Conservatives Pressure Boehner

WASHINGTON, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Forty-seven Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are pushing Speaker John Boehner to eliminate the wind production tax credit, a tax break that has split Republicans and drawn criticism from presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.
Democratic President Barack Obama has urged Congress to extend the credit, which dates to 1992 and has support from Republicans in states that are home to wind farms and manufacturing plants, such as Iowa and South Dakota.
The credit has other powerful proponents in big companies that buy wind energy. Heavyweights including Microsoft Corp, Sprint and Hewlett-Packard have urged renewal. The industry calls it vital to ensuring jobs, including wind turbine tower manufacturing in a broad swath of U.S. states.
Republican opposition to renewable energy tax breaks has been galvanized by anger over a failed solar project backed by the Obama administration. Republicans referred to that project, a start-up company called Solyndra, several times in the letter.
"The Obama administration has poured billions into subsidizing its favored green energy sources," reads the letter dated Sept. 21 from House Republicans to Boehner, also a Republican. "Twenty years of subsidizing wind is more than enough."
Signers of the letter include Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee, but does not include members of the powerful tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, which is led by Representative Dave Camp.
A spokesman for Boehner said the issue will be addressed after the election.
Mitt Romney, Obama's Republican rival for the presidency in elections on Nov. 6, irked some members of his party when he backed ending the subsidy earlier this year.
Prominent Senate Republicans including Charles Grassley of Iowa are big wind credit supporters and extension is included in Senate legislation still pending.
The House and Senate are expected to make a decision on the wind credit, along with a slew of breaks known as "tax extenders" and the larger issue of individual tax rates, after the elections and before the extenders expire at year's end.
The wind industry says 37,000 jobs would be lost if the tax credit expires and some big companies have already attributed layoffs to the uncertainty, including Siemens. The credit costs about $11 billion a year.

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

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• This video image provided by House Television shows Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, on the floor of the House on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012.

• Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, on the floor of the House on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012.

• Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohion) seems to fight back tears while listening to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress from the floor of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol March 9, 2011 in Washington, DC. Gillard emphasized the long and strong bond between her country and the U.S.

• Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) seems to fight back tears while listening to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress from the floor of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol March 9, 2011 in Washington, DC. Gillard emphasized the long and strong bond between her country and the United States.

• Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) seems to fight back tears while listening to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress from the floor of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol March 9, 2011 in Washington, DC. Gillard emphasized the long and strong bond between her country and the United States.

• Fighting back tears as he recounted his rise from humble beginnings to the presumed Speaker of the House, House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) addresses the Republican National Congressional Committee's midterm election results watch party at the Grand Hyatt hotel November 2, 2010 in Washington, DC. Major news organizations have said that the Republicans will win enough seats to take control of the House of Representatives.

• Fighting back tears as he recounted his rise from humble beginnings to the presumed Speaker of the House, House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) addresses the Republican National Congressional Committee's midterm election results watch party at the Grand Hyatt hotel November 2, 2010 in Washington, DC. Major news organizations have said that the Republicans will win enough seats to take control of the House of Representatives.

• House Republican leader John Boehner, R-OH, fights back tears as he addresses the National Republican Congressional Committee Election Night Results Watch event in Washington, DC, on November 2, 2010. An emotional John Boehner, the presumed speaker-elect of the US House of Representatives, told fellow Republicans at the victory party that Americans have sent President Obama message to 'change course'.

• Fighting back tears as he recounted his rise from humble beginnings to the presumed Speaker of the House, House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) addresses the Republican National Congressional Committee's midterm election results watch party at the Grand Hyatt hotel November 2, 2010 in Washington, DC. Major news organizations have said that the Republicans will win enough seats to take control of the House of Representatives.

• Astronaut Neil Armstrong (L) recievces the Congressional Gold Medal from Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) during a ceremony in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol November 16, 2011 in Washington, DC. The gold medals were presented to Armstrong and his fellow crew members from Apollo 11, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin, and to astronaut and former U.S. Senator John Glenn (D-Ohio), the first American to orbit the Earth.

• Astronaut Neil Armstrong receives the Congressional Gold Medal from Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) during a ceremony in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol November 16, 2011 in Washington, DC. The gold medals were presented to Armstrong and his fellow crew members from Apollo 11, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin, and to astronaut and former U.S. Senator John Glenn (D-Ohio), the first American to orbit the Earth.

• House Speaker John Boehner <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufYmnD3fhfk&feature=related" target="_hplink">chokes up in an interview on CBS</a>.

• Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) wipes his eyes as outgoing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) prepares to hand over over the speaker's gavel following his election in the House chamber January 5, 2011 in Washington, DC.

Nazi Hunter Presses Investigation Of Alleged Auschwitz Guard

PHILADELPHIA ' The chief Nazi hunter with the Simon Wiesenthal Center says age and the passage of time are no barriers to investigating alleged Nazi activity during World War II.

If a person is charged with war crimes, you don't just ignore the crime because a suspect has reached old age, said Efraim Zuroff, who called the German-led investigation of now 87-year-old Johann "Hans" Breyer of Philadelphia a powerful message that such efforts will continue.

"Old age should not protect people who committed such heinous crimes," Zuroff said Monday by phone from Israel.

Germany has launched a war crimes investigation against Breyer on allegations that he served as an SS guard at the Auschwitz death camp complex after years of failed attempts by the U.S. to revoke his citizenship.

Breyer resolutely denied those allegations and told The Associated Press in an interview in his home late last week that he was never at the camp.

"I had nothing to do with the camp. I told them over and over," he said, recalling a yearslong failed effort by the U.S. to strip him of his citizenship.

Instead, Breyer said he was at a nearby SS camp where he was trained to use a light infantry cannon.

On Sunday, Breyer repeated that he's not been contacted by Germany nor notified that he's under any investigation.

"I heard this from you," he told an AP reporter, reiterating that he was never a guard.

On Monday, a few reporters were parked outside the three-level row home he shares with his wife. No one answered the door but a handwritten sign read: "We do not have any comment. Please leave."

Breyer did not respond to messages left at his home.

Some neighbors declined to comment while others did not answer their doors.

For more than a decade, the Department of Justice waged court battles to try to have Breyer deported. They largely revolved around whether Breyer had lied about his Nazi past in applying for immigration or whether he could have citizenship through his American-born mother.

That legal saga ended in 2003, with a ruling that allowed him to stay in the United States, mainly on the grounds that he had joined the SS as a minor and could therefore not be held legally responsible for participation in it.

The Justice Department noted that it had proved, in court, that Breyer was involved in "Nazi-sponsored acts of persecution while serving as an SS guard" at Buchenwald and Auschwitz during World War II.

"However, findings concerning his mother's birth and the date of his SS enlistment made it legally impossible to deport him from the United States," Rebekah Carmichael, a department spokeswoman, told the AP in an email Monday.

"As a general matter, the Department of Justice has a more than 40-year record of close cooperation with European governments that seek to prosecute cases involving Nazi crimes, including through sharing of evidence and facilitation of extradition and deportation," she said.

German officials have not yet filed charges against Breyer, but he could be charged with accessory to murder, the same legal theory that prosecutors in Munich used to try and convict former Ohio autoworker John Demjanjuk on charges served as a death camp guard at Sobibor in occupied Poland.

Ukrainian-born Demjanjuk, who died in a Bavarian nursing home in March while appealing his 2011 conviction, was the first person convicted in Germany solely on the basis of serving as a camp guard, with no evidence of involvement in a specific killing.

Under the new legal theory, anyone who was involved in the operation of a death camp was an accessory to murder.

About 1.5 million people, primarily Jews, were killed at the Auschwitz camp complex between 1940 and 1945.

___

Follow Matt Moore on Twitter at http//. http://www.twitter.com/MattMooreAP

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• May 2001

  Anton Malloth, an 89-year-old former guard at the Theresienstadt fortress in occupied Czechoslovakia, is sentenced to life in prison for beating and kicking a Jewish inmate to death in 1944. (Photo: AP)

• July 2002

  Friedrich Engel, a 93-year-old former SS major, is convicted on 59 counts of murder for a 1944 massacre of Italian prisoners and given a suspended seven-year sentence. A federal court later quashes the conviction, doubting the evidence was sufficient. Engel dies in 2006. (Photo: AP)

• February 2004

  A court halts the trial of Herbertus Bikker, an 88-year-old former SS member, on charges of killing a Dutch prisoner during World War II. He is ruled medically unfit to stand trial. He dies in 2008. (Photo: AP)

• December 2005

  An 88-year-old former Nazi commander, Ladislav Niznansky, is acquitted of murder in three massacres in Slovakia. Court cites insufficient evidence. He dies in 2011. (Photo: AP)

• August 2009

  Josef Scheungraber, a 90-year-old former officer in the German army, is convicted of murder for ordering the massacre of 10 civilians in a 1944 reprisal killing in Italy; sentenced to life imprisonment. His appeal is rejected. (Photo: AP)

• November 2009

  Prosecutors file charges against former SS Sgt. Adolf Storms on 58 counts of murder in connection with a massacre of Jewish forced laborers in Austria in 1945. Storms dies in July 2010 at age 90, before he can be brought to trial. (Photo: AP File)

• March 2010

  Heinrich Boere, 88, is convicted of murdering three civilians in the Netherlands when he was a member of a Waffen SS death squad in 1944; sentenced to life imprisonment. His appeal is rejected. (Photo: Getty)

• July 2010

  Samuel Kunz, 88, is charged with participating in the murder of 430,000 Jews while serving as a low-ranking guard at the Belzec death camp (seen in photo). Kunz dies in November 2010, before he can be brought to trial. (Photo: Getty)

• May 12, 2011

  John Demjanjuk, 91 was convicted for having been a guard at the Sobibor concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland from March 27 to mid-September 1943, and received one count of being an accessory to murder for each person who died during that time frame. Demanjuk dies in March 2012. (Photo: AP)

Frat Boy Candidate Vows Correction

NEW YORK -- A Republican state legislative candidate in North Dakota, who is also a college fraternity member, blamed a miscommunication with a graphic artist for an illegal campaign flyer.

John Mitzel, a 20-year-old University of North Dakota student, said that use of the state seal in an ad released by him and running mate, fellow UND student Ross Lien, was unintentional and that they plan to correct the ad as soon as possible. Mitzel is seeking a state House seat and Lien a state Senate seat in a Grand Forks district dominated by the UND campus, Greek houses and off-campus student housing.

"That was a miscommunication with our graphic artist," Mitzel told HuffPost. "He was unaware of the details of the design."

The flyer touts the duo as "educated, trustworthy and dedicated" and uses an image of the state seal in the background. The North Dakota Century Code prohibits use of the seal for political purposes, defining it as a class B misdemeanor in the state. Class B misdemeanors in North Dakota are punishable by up to a $1,000 fine and 30 days in jail.

Grand Forks County State's Attorney Peter Welte confirmed to HuffPost that the state Democratic Party had contacted his office with information about the use of the state seal. He said that his office does not have the jurisdiction to investigate the case and can only prosecute after an investigation by the Grand Forks police department. He said that he told Democrats Monday afternoon to contact the police.

One of Mitzel's Democratic opponents, state Rep. Corey Mock, indicated that he hopes Welte does handle the case down the line, noting that he believes that local prosecutors do not handle political cases in a state that has been deemed the "most corrupt" in the country by USA Today and the Center for Public Integrity.

"It is my understanding that these matters have been forwarded to the Grand Forks County state's attorney for investigation and further action," said Mock, who has pushed ethics reforms in the state. "Unfortunately, most state's attorneys turn a blind eye to campaign and election laws in our state, allowing candidates and elected officials to play into the narrative that North Dakota is the most corrupt state in the country."

Mitzel said that he and Lien did not know of the prohibition, which is listed on the secretary of state's website under "great seal."

"I was unaware of that," Mitzel told HuffPost.

When asked if he proofed the ad, Mitzel said, "No comment." He stressed that a new version of the ad is going out without the seal.

The ad also includes misspellings for two words, including part of "higher education."

Mitzel is challenging Mock, 27, and Democrat Kylie Oversen, 23, who served as UND student body president until recently, for one of the 42nd District's two open state House seats. Lien is running against Sen. Mac Schneider (D) for the district's Senate seat. Rep. Stacy Dahl (R) is not seeking a third term.

With the district dominated by UND, the legislators have trended young, with Schneider at 33 being the oldest candidate in the race. For most of the 2009 legislative session, Schneider, Dahl and Mock were all under the age of 30. Mitzel and Lien, 20, are both members of the Lamda Chi Alpha fraternity, which they tout as part of their campaign, and which Mitzel said will help attract student voters. Mitzel made news earlier in the race for an underage drinking arrest.

North Dakota Democrats are also highlighting a Lien/Mitzel campaign sign that does not include a "paid for" disclosure on the bottom, which is also in violation of state law.

"There is no excuse for candidates running for the legislature, or at any level, to allegedly commit multiple, egregious violations of state law while trying to earn the votes of their neighbors," Mock said.

Mitzel said he did not know about the sign.

"I have to look into that," he said. "I am not sure what it is."

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In 2012 Arms Race, Obama Holds Overlooked Advantage

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U.S. Poised To Hand Over Millions To Another Solar Panel Start-Up

LOS ANGELES, Sept 24 (Reuters) - A tiny solar company named SoloPower will flip the switch on production at a U.S. factory Thursday, a major step toward allowing it to tap a $197 million government loan guarantee awarded under the same controversial program that supported failed panel maker Solyndra.
SoloPower has initiated a strategy to differentiate it from struggling commodity players in the solar panel industry. Still, there are several similarities between SoloPower and Solyndra - which became a lightning rod in the U.S. Presidential campaign this year after taking in more than $500 million in government loans and then filing for bankruptcy.
Like Solyndra, SoloPower is a Silicon Valley start-up and uses the same non-traditional raw material in its solar panels. And, like its now-defunct peer, SoloPower is one of just four U.S. panel manufacturers to clinch loan guarantees under the Department of Energy's $35 billion program to support emerging clean energy technologies. The DOE payments to SoloPower will come on top of the $56.5 million SoloPower has collected in loans, tax credits and incentives from the state of Oregon and the city of Portland, where its first factory will be located.
And, perhaps most importantly, SoloPower is entering the market at a time of cutthroat competition from cheaper solar products made in China.
Though global demand for photovoltaic solar installations is expected to grow about 8 percent this year, rapid expansion of panel manufacturing in Asia in recent years - combined with a pullback in government incentives in key European markets - has left a glut of solar panels in the market, sending prices down 30 percent this year alone.
Companies that make those panels are now struggling to survive. Even the world's largest solar panel maker, China's Suntech Power Holdings Inc, warned on Friday that it may be delisted by the New York Stock Exchange because its share price, which reached $90 in 2008, is now less than $1. Debt-heavy Suntech has also been hurt since it said in July that its partner in a solar development fund might have defrauded it with a bogus collateral pledge of hundreds of millions of German bonds.

POLITICAL PRESSURE
These struggles have heaped political pressure on the sector. Republicans, intent on taking back the White House in November's election, are using Solyndra and other U.S. Department of Energy loan failures to brand the Obama administration's green incentives a waste of public money and fountain of cronyism. Solyndra, for instance, was backed by George Kaiser, a major fundraiser for Obama.
As the failures accumulate, Obama is under pressure to show better results for the program.
Earlier this month, the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed a "No More Solyndras" bill that would phase out the program for energy loans. It is highly unlikely to be taken up by the U.S. Senate or signed by Obama.
SoloPower says the comparisons to Solyndra are unwarranted.
The San Jose, California company's lightweight, flexible solar panels have a unique advantage, Chief Executive Tim Harris said in an interview. They are pointed squarely at commercial and industrial rooftops that can't support traditional panels, according to Harris, who said half of the buildings in the world can't bear the weight of heavy, rigid panels made with silicon. This includes many of the buildings that house warehouses and big box retailers, Harris said. In addition, he said SoloPower panels are commanding a price premium in a market that has become increasingly commoditized.
"We have way more demand than we have capacity at a very substantial premium price," Harris said in an interview. He declined to specify the premium SoloPower is able to charge, but said his company's product is best suited for markets such as Japan, Italy and Korea, which have high electricity prices and favorable incentives for rooftop systems.
The company has been able to raise more than $200 million in venture funding from investors including Crosslink Capital, Hudson Clean Energy Partners, Convexa Capital Ventures and Firsthand Capital Management.
"Before one dollar of the DOE loan is relied upon it will be demonstrable that this is a company that absolutely can manufacture a product that there will be verifiable demand for," said John Cavalier, a managing partner with Hudson Clean Energy Partners, which invested in SoloPower. "I don't think anyone will question the wisdom of making a loan of this nature to this company."
But some in the industry are skeptical of SoloPower's ability to succeed without having to lower its prices to compete with cheaper products from Asia.
"They are flexible and lightweight. Is anyone willing to pay a price premium for that? I would lean toward saying no," said Matt Feinstein, a solar industry analyst with Lux Research, a research and advisory firm that specializes in emerging technologies. "They have to compete head-to-head with the Chinese."

LIGHTER, BUT LESS EFFICIENT
SoloPower must have its first production line up and running and meet other undisclosed milestones before it can begin to draw down funds from its U.S. Department of Energy loan guarantee. Harris expects that to happen later this year or early next year. Funds from the loan guarantee will pay for construction of the rest of the Portland, Oregon factory, which is expected to be completed in 2014. DOE spokesman Damien LaVera would not provide details on the terms of SoloPower's loan guarantee and said the company's technology was not similar to Solyndra's, but would not elaborate.
Once completed, the plant will produce 400 megawatts of solar panels annually and employ about 400 people. There are 60 people working there currently.
SoloPower will be profitable once the first line is up and running producing panels, Harris said. Many solar companies, meanwhile, have been losing money as they scramble to cut costs as quickly as the prices on their products are falling.
Solyndra, for its part, drew down 99 percent of its $535 million loan guarantee without turning a profit.
Some project developers, bankers and others are wary of newer "thin film" solar technologies like SoloPower's that are less efficient than traditional panels at transforming the sun's light into electricity.
Thin film, a broad term for solar panels that don't use silicon as their raw material, became a darling of investors five years ago when solar-grade silicon prices soared to $500 a kilogram. Thin film makers argued that despite their shortcomings in efficiency, they could deliver far cheaper solar power than their silicon-reliant rivals. Today, however, an influx of capacity from Asia has driven spot prices for polysilicon to about $20 per kg, raising questions about the need to fund alternatives to silicon-based panels.
"SoloPower is going to have to deal with the industry perception right now that thin film is a dying technology," said GTM Research solar analyst MJ Shiao. "A start-up thin film manufacturer makes a lot of developers uneasy."
But SoloPower's Harris disputed that view, saying his company already has more orders than it can fill. "There is a pipeline of projects that are about ready to go that are just waiting for this lightweight module. If you want to put solar on, we're the only choice," he said. "It would be impossible to start a factory today unless you had a unique product."

CHEAP COMPETITION
Like Solyndra, SoloPower's panels use copper indium gallium selenide, or CIGS, as their raw material. CIGS panels have long held the promise of being cheaper than polysilicon-based panels while delivering efficiencies that are higher than other thin film technologies such as cadmium telluride, the raw material used by U.S. solar heavyweight First Solar Inc. The drastic drop in the price of traditional panels over the last few years, however, has kept CIGS manufacturers from delivering on that promise on a commercial scale.
In the last year, CIGS solar companies HelioVolt and Ascent Solar Technologies Inc have sold stakes to South Korean conglomerate SK Group and TFG Radiant Group, respectively. Another, Miasole, has cut staff and said publicly that it is searching for a partner. Rival Nanosolar earlier this month said its chief executive left after just eight months.
Though Solyndra is the best known solar failure of the last year, it was far from the only one. GTM Research estimates that the United States produced 281 megawatts of PV modules in the first half of 2012, compared with 561 MW in the first half of 2011. That's a big reason why a string of manufacturers in both the United States and Europe have closed their doors in the face of competition from increasingly cheap Chinese panels.
First Solar, for example, postponed indefinitely its plans for a second U.S. factory in Arizona because of the weak market conditions. Start-ups are being hit too. Of the four companies that received loan guarantees for photovoltaic solar manufacturing, two - Solyndra and Abound Solar - have filed for bankruptcy. SoloPower and Lexington, Massachusetts-based 1366 Technologies Inc, which received a $150 million loan guarantee, remain. 1366 also has yet to draw down funds from its loan guarantee.
Even the Chinese manufacturers, whose products are the cheapest in the world, are losing money and struggling with ballooning inventories. One of the biggest Chinese solar companies, LDK Solar Co Ltd, said earlier this month that it was looking to raise cash and may sell a strategic stake.
For its part, SoloPower has hired Macquarie Capital to help it explore partnership opportunities. Such a deal could include giving distribution rights to a European or Asian partner in return for a stake in the company. SoloPower is not up for sale, however, Harris said.
In fact, the company could even pursue an initial public offering next year, Cavalier of Hudson Clean Energy Partners said.
"If the capital markets come back next year, I think we will be able to articulate the value that we offer to potential IPO investors," he said.

Related on HuffPost:

State Dept. Blasts CNN For Using Dead Ambassador's Journal

NEW YORK -- The State Department blasted CNN Saturday night for the network's handling of a personal journal belonging to late U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens, which was removed from the site of the deadly Sept. 11 consulate attack.

State Dept. spokesman Philippe Reines said in a statement to The Huffington Post that "given the truth of how this was handled, CNN patting themselves on the back is disgusting."

The Huffington Post contacted CNN Friday afternoon after receiving a tip that it had removed Stevens' journal from the U.S. consulate in Benghazi following the attack that left Stevens and three others dead. CNN did not confirm that information, but later referred HuffPost to Anderson Cooper's on-air acknowledgment during his 8 p.m. Friday show that CNN found Stevens' journal and had used it in their reporting, a fact not previously disclosed.

Shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday, CNN.com posted an un-bylined story explaining that CNN had found the journal four days after the attack "on the floor of the largely unsecured consulate compound where [Stevens] was fatally wounded." The CNN.com story noted that the network notified Stevens' family "within hours after it was discovered," that the personal journal was only used for news "tips" later corroborated by other sources, and that it was then provided to a third party to return to his family. (The Wall Street Journal later revealed an Italian diplomat as the third party).

But the State Dept. has a much different view of what transpired, claiming the network "completely ignored the wishes of the family" in reporting on the contents of Stevens' journal before returning it to them. Reines wrote that CNN "ultimately broke their pledge made to them only hours after they witnessed the return to the United States of Chris's remains."

"Whose first instinct is to remove from a crime scene the diary of a man killed along with three other Americans serving our country, read it, transcribe it, email it around your newsroom for others to read, and only when their curiosity is fully satisfied thinks to call the family or notify the authorities?" Reines asked.

On Saturday night, CNN issued a second statement in its defense, arguing that the network "felt there were issues raised in the journal which required full reporting, which we did," and that "the public had a right to know what CNN had learned from multiple sources about the fears and warnings of a terror threat before the Benghazi attack which are now raising questions about why the State Department didn't do more to protect Ambassador Stevens and other US personnel."

"Perhaps the real question here is why is the State Department now attacking the messenger," read the CNN statement.

Reines, who considers CNN's handling of the journal to be "indefensible," wrote that it's "not a proud episode in CNN's history."

Reines' full statement is published below:

Given the truth of how this was handled, CNN patting themselves on the back is disgusting.

What they're not owning up to is reading and transcribing Chris's diary well before bothering to tell the family or anyone else that they took it from the site of the attack. Or that when they finally did tell them, they completely ignored the wishes of the family, and ultimately broke their pledge made to them only hours after they witnessed the return to the United States of Chris's remains.

Whose first instinct is to remove from a crime scene the diary of a man killed along with three other Americans serving our country, read it, transcribe it, email it around your newsroom for others to read, and only when their curiosity is fully satisfied thinks to call the family or notify the authorities?

When a junior person at CNN called, they didn't say, 'Hello, I know this is a terrible time, but I'm sure you want your son's diary, where do you want it sent?' They instead took the opportunity to ask the family if CNN could report on its contents. Contents known only to Chris Stevens, and those at CNN who had already invaded his privacy.

When the seniormost levels of CNN were finally reached, they needed to be convinced to do the right thing. But not before they took a second shot at convincing the family to let them report on the contents. A family member made it crystal clear directly to CNN that they wanted Chris's diary and would not make any other decisions until then. But that wasn't fast enough for CNN, so they helpfully offered to send the family the transcript they'd already made and passed around, to put a rush on it for their own purposes.

It was then made clear to them, for what must have been the fourth time in the same call, that they wanted to look at it privately, together as a family before making any decisions. Period. CNN finally heard their request enough times that they had to accept it, agreed to abide by the clear wishes of the Stevens family, and pledged not to use the diary or even allude to its existence until hearing back from the family.

But the Stevens family was never given that chance. I guess four days was as long as CNN could control themselves, so they just went ahead and used it. Entirely because they felt like it. Anderson Cooper didn't even bother to offer any other explanation as to why the network broke its promise to the family. And only did so after being contacted by a reporter asking about the diary and their convoluted sourcing.

How do they justify that? They have yet to even try to defend the indefensible. Not a proud episode in CNN's history. I'm sure there are many good people in the CNN newsroom equally appalled by this decision and wondering who above them authorized this course of action.

Also on HuffPost:

• President Barack Obama

  "I strongly condemn the outrageous attack on our diplomatic facility in Benghazi, which took the lives of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Right now, the American people have the families of those we lost in our thoughts and prayers. They exemplified America's commitment to freedom, justice, and partnership with nations and people around the globe, and stand in stark contrast to those who callously took their lives. I have directed my Administration to provide all necessary resources to support the security of our personnel in Libya, and to increase security at our diplomatic posts around the globe. While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants. On a personal note, Chris was a courageous and exemplary representative of the United States. Throughout the Libyan revolution, he selflessly served our country and the Libyan people at our mission in Benghazi. As Ambassador in Tripoli, he has supported Libya's transition to democracy. His legacy will endure wherever human beings reach for liberty and justice. I am profoundly grateful for his service to my Administration, and deeply saddened by this loss. The brave Americans we lost represent the extraordinary service and sacrifices that our civilians make every day around the globe. As we stand united with their families, let us now redouble our own efforts to carry their work forward."

• Mitt Romney

  "The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims -- as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions," the statement read. "The embassy in Cairo put out a statement after their grounds had been breached, protesters were inside the grounds," said Romney at his press conference. "They reiterated that statement after the breach. I think it's a -- a terrible course for America to stand in apology for our values. That instead, when our grounds are being attacked, and being breached, that the first response to the United States must be outrage at the breach of the sovereignty of our nation. And apology for America's values is never the right course." The embassy's statement, however, came before the protests -- not after, as Romney claimed. The embassy did subsequently tweet that it stood by its condemnation of the video, but it also condemned the attacks. When reporters pointed out that the White House disavowed the Cairo embassy's statement, Romney said he agreed with that response. He still said, however, that the embassy was part of Obama's administration, and therefore the president was ultimately responsible. "It's their administration," said Romney. "Their administration spoke. The president takes responsibility not just for the words that come his mouth but also from the words of his ambassadors, from his administration, from his embassies, from his State Department. They clearly sent mixed messages to the world, and the statement that came from the administration, and the embassy is the administration."

• Secretary Of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

  "It is with profound sadness that I share the news of the death of four American personnel in Benghazi, Libya, yesterday. Among them were United States Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith. We are still making next of kin notifications for the other two individuals. Our hearts go out to all their families and colleagues. A 21-year veteran of the Foreign Service, Ambassador Stevens died last night from injuries he sustained in the attack on our office in Benghazi. I had the privilege of swearing in Chris for his post in Libya only a few months ago. He spoke eloquently about his passion for service, for diplomacy and for the Libyan people. This assignment was only the latest in his more than two decades of dedication to advancing closer ties with the people of the Middle East and North Africa, which began as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco. As the conflict in Libya unfolded, Chris was one of the first Americans on the ground in Benghazi. He risked his own life to lend the Libyan people a helping hand to build the foundation for a new, free nation. He spent every day since helping to finish the work that he started. Chris was committed to advancing America's values and interests, even when that meant putting himself in danger. Sean Smith was a husband and a father of two, who joined the Department ten years ago. Like Chris, Sean was one of our best. Prior to arriving in Benghazi, he served in Baghdad, Pretoria, Montreal and most recently The Hague. All the Americans we lost in yesterday's attacks made the ultimate sacrifice. We condemn this vicious and violent attack that took their lives, which they had committed to helping the Libyan people reach for a better future. America's diplomats and development experts stand on the front lines every day for our country. We are honored by the service of each and every one of them."

• Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.)

  "Less than 24 hours after our nation remembered the heinous attacks of September 11, 2001, Americans find their sovereign soil attacked again as more American lives are lost at the hands of intolerant, barbaric, radical Muslims. United States Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Smith, and several embassy staff were murdered late yesterday when suspected religious extremists stormed the United States Consulate in Benghazi. This morning, my condolences and prayers go out to the families of the victims. Americans need to question whether the deaths of these innocent patriots could have been avoided. The Obama Administration touted the Arab Spring as an awakening of freedom, which we now see is a nightmare of Islamism. Even more concerning, is the initial response to these attacks last night from the embassy officials of the Obama Administration was to apologize for a Facebook video that supposedly hurt Muslim feelings. President Obama's policy of appeasement towards the Islamic world has manifested itself into a specter of unconscionable hatred. How anyone can believe this President is strong on national security and foreign policy is beyond my comprehension. President Obama has clearly surpassed former President Jimmy Carter and his actions during the Iranian Embassy crisis, as the weakest and most ineffective person to ever occupy the White House."

• Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)

  "We learned yesterday, and are receiving reports this morning, of the attacks against the United States Embassy in Cairo and the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. "In Benghazi our Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed in service to our nation. Our thoughts and sympathy today are with the families of these brave Americans. "These attacks remind us of the sacrifices made on a daily basis by foreign service officers, diplomatic security personnel, and our Marine Security Guards. "I join my colleagues in strongly condemning the murder of these innocent Americans. And I support employing every available tool at our disposal to ensure the safety of Americans overseas and to hunt down those responsible for these attacks. "Yesterday we commemorated the anniversary of the attacks of September 11, and today we are reminded that brave Americans serve us every day at the risk of their own lives. We honor the Americans we lost in Libya, and we will stand united in our response. "Among the things we can all agree on in Washington is that attacks on the U.S. and its representatives will be met with resolve, and that America's presence and defense of our national interests across the globe will not be deterred by the acts of violent extremists."

• Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)

  "I was deeply disturbed and saddened to learn of the deaths of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other American personnel in an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya. I join President Obama in condemning these senseless acts of violence. And my thoughts are with the families of those who were killed in this horrific attack. "It is too often forgotten that American diplomats risk their lives on a daily basis. Our diplomatic corps is filled with admirable and dedicated public servants. And the four Americans who lost their lives yesterday exemplified the courage and sacrifice that happens every day at diplomatic posts across the globe. "I have traveled to many of America's embassies abroad, and I have always been impressed by and grateful for the leadership and commitment of America's ambassadors and State Department personnel. Ambassador Stevens was a career Foreign Service officer and a former Peace Corps volunteer, who spent his life giving of his time and his talents to promote democracy and American values. "I support President Obama's directive to increase security at our diplomatic posts around the world, and to provide whatever resources necessary to keep our personnel in Libya safe. And I will continue to the monitor the situation as we learn more about these terrible events."

• Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.)

  "I join with President Obama and other Americans in condemning these horrible acts against our public servants, and offer my deepest condolences to the families that lost loved ones. "At at a time when we should be standing together against these senseless acts of violence, Mitt Romney offered an atrocious political response that undermines our unity in the face of threats to Americans around the world."

• Elizabeth Warren

  "This senseless attack on our consulate in Libya is contemptible. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of those whose lives were lost. Right now, we should all honor the courage, dedication, and sacrifice of Ambassador Chris Stevens and the other Americans who gave their lives in the service of our country."

• Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)

  U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) today released the following joint statement regarding the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya yesterday. "We are anguished and outraged by the death of four citizens of the United States, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, during an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. Our thoughts and prayers go out to their families. "Chris was one of America's finest and bravest diplomats, and also someone we considered a friend. In the midst of last year's uprising in Libya, Chris traveled at great personal risk to Benghazi to represent the country he loved as the U.S. envoy to the Libyan opposition. He advanced American interests and values in Libya and stood with the Libyan people throughout their struggle for freedom and during the challenging times that followed. His death at the hands of extremists is a tragic and awful loss for the people of both the United States and Libya. "There is still much we do not know about what happened in Benghazi yesterday. What is clear, however, is that the attackers must be apprehended and punished. We appreciate that senior Libyan leaders have condemned these cowardly attacks, and we now look to the Libyan government to ensure that the perpetrators are swiftly brought to justice, and that U.S. diplomats are protected. We have confidence that our own government will provide all necessary assistance to this end. "Yesterday's attack is a tragic and terrible reminder that - despite the hopes of the Arab Spring - the forces of violent extremism in the Middle East are far from defeated, and that the revolutions inspired by millions of people who dream of freedom and democracy can still be hijacked by small groups of violent extremists who are eager to kill to advance their evil ideology. "Despite this horrific attack, we cannot give in to the temptation to believe that our support for the democratic aspirations of people in Libya, Egypt, and elsewhere in the broader Middle East is naive or mistaken. We cannot resign ourselves to the false belief that the Arab Spring is doomed to be defined not by the desire for democracy and freedom that has inspired millions of people to peaceful action, but by the dark fanaticism of terrorists. "To follow this misguided path would not only be a victory for the extremists and their associates, but a betrayal of everything for which Chris Stevens and his colleagues stood and gave their lives. In short, it would be a betrayal of our own best ideals as Americans and our own enduring interest in using our great influence to support the overwhelming majority of people in the Middle East who want to be free from the kinds of murderers and terrorists who killed our people yesterday in Benghazi."

• Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus

• Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah)

• Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)

• Richard Burr (R-N.C.)

• Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.)

• Mark Udall

• Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)

• Congressman Joe Baca

• Rep. Keith Ellison

• Gregory Meeks

• John Barrow

• Steny Hoyer

• Ed Markey

• Mike Michaud

• Jeff Fortenberry

• Kenny Marchant

• Tom Price

• Eric Cantor

• Mike Pence

• Peter Roskam

• Senator Roy Blunt

• John Shimkus

• Speaker John Boehner

• Gregg Harper

• Pete Hoekstra

• RepKevinBrady

• Randy Forbes

• Ileana Ros-Lehtinen

• Michael Burgess, MD

• U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar

• Rep. Adam Smith

• Steve Israel

• Albio Sires

• Joe Barton

• Chris Coons

  "I join President Obama, Secretary Clinton and my colleagues in the Senate in strongly condemning the horrific attack targeting American U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement. "My heart goes out to the families of Ambassador Stevens and the other brave Americans who were killed in this senseless act of violence. They were committed public servants who courageously risked theirlives supporting the Libyan people and political transition. The service ofthese brave Americans epitomizes the best of our values, and their sacrifice will not be forgotten."

• Glenn Nye

• Mike Doyle

• Senator John Boozman

• Darrell Issa

• Frank Pallone

• Rep. Pete King

• Jeff Flake

Mitt Romney Fundraising Efforts Focus On California

DEL MAR, Calif. ' Facing criticism that he's too focused on raising campaign cash, Mitt Romney is about to launch what advisers call an "intense battleground state schedule." But on Saturday, the Republican presidential nominee focused exclusively on courting donors in a state that hasn't supported a Republican presidential candidate in almost a quarter century.

Speaking to roughly 650 supporters gathered at Grand Del Mar, a luxury hotel north of San Diego, Romney said his campaign schedule has been hectic.

"I'm not even going to be able to go home today," he said of his second home in nearby La Jolla. "We're just coming to town to see you and keep the campaign going. It's nonstop."

Later at fundraising event in the Los Angeles-area, Romney criticized President Barack Obama for failing to "fix Washington."

"The truth is, he has proven he cannot fix Washington from the inside," Romney said at an event at the Beverly Hilton Hotel that his campaign said raised about $6 million.

The former Massachusetts governor's schedule, particularly his focus on fundraising over campaigning in battleground states with voters, has drawn criticism from some Republicans who fear the campaign is moving in the wrong direction less than seven weeks before Election Day. President Barack Obama on Saturday campaigned in Wisconsin, which has emerged as a swing state, where he also raised money. Polls suggest that Obama has a narrow lead in several key states.

Romney adviser Kevin Madden defended the fundraising focus, while highlighting a shift in the coming days

"We're here raising the resources we're going to need to compete in all those battleground states through Election Day," Madden said. "That's also been matched with a really intense battle ground state schedule that's going to be coming up starting Sunday night. We're keeping very busy."

Over the last week, Romney has attended five public events and at least a dozen fundraisers.

Cognizant of the criticism, his campaign added a Colorado rally to his Sunday night schedule ahead of a three-day bus tour in Ohio. He'll also campaign in Virginia next week. All three states are considered highly competitive.

The shift comes as Romney works to get his campaign back on track.

Already facing reports of campaign infighting, Romney suffered another setback early in the week after his remarks surfaced in an unauthorized video declaring that almost half of Americans are dependent upon government and believe they are victims. On Friday, Romney released his 2011 tax returns showing income of $13.6 million, largely from investment income.

Romney seemed to be trying to move past his video-taped remarks on Saturday.

"This is a tough time," he told donors. "These are our brothers and sisters. These are not statistics. These are people. The president's policies -- these big-government, big-tax monolithic policies -- are not working."

Earlier in the week, conservative columnist Peggy Noonan called Romney's campaign "incompetent."

"Romney doesn't seem to be out there campaigning enough. He seems_in this he is exactly like the president_to always be disappearing into fund-raisers, and not having enough big public events," wrote the former Ronald Reagan speechwriter.

Romney's California fundraising chairman sought to ease donors' concerns that the GOP nominee's campaign was headed in the wrong direction. Thomas Tellefsen told the crowd at the Beverly Hilton he understood they are "probably feeling a bit worried" and frustrated by coverage of the 2012 race.

"I wanted to share some thoughts with you tonight. They can provide you with some comfort," he said. "Polls are not elections. The voters have not yet spoken."

Romney, who would be among the wealthiest presidents ever elected, has struggled to shed the image of an out-of-touch millionaire.

At the Saturday fundraiser in the San Diego-area, where donors paid as much as $25,000 to attend, Romney did little to help that image. He told the audience he spent the night before raising money at a San Francisco area mansion.

"Property up there is, I'm sure, very, very expensive. And we got to her driveway ' it was at least a mile long, up and up, it's like, Oh my goodness, how in the world?" Romney said. "And then we came to the home, and it was like San Simeon, you know, the Hearst castle. It was this beautiful home with gardens, manicured gardens, and a pool and a topiary and so forth."

Romney charged that the president is taking America on a "pathway to become like Europe," adding a jab at his audience's home state.

"Europe doesn't work there. It's never going to work here," Romney said. "It's even possible we could be on a pathway to become California ' I don't want that either."

He later said he was joking.

And before promising that he was done raising money in the San Diego area, Romney encouraged his California donors to help him reach voters in more competitive states.

"I need you to find someone who voted for Barack Obama, maybe in a swing state, and give him a call, and tell him to go to the polls and support this effort," he said.

Also on HuffPost:

• With A Little Help From My Friends (Joe Cocker)

  <strong><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/28/mitt-romney-will-not-repu_n_1551540.html" target="_hplink">(May 28, 2012) --</a></strong> Despite a resurgence of <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/05/25/mitt-romney-s-new-bff-donald-trump.html" target="_hplink">Donald Trump's birther claims</a>, Romney refused to repudiate the billionaire, who has been helping with his 2012 campaign efforts. "You know, I don't agree with all the people who support me ... I need to get 50.1 percent or more and I'm appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people," Romney said. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

• Who Let The Dogs Out (Baha Men)

  <strong><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/16/mitt-romney-seamus_n_1429925.html" target="_hplink">(April 16, 2012) -- </a></strong> In an interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer, Romney discussed the political fallout over strapping his dog Seamus to a car roof. He admits that he probably would not do it again. (Handout)

• It's The End Of The World As We Know It (R.E.M.)

  <strong><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/04/mitt-romney-medicare-president-obama_n_1403267.html" target="_hplink">WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 4, 2012) --</a></strong> Speaking before the Newspaper Association of America, Romney attacked Barack Obama on his health record, claiming the president "has taken a series of steps that end Medicare as we know it." (Photo: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)

• For The Love Of Money (The O'Jays)

  <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/14/mitt-romney-i-made-a-lot-of-money_n_1345516.html" target="_hplink"><strong>NEW YORK, N.Y. (March 14, 2012) -- </strong></a> Romney became testy on Fox News while discussing his appeal to lower-income voters. On the same day, Occupy Wall Street protesters staged a demonstration outside Mitt's Waldorf Astoria hotel fundraiser. (Photo: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images)

• People Are Strange (The Doors)

  <strong><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/09/mitt-romney-south_n_1334478.html" target="_hplink">PASCAGOULA, Miss. (March 9, 2012) --</a></strong> While on the trail in Alabama and Mississippi, Romney got in touch with his Southern side, learning how to say "y'all" and liking his grits. With those new experiences in hand, he admitted that "strange things are happening to me." (Photo: AP/Evan Vucci)

• Pink Cadillac (Bruce Springsteen)

  <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/24/mitt-romney-cadillac_n_1299740.html" target="_hplink"><strong>DETROIT, Mich. (Feb. 24, 2012) -- </strong></a> While speaking before the Detroit Economic Club at Ford Field, Romney listed not two, not three, but four American-made cars that he and his wife, Ann, owned. Among the vehicles: "a couple of Cadillacs." (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

• It's The Hard-Knock Life (Annie & The Orphans)

  <strong><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/01/mitt-romney-very-poor_n_1246557.html" target="_hplink">TAMPA, Fla. (Feb. 1, 2012) --</a></strong> In an interview with CNN, Romney noted that he is "not concerned about the very poor," citing the social safety net for that segment of the populace. (Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

• America The Beautiful

  <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/31/mitt-romney-america-the-beautiful-_n_1243908.html" target="_hplink"><strong>THE VILLAGES, Fla. (Jan. 31, 2012) --</strong></a> On the eve of Florida's primary, Romney led his supporters in a singing of the patriotic song. (Photo: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images)

• Successful (Drake, Lil Wayne)

  <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/19/mitt-romney-tax-returns_n_1217708.html" target="_hplink"> <strong>CHARLESTON, S.C. (Jan. 19, 2012) -- </strong></a> During CNN's GOP debate, Romney refused to commit to disclosing his tax returns, offering no apologies for his success. (Photo: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images)

• Bye Bye Bye ('N Sync)

  <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/09/mitt-romney-i-like-being-able-to-fire-people_n_1194115.html" target="_hplink"><strong>NASHUA, N.H. (Jan. 9, 2012) -- </strong></a> In a speech about insurance options, Romney tells audience members, "I like being able to fire people who provide services to me." (Photo:AP/Charles Dharapak)

• Don't Know Why (Norah Jones)

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Michelle Obama Reveals Her Pick For 'Movement Of Our Era'

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Mark R. Kennedy: What Romney's Done Wrong (and How He Can Fix It)

The Romney campaign has made three fundamental missteps that it must overcome if Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is to prevail over President Obama this November. For the first time since I declared the U.S. presidential race a Jump Ball four months ago, we are seeing a candidate gaining a slight edge in the polls.

Obama's current lead is by no means definitive. Even though the campaign is fewer than seven weeks away, in political terms, this is a couple of lifetimes. Time remains to correct course, but the Romney campaign must return to a path that fills it sails for the final leg of the race in order to cross the finish line first.

Here are Romney's three missteps:

1. Taking a Small-Field Focus to a Big Field Contest. There is a difference between the U.S. presidential race and nearly any other political contest. Even though races for governor occupy the front pages of local papers for an extended duration, national media does not constantly reinforce them. And even though presidential primary contest dominate headlines in both local and national press, they do so for only a transient time. Presidential races are a prolonged state-national-international echo chamber unlike anything Romney has experienced.

Successful campaign approaches to small-field (congressional and statewide contests) and big-field (presidential) contests are fundamentally different. The Romney campaign has been following the classic small-field game: Raise lots of money and save it to spend at the end of the campaign. This fails in a big field contest because with more attention, there is more time spent on what they call in literature or films "character development." Whether candidates would be fun to have a beer with is just as important as to where they stand on issues in presidential campaigns.

As I discussed in Job 1 for Romney: Tell Why He Cares, it was a mistake for Romney to wait until the convention to tell his life story in a way that connects to the everyday lives of average Americans. It was an unthinkable mistake for the Romney campaign to yield the airwaves to the Obama campaign during the conventions. Romney told his story in a compelling way at the convention, but it was not reinforced on the airwaves as the Obama campaign significantly outspent Romney on advertising during this period.

By not cementing his life story in the mind of voters, Romney left a vacancy that the Obama campaign is diligently working to fill by characterizing Romney as uncaring. One of my supporters told me, "If you get a reputation as an early riser, you can sleep to noon every day." Giving the Obama campaign the opportunity to define Romney's reputation as uncaring leaves him especially vulnerable to missteps -- including his recent comments about the 47 percent. If Republican senatorial candidates in key swing states feel compelled to start distancing themselves from Romney, the negative consequences of the early misstep will be multiplied.

2. Lack of Message Discipline. As I have also maintained for some time, Romney's path to victory demands message discipline. Despite the fact that conservatives want him to talk about a range of issues, the path to victory requires a narrow focus on issues where Romney has a credible edge -- most importantly jobs and the economy. Yet Romney has repeatedly gotten into trouble due to a lack of message discipline (consider his Libya and his 47 percent comments). Not only did each of these comments cause voters to question Romney's judgment, they also have distracted from Romney's core message: Essentially, that you and your kids are more likely to find rewarding work with Romney as your president.

3. Small Circle Instead of a Big Circle of Trust. Running for U.S. president requires the need to make sound judgment on issues with a range and complexity unmatched by any other job. This requires candidates to have a wide array of diverse experts to bring into a circle of trust. While the Republican National Convention did a good job of bringing forth people who related Romney's caring side in a compelling way, it also highlighted the fact that for much of his life, Romney has lived within a small circle of trusted colleagues -- fellow members of his LDS Church, partners at Bain Capital, and cabinet members while he was governor of Massachusetts.

Romney's early attack on Obama's handling of the Libyan Embassy shooting reflected campaign reflexes, not seasoned foreign policy instincts. Balancing the tension between the simultaneous conflicting needs for wide input and quick decisions is a challenge for every presidential candidate. It is one that Romney must quickly address as we head into debate season.

The good news for Romney is that his current campaign woes are largely from self-inflicted wounds. It remains in his hands to chart a path to victory.

Mark R. Kennedy leads George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management and is Chairman of the Economic Club of Minnesota. He previously served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and was Senior Vice President and Treasurer of Federated Department Stores (now Macy's).

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Court Rules Pharmacists With Religious Objections Not Required To Sell 'Morning After Pills'

CHICAGO, Sept 21 (Reuters) - An Illinois appellate court Friday affirmed a lower court finding that the state cannot force pharmacies and pharmacists to sell emergency contraceptives - also known as "morning after pills" - if they have religious objections.
In 2005, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich mandated that all pharmacists and pharmacies sell "Plan B," the brand name for a drug designed to prevent pregnancy following unprotected sex or a known or suspected contraceptive failure if taken within 72 hours.
Some anti-abortion advocates object to the drugs, which work by preventing the release of an egg, preventing fertilization or stopping a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterus.
In 2011, an Illinois judge entered an injunction against the rule, finding no evidence that the drugs had ever been denied on religious grounds, and that the law was not neutral since it was designed to target religious objectors.
The Illinois appellate court agreed that the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act protects pharmacists' decision not to dispense the contraceptives due to their beliefs.
"This decision is a great victory for religious freedom," said Mark Rienzi, senior counsel for the Becket Fund, quoted in a statement about the decision.
Earlier this year, a federal court in Washington struck down a similar state rule, according to the Becket Fund, a non-profit law firm.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, which had filed an amicus brief on behalf of the state, expressed dismay at the court's decision.
"We are dismayed that the court expressly refused to consider the interests of women who are seeking lawful prescription medication and essentially held that the religious practice of individuals trumps women's health care," said ACLU spokesman Ed Yohnka. "We think the court could not be more wrong."
A spokesperson for Illinois Governor Pat Quinn was not immediately available for comment. (Reporting By Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Tim Gaynor)

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'It Diminishes Him': Republicans Grimace As Mitt Plays Two Roles

WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney seems to be both candidate and campaign CEO these days, and some Republicans say he's trying to do too much.

He reviews TV ads and polling data on an iPad. He writes many of his speeches. He's often talking like a consultant.

One instance of that gave him trouble last week, when a secretly taped speech to donors was posted online just as polls show him narrowly trailing President Barack Obama.

"Here are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them," Romney said at the May fundraiser. "And so my job is not to worry about those people ' I'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

Democrats accused Romney of writing off half of the country. The former Massachusetts governor insisted he was just talking about the polls and trying to make the point that 47 percent of people probably will support the Democratic incumbent, no matter what their reasons.

Some Republicans grimaced.

They say Romney's explanation was evidence of a big problem with his campaign: The nominee simply is taking on too many duties. Romney's job is to inspire voters, they say, and not manage every detail of his campaign.

"He was talking about the electorate as if it were a ledger sheet," said Alex Castellanos, a Republican strategist who worked closely with Romney on his 2008 presidential campaign. "It diminishes him."

More broadly, the episode illustrated Romney's leadership style, which he's honed over decades in the private sector, where he was an actual CEO. It also provided a look at how he might lead the country as president.

Romney spokesman Kevin Madden defended Romney's approach.

"It's his campaign," Madden said. "On a campaign like this, everything is derived from the candidate's vision, and the reason they are offering their leadership to the American people."

During three decades in private business, Romney made big money turning around struggling companies with hands-on leadership and a laser-like focus on the smallest details.

Romney insists all is well with his campaign despite several rocky weeks.

"It doesn't need a turnaround. We've got a campaign which is tied with an incumbent president to the United States," Romney told CBS' "60 Minutes" for an interview set to air Sunday.

Like most presidential candidates, Romney keeps a close team of aides and advisers. They describe campaign decision-making at the highest levels as collaborative discussion where advisers have the chance to offer opinions. Romney does delegate responsibility. For example, he put longtime aide Beth Myers in charge of the search for a running mate.

But he also is directly involved with many parts of the campaign.

He likes to watch the TV ads before they go on the air. He reviewed Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan's financial information before selecting him for the No. 2 spot. He's rarely separated from chief strategist Stuart Stevens. They often spend hours conversing and poking at an iPad on the campaign's charter plane. If Romney's not with Stevens, he's often calling him.

Then there's the political jargon Romney has adopted.

Why did Romney want support from Donald Trump even though the real estate mogul pushed debunked theories about Obama's birth certificate?

"I need to get 50.1 percent or more and I'm appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people," Romney said earlier this year.

Why wasn't he releasing more than two years of tax returns?

"In political environment that exists today, the opposition research of the Obama campaign is looking for anything they can use to distract from the failure of the president to reignite our economy," Romney said.

It's all too much for Peggy Noonan, a conservative columnist and former speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan, who last week wrote in her column: "The candidate can't run the show. He can't be the CEO of the campaign and be the candidate."

"The candidate is out there every day standing for things, fighting for a hearing, trying to get the American people to listen, agree and follow," Noonan wrote Friday. "The candidate cannot oversee strategy, statements, speechwriting, ads. He shouldn't be debating what statistic to put on slide 4 of the PowerPoint presentation."

Romney publicly shrugs off such talk. He has embraced his CEO skills, saying he would use a hands-on model to govern the country and follow the example set by his father, George Romney, who served as governor of Michigan.

Former business colleagues say that's how Romney has operated his whole career.

As CEO of Bain Capital, Romney paid careful attention to the companies he invested in and often possessed a deep knowledge of the numeric requirements for success. Detail was what made Bain different from other private equity firms in the first place. Instead of just investing money, Bain would delve deep into each company, getting to know the ins and outs of its business almost better than the company itself did.

Bain Capital carefully avoided what company veterans call "imponderables" ' enterprises where success hinged on doing something that couldn't really be estimated. A biotechnology firm working on a cancer cure, for example, could offer a high payoff, but it was difficult to assess just how likely it was that the research would ever succeed. Instead, the companies were often old manufacturing enterprises or companies that sell everyday products.

Presidents have to solve those types of intractable problems.

"I've seen how the issues that come across a president's desk are always the hard ones," first lady Michelle Obama said recently. "The problems where no amount of data or numbers will get you to the right answer."

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Associated Press writer Phillip Elliott contributed to this report.

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