his car from Chicago where he lived and worked, out into the suburbs and rural areas of Illinois--just him alone in his car, a map of the state sitting on the passenger seat beside him.  

He had just been beaten for Congress on the South Side, just gotten the short end of the stick from incumbent Bobby Rush, and here he was: driving alone with guts and hope into places where people had never voted for an African-American candidate, never been asked to.

That is why Barack Obama was able to stride onto that stage at the National Democratic Convention in Boston in 2004, because he'd had the nerve to drive out of Chicago into the 'burbs and small rural towns and ask people to make a bet on him, to give him a chance. 

That was my message to the young people this weekend at Howard University: Get out there and ask people to invest in you, to make a bet on you. If they resist, make them say no to you. Make them do it. Never, ever say "no" to yourself. Get out there and go for the "yes," and don't ever say "no" to yourself.

I know it's easy for me to say that, but it doesn't stop it from being true. 

Being awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Howard University is one of the great honors of my life and I am so grateful to President Ribeau, the members of the Board of Trustees, including the Bernard family, and to the students of the class of 2012 for their wonderful reception.

You’re so Bain! Team Obama is taking to five key swing states with a new ad that pummels Mitt Romney for the  years he spent as CEO of Bain Capital. It’s a familiar tactic. You might remember Newt Gingrich used a similar line of attack leading up to the South Carolina primary and we also saw it in the 1994 Massachusetts Senate race when Romney faced off against Teddy Kennedy. Much of Mitt Romney’s candidacy hinges on his success as a businessman. Will the Obama campaign be able to turn that against him and frame Romney as a corporate villain? Think Gordon Gekko. 

Watch Hardball at 7 p.m. ET.

Jeopardy

Chris Matthews competes on Jeopardy!

MSNBC host Chris Matthews will be playing "Hardball" not once, but twice tonight, not only on his nightly show on MSNBC, but on "Jeopardy!"where he will face off against former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and CNN's Lizzie O'Leary as part of the “Jeopardy! Power Players Week,” a special edition of the show that challenges fifteen of the country’s most influential media personalities, including political figures, authors, journalists and newsmakers to compete for their favorite charity.

If Chris wins tonight, a donation of $50,000 will be made to La Salle College High School, Chris's high school.

Two other NBC'ers will also be competing for “Jeopardy! Power Players Week” -on Thursday, May 17, Chuck Todd will face off against comedian Lewis Black and Chicago Tribune's Clarence Page. On Friday, May 18, Kelly O'Donnell will compete against CNN's Anderson Cooper and The New York Times' Thomas Friedman.

Be sure to tune-in and root for Chris on tonight's Jeopardy! at 7PM ET on ABC. For more info, visit http://www.jeopardy.com/powerplayers.

You can follow Chris on twitter at @Hardball_Chris. Keep up with the latest on tonight's show by following @Jeopardy and hashtag #PowerPlayers.

Let me finish tonight with high school.

Remember it? Remember how you were treated? By your classmates, that is?

Were you cool? Did you know the latest dances? Were you popular, part of the "in crowd"? Or did you feel awkward a lot of the time, never really part of "the scene," the social scene? 

Finally, do you remember the people you had lunch with most days? The table you knew you were welcome at, the ones you knew you weren't? Do you remember the bullies? The kids who may have been good at sports, or hung around with them, and were cold, sometimes nasty, to the kids who weren't?

Look, this guy Romney...he says he can't remember if he ever led a pack of classmates and went in search of a classmate--a kid with longish hair, a kid they figured was gay--and got on top of him, got him on the ground and, while he was screaming and crying out, Mitt Romney did the honors: cut his hair off. 

If Mitt Romney never did this, he should say so and proudly. Why would you want people to think you did it?  

If Mitt Romney did do this, it would be helpful to know how he looks back on this: with a giggle, with embarrassment or (let's go for the moral jackpot) that he feels honestly bad about how badly he treated another kid his age, a kid scared to death, worried about who he was, worried sick about what his classmates had decided to do to him without a tad of sympathy. In fact, out of sheer animal delight. 

So probably he'll stick to his "I don't remember," but it might be good for the voter to remember. I'm sure Richard Grenell is thinking about this story of Mitt Romney's student days, thinking hard about the fact that the man who was once this kid was the man who this past week let him get chased away from his campaign and didn't lift a finger or his voice to say, "Richard, you're my guy and I want you to stay in my campaign. I stand up to the predators with you." 

Mitt can still do that. It could be his way of saying, "Ladies and gentleman, my name is Mitt Romney, the same guy who did that bad thing in school, and I ask you to vote for me because I have changed."

Is Joe Biden in trouble with President Obama? Chris goes inside the White House with Marc Leibovich of the New York Times and Politico’s Glenn Thrush.

Watch Hardball at 7 p.m. ET.

Pres. Obama pushed gay marriage and told jokes at the expense of George Clooney in a star-studded Hollywood fundraiser that netted a whopping $15 million for the president's re-election campaign. It's the largest presidential fundraiser ever.

Meanwhile Republicans leaders are steering clear of the same-sex marriage issue, at least publicly. But when will Republican strategists start using the issue behind the scenes to drive up evangelical votes against Pres. Obama?

Mitt Romney and his supporters say the bullying Romney allegedly took part in as a prep school student don't reflect who he is today. But certainly the way he faced those allegations this week reflect who he is now -- first he had an aide deny that he remembered an especially cruel episode where he led a gang of boys who forcibly cut another boy's hair because they didn't like its length or color. Then Romney apologized for anyone who may have taken offense in his behavior but said he didn't remember. Yet several other named classmates did remember the episode, so why can't Romney? 

And the defense is about to present its side of the story in the John Edwards trial. The prosecution wrapped up its often gut-wrenching case yesterday.

Let me finish tonight with this.

Barack Obama is a man of history. His very life was an event--this meeting of an American woman from Kansas with a student from Kenya. His success, leading up to his selection as editor of the Harvard Law Review, was eventful. Extraordinary, really. As he put it in that great speech in Boston eight years ago, "Only in this country is my story possible."

As I speak tonight, he has been our president for three and a half years, and we are used to something that is extraordinary: an African-American president in the White House. 

And yesterday, he did it again: becoming the president who declared himself for same-sex marriage. Years, decades from now, they will not be talking about the circumstances, merely the extraordinary fact that no one else had ever done it. He did it. He, Barack Obama.

And so we move on, perhaps, to more history.  

One thing I have come to believe, and it is political in nature, that this is what Barack Obama needs to be doing: making history. The moment he becomes just another president, maintaining the way things are, he will lose himself, his historic self. He is, I guess I'm saying, as much a captive of history as a captor. He needs to be making history over and over again, because if he stops, he stops being what he can be, and the American people will know it. 

Just think of this before you think of the politics: if you are black in this country, you know that a black man can be president because one is. If you are gay, you know that America, at its most idealistic, stands for your right to love because an American president has now declared as much.   

We live in a powerful time, and, as long as Barack Obama is at the helm, it will continue.

Rep. Barney Frank faces off with Tony Perkins in a heated debate over same-sex marriage.

Watch Hardball at 7 p.m. ET.

Pres. Obama supports same-sex marriage

The president's historic statement yesterday that gay couples should be allowed to marry was a milestone in American politics. But what does it mean for the 2012 election? Liberals are energized, but Pres. Obama could lose support in crucial swing states like North Carolina, where evangelical voters could tip the scales against him.

In response to the president's watershed moment, Mitt Romney re-affirmed his opposition to gay marriage. The candidates' contrast on marriage equality again casts the campaign as a choice between the past vs. the future. And for the Obama campaign -- and the Obama brand -- the benefits of being on the right side of history may ultimately outweigh the short-term political damage he might suffer.

Let me finish tonight with this: President Obama remains a maker of history.  

He was the first African-American to serve as our president. Now he is a leader of another kind, the first president to state his support for recognizing the marriage of partners of the same sex. 

However the circumstances, he now stands for re-election with this fact on the table. He stands against a candidate, Mitt Romney, who says he will never give up his opposition to gay marriage, a candidate who refuses to stand up for a gay man who has just been run out of his campaign. 

Could there be a grander canyon between these two men: one fully in support of the right of gay people to marry; one totally against that right. 

It will take a bit of time to see how this affects the presidential election. But I have to wonder how gay men and women who now work for the election of Republican members of Congress, senators, and Romney himself can sit in their work seats and refuse to stand up, walk in the direction of their bosses and candidates, and ask them to join the President on this? I have to wonder how long they can remain indentured servants, how long can they continue to accept the Republican party's "don't ask, don't tell" rule--that you can work here as long as you keep your mouth shut on what you believe, on the life you aspire to, on those you love.  

But tonight I honor a president who, regardless of the political consequences, has declared for all the world to hear that all God's children have a right to love as they were born to love.   

That ought to count for something no matter which way the chips in this election fall.

President Obama’s evolution on same-sex marriage is complete. In a move that changes the election, the president says gays should be allowed to marry. Chris talks to MSNBC political analysts Mark Halperin and Eugene Robinson.

Watch Hardball at 7 p.m. ET.

Lugar's Out

Another moderate gets the boot. Six-term Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana is the latest Republican moderate to see his career end at the hands of a Tea Party challenger on his right. Last night, Indiana Republicans picked state treasurer Richard Mourdock as their nominee for Senate, ending the distinguished career of a statesman who knew the value of compromise. But compromise is a dirty word in today's Republican party, and Mourdock - who doesn't believe in bipartisanship - capitalized. He also benefited from questions about Lugar's residency, and the general idea that after 36 years in Washington, Lugar had lost touch with Hoosiers. Now things get interesting, as Democrats have a reasonable shot to pick up that Senate seat. But is Mourdock more like Delaware's Christine O'Donnell (who lost) or Wisconsin's Ron Johnson (who won)?

In North Carolina, voters supported a law banning same-sex marriage. And that's exactly why Pres. Obama isn't out too far in front of this issue. If he does what Joe Biden did -- and embraces gay marriage -- he'll have a hard time winning the Tar Heel State come November. It may not be a profile in courage, but it's smart politics -- and last night's vote proves it.

Rematch in Wisconsin: Democratic voters chose Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett to take on embattled Gov. Scott Walker in next month's recall election. It's a rematch of their November 2010 campaign.

The battle for Bill Clinton: Mitt Romney is remembering the halcyon days of... Bill Clinton. In a cynical attempt to win centrist Democrats, Romney's talking up the Clinton era economy, with its balanced budgets and vibrant growth. But Clinton pushed policies - including higher taxes than we have today - that Romney wouldn't dream of advocating.

And why is Michele Bachmann - who famously claimed on Hardball that there are lots of anti-American members of Congress - now a citizen of Switzerland?

Let me finish tonight with this.

My problem with two-party politics is that you are inevitably drawn into saying things in public that you would normally prefer not to. If you're a Democrat you're supposed to be down-the-line for the labor union positions, down-the-line for the women's groups, down-the-line for the immigration advocates, and--oh yes!--down-the-line for the latest bi-partisan push for war.  

For this reason, I'd rather be a commentator and pick my fights.

Look, I've been fairly positive about all the causes of gay people in this country. I think the President is clearly with these causes. 

It's about saying the right thing when it will achieve the right purpose. Would it achieve the purpose of marriage equality for the President to back it now? Would it advance the cause a year or two ahead of its current pace of acceptance?  

Or would it simply incur casualties in the cause, the loss of several more culturally conservative states, including North Carolina or Ohio? Or cost Obama even a surprising state, like Pennsylvania?

Would that advance the cause? Or would it solidify the Republican opposition because they would owe it big time? Would it put Mitt Romney in the White House, someone who just said he will never give up his opposition to same-sex marriage?

I believe the President A) knows more about his political challenges than the rest of us, and B) is basically liberal on such matters. I can't read his mind or his heart, but I can judge him as a person and he is not the sort to condemn people for how they were born and the love they know because of who they are. 

The statement that he is "evolving" places the President in sync with many Americans. If he is at a further stage of evolution than he's willing to admit, that is not a point on which to decide against him. It is a far stronger reason to vote against his opponent whose evolution, as he just declared, is non-existent.

Should President Obama come out in favor of same sex marriage? Everyone thinks he supports it anyway – but what it would mean for his re-election chances? Chris asks MSNBC Political Analyst Ron Reagan and former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown.

Watch Hardball at 7 p.m. ET.

Election Day in Indiana, North Carolina and Wisconsin

Sen. Richard Lugar's days in the Senate may be numbered. The six-term Republican faces a stiff primary challenge by Richard Mourdock on his right, and recent polls suggest he's headed for defeat. It's the latest example of the Republican party squeezing out its moderates and replacing them with Tea Party types, but the good news for Democrats is that Mourdock is running even with Democrat Joe Donnelly, which would make Indiana of all places a competitive Senate race come fall.

In Wisconsin, Democrats are choosing the candidate who will face Gov. Scott Walker in next month's recall election. And big labor's first choice isn't expected to win.

And in North Carolina, a measure banning same-sex marriage and civil unions is likely headed for victory.

And in the presidential race, Rick Santorum finally endorsed Mitt Romney but it was hardly a ringing endorsement.

Let me finish tonight with this.

I think people who want to vote should be allowed to. We shouldn't be out there putting undue burdens on people. We should be encouraging people to vote, not discouraging. 

But I also think it's the good work, the chosen work, of political parties to get the voters to the voting booth. They have a calling, which is to activate voters. And it looks like this new thing of requiring government-issued photo ID cards is creating a real challenge here. 

I would hope that organizations, and not just Democratic orgranizations, will be out there this summer in places like Philadelphia getting people to deal with the bureacracy to get themselves a voter ID card. That means getting the raised birth certificate and the social security card you need to get that voter ID card. It is going to be a real challenge, but I can't think of a better role for party people--committeepersons like my grandfather--and civic groups to get people in a position to cast a vote this November. 

Here's the point: it's not a partisan activity to help people exercise their right to vote. It may help one party more than another (I would think the Democrats) but that is because the decision to set this new requirement could keep a disportionate number of Democratic voters from casting their ballot. 

Is there anyone in this country who would dare stand up and say a person who's been voting for years the same way should, all of a sudden, be denied their vote? Well, I think we should all think about ways we can stop that from happening.  

As I said in my interview with Congressman Brady, this could be a great "hurrah" for the old big-city political organizations. The committee people could run down their streeet lists, go to the doors of the persons on the list, find out who hasn't got a government-issued photo ID card and help them get one. It is the kind of political work you can't do on television. That, in itself, is reason enough for the local political workers, the committee people like my grandfather in the old days, could really get to work on this, and we on TV should be encouraging them and the effort every bit of the way.   

What does Joe Biden’s support for same-sex marriage mean for President Obama’s re-election campaign? Chris asks the Human Rights Campaign’s Joe Solomonese and the Huffington Post’s Sam Stein.

Watch Hardball at 7 p.m. ET.

More than evolution

Vice President Joe Biden says he's "absolutely comfortable" with same-sex marriage. That's a statement that goes far beyond President Obama's evolving position on the issue, and the White House clarified that Biden's comment did not represent a change in policy.

A new Battleground Poll finds Mitt Romney inching ahead of President Obama, though his one-point lead is statistically insignificant.

President Obama sharpened his critique of Mitt Romney as he officially kicked off his re-election campaign with huge rallies in Virginia and Ohio.

Tomorrow could be the end of the line for six-term Sen. Dick Lugar of Indiana. He's trailing his Tea Party primary challenger Richard Mourdock by ten points.

A group of 9/11 defendants -- including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed -- disrupted a hearing at Guantanamo Bay -- insulting the victims of the attacks, ignoring the judge, shouting and praying.

In an election whose effects we'll feel here at home, Francois Hollande has ousted Nicolas Sarkozy as president of France. With Sarkozy's defeat, France will likely pull out of the coalition in Afghanistan and re-think its failed austerity policies that have led to double-dip recession threats across Europe.

Let me finish tonight with this.

We just had Clint Hill on to talk about his work with the Secret Service. He is, in a real way, a sterling model of the agents that have been assigned to the service over the decades.

There are thousands of others--people like Jerry Parr, who saved Ronald Reagan's life in 1981 by getting him to George Washington University Hospital in three minutes. Had he not done what he did that bleak day (covering and evacuating the President from the scene of the assassination attempt and getting him to the hospital) there's a real question whether Reagan would have made it. 

I don't doubt there are many stories like this: stories of courage and self-sacrifice on the part of those defending the President. And because of a "few knuckleheads" down in Cartagena a few weeks back, the reputation of the Secret Service has been harmed--not permanently, but for a while.   

We've had a couple of weeks for bad stories to leak out, to find their way to the surface. If they were abundant, we would all be sharing them now. The tabs would be feasting on them. We'd be talking about them here.  

Clint Hill's story--what he did on November 22 to try and save President Kennedy, what he did to protect the President's wife--belong among the real, sterling stories of the Secret Service. Along with the quick, gutsy work of Jerry Parr, they tell the story that makes young men and women want to grow up and someday take their place. 

Every time I walk through the White House gate, I am impressed by the professionalism and dedication of the Secret Service. I am gladdened that the story of a "few knuckleheads" who made bad middle-of-the-night decisions amid the beckoning of sexual excitement, the influence of alcohol and foreign soil opportunity is just what it was. It happened. We covered it.

It is an episode involving a dozen agents out of 175 agents that weekend in Cartagena. It is not the story of these men's careers and certainly not of the justifiably proud Secret Service.

Are Republicans keeping the economy from recovering faster? Chris asks Paul Krugman of The New York Times and New York Magazine’s John Heilemann.

Watch Hardball at 7 p.m. ET.

Jobs Report Friday

It's the most important number of the election year, and this morning the unemployment rate dropped to 8.1%. The economy added 115,000 jobs, fewer than analysts expected.

The New York Times takes a look at why the economy is doing better on this side of the Atlantic than in Europe. And it credits a series of smart policy decisions made by the Obama Administration and its predecessor. But politically speaking, we'd be in a similar boat as Europe if we listened to some of the right-wingers calling for "austerity".

China Crisis: There may be a breakthrough in the delicate case of that blind Chinese dissident -- a case that's straining Washington's relationship with China: Beijing says he may apply to study abroad. And the Obama Administration's handling of the situation has -- predictably -- become fodder for Republicans.

President Obama heads to Virginia, where a new Washington Post poll shows he's leading Mitt Romney by seven points.

Politico takes a look at what has become a very public race for the #2 spot on the Republican ticket.

An Electoral Tie? It would be a nightmare scenario in the country but it's entirely possible. .. A 269-269 tie in the electoral College.