The Reaction: This Just In! Romney backs McCain in wanting to "Shoot Obama"

Says Consulted Sons About Using Deadly Force; Hopes Opportunity Comes Before Primaries

By J. Thomas Duffy

Jumping sharks and strapping dogs to the roof of the family car just don't seem quite enough.

For the second straight day, Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney brought up the name of a Democratic rival, this time, saying he would back fellow candidate John McCain in "shooting Barack Obama".

Romney was following up on a McCain appearance yesterday, at the Thompson Center Arms in Rochester, New Hampshire, where the Arizona Senator was pandering for support, telling workers at the small arms factory that "I will follow Osama Bin Laden to the gates of hell and I will shoot him with your products."

Romney, not wanting to stumble again on using force, as he did in the Republican debate last week, quickly supported his rival, and attempted to top him, saying "I wouldn't wait to get to the Gates of Hell, I would go to the ends-of-the-earth to shoot Barack Obama."

Romney then, jokingly, added "I just hope it the opportunity comes before the primaries."

Just yesterday, Romney, speaking at a Chamber of Commerce meeting in Greenwood, South Carolina, and discussing the latest audio tape release of the still-on-the-loose Al Qaeda leader, told a stunned audience that "Actually, just look at what Osam - Barack Obama - said just yesterday. Barack Obama, calling on radicals, jihadists of all different types, to come together in Iraq. That is the battlefield ..."

Romney spokesman Kevin Madden brushed off the name stumble, highlighting it was the first time, since the debate, that Romney could reach out for "good advice" from his sons.

"Notice," Madden asked the assembled media, "that the Governor didn't say he would consult with lawyers before shooting Obama? Notice how decisive he was ... How he didn't hesitate to say he would use deadly force ... He'll be just as strong, just as quick, when he is the President."

When alerted to Romney's comments, Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton sighed.

"That means," said a weary Burton, "that we'll have to go out and get our own body armor ... If we wait for this administration to provide it ... Well, I don't want to think about that."

Surprisingly, Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey injected himself into the Romney gaffe.

When asked by reporters to comment on one candidate shooting another candidate, Mukasey paused before answering, and then offered that "If it amounts to shooting, then it is not Constitutional... Unless it's the President doing the shooting."

McCain, after hearing Romney's remarks snapped that Romney's sons "should be thrown out of the country."

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