Romney Campaign Responds To Outrage Over Osama Gaffe
The Boston Globe reports that Mitt Romney's campaign is responding to criticism over his remark last week that "just trying to catch one person" — Osama Bin Laden — would not be worth the costs and effort. "Governor Romney believes that the terrorism threat posed by radical jihadists is larger than only one person," said spokesman Kevin Madden "Governor Romney believes and has stated time and time again that in order to confront these threats we have to focus on the larger problem of the global jihad and break down entire regional and global terror networks of Al Qaeda and others." We must again ask: What would the reaction have been if a liberal Democratic candidate had said this?

Obama Gets Better Reception Than Hillary At California Dem Event
Reuters reports that Barack Obama went over even better than Hillary Clinton at this weekend's California Democratic Party convention. "I am proud that I stood up in 2002 when it wasn't popular to take a stand and urged our leaders not to take us down this dangerous path," Obama told the crowd. On Hillary supporter dismissed Obama's appeal before the liberal activist crowd: "We have a very progressive left-wing constituency here in California. Obama's extremely talented, but this is Hillary's time."

Dodd Hits Debate Format
The New York Times reports that Chris Dodd was sharply critical of the format of this past week's debate. Speaking at the California Democratic Party convention, Dodd told the crowd, "That was a strange debate if I ever saw one. There were a number of issues that didn’t come up," including education and the environment.

Obama: "I Was A Little Nervous" At The Debate
Lynn Sweet at The Chicago Sun-Times writes that Barack Obama acknowledged before a Charleston rally that his performance at Thursday's debate was not his best. "Last night I was a little nervous," Obama said. Sweet argues that modern debate formats — notably 60-second limits for speaking — work against Obama's usual rhetorical style of "a very long windup to the pitch."

McCain Opposes New Hampshire Civil Unions Bill
The New York Sun reports that John McCain said he is against the civil unions bill that has passed the New Hampshire legislature and awaits a certain signing by the Governor. On the other hand, McCain is sticking with his federalist approach to the gay marriage issue, saying that this is a matter for New Hampshire alone. "If I were a citizen of New Hampshire, I would oppose it ... Anything that impinges or impacts the sanctity of the marriage between men and women, I'm opposed to it," McCain said.

Huckabee Says Son Made "Careless Mistake" In Gun Arrest
Mike Huckabee acknowledged that his son David made a "carless mistake" when he was arrested Thursday at an Arkansas airport for having a loaded Glock handgun in his carry-on bag, Radio Iowa reports. "It was in his briefcase, under his computer, and he just didn't remember it," Huckabee said. David Huckabee, who legally owns the gun and has a concealed-carry permit, quickly pled guilty to a misdemeanor count of posessing a weapon in a prohibited place.

Gallegly To Run Again
The Hill reports that Congressman Elton Gallegly (R-CA) says he will run for a twelfth term in 2008. Gallegly had attempted to withdraw from his re-election race last year after being diagnosed with an undisclosed illness, but went ahead with the campaign when his medical outlook improved and withdrawal appeared legally difficult. Although he said at the time that 2006 would be his last campaign, he appears to have changed his mind. "If for any reason there is a change in my position before the 2008 election, I will give ample notice, but that isn’t an anticipated thing at this point," Gallegly said.

Wichita TV Stations Refuse To Run Bloomberg Gun Ad
The Associated Press reports that CBS and NBC affiliates in Wichita, Kansas, are refusing to run an ad sponsored by New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg (R), that is critical of federal legislation by Wichita Congressman Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) that restricts information sharing between the federal government and local governments on gun purchases. The local stations say they were unable to verify the claims made in the ad, while Bloomberg says that the national networks should intervene.