Santorum wants promises from Romney before backing

FILE - In this April 2, 2012, file photo, then Republican presidential candidate former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum speaks in Shawano, Wis. Some of Mitt Romney?s former foes have yet to endorse him as the Republicans? presidential nominee. Santorum campaigned hard against Romney and the health care overhaul he signed into law as Massachusetts governor. Conservatives cast it as a precursor to Democrats? national plan and Romney has vowed to repeal it. Santorum advisers say he will not back Romney until he is convinced that Romney is committed to upending it, as well as ensuring conservatives? views are represented in the party?s platform and in Romney?s campaign. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

FILE - In this April 2, 2012, file photo, then Republican presidential candidate former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum speaks in Shawano, Wis. Some of Mitt Romney?s former foes have yet to endorse him as the Republicans? presidential nominee. Santorum campaigned hard against Romney and the health care overhaul he signed into law as Massachusetts governor. Conservatives cast it as a precursor to Democrats? national plan and Romney has vowed to repeal it. Santorum advisers say he will not back Romney until he is convinced that Romney is committed to upending it, as well as ensuring conservatives? views are represented in the party?s platform and in Romney?s campaign. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks in Cramerton, N.C., Wednesday, April 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

FILE - In this April 5, 2012, file photo, Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron?Paul, R-Texas, gestures while speaking at the University of California at Berkeley, Calif. Some of Mitt Romney?s former foes have yet to endorse him as the Republicans? presidential nominee. The congressman from Texas is still in the race and hasn?t yet recognized Romney as the party?s nominee. He is pushing a libertarian message of ending the Federal Reserve, returning the country?s currency to the gold standard and reducing the United States? involvement around the globe. Romney disagrees with those positions, likely precluding an endorsement from Paul. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Rick Santorum wants to ensure the GOP's policy platform represents conservatives' interests. Newt Gingrich wants help retiring his campaign debt and repairing his reputation.

Both Republicans are expected to endorse their former rival Mitt Romney ? and signal to their backers to fall in line behind the party's presumptive nominee ? but each wants assurances that Romney will deliver for them. Neither is rushing toward the task.

Meanwhile, it doesn't appear that Rep. Ron Paul of Texas is going to go that way. Paul is still in the race and hasn't yet recognized Romney as the party's nominee. The tea party favorite and former Libertarian presidential nominee seems unlikely to endorse given deep differences with Romney on economic and foreign policy issues.

Romney plans to meet Santorum on Friday and Gingrich plans to endorse him this week, an end-of-primary dance that happens every four years once the party settles on a nominee.

Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, quit the race April 10 but has stopped short of publicly embracing Romney as the GOP's standard bearer after a bitter primary season that featured Santorum calling Romney "the worst Republican in the country" to run against Obama.

Not long after, Santorum was telling CNN's Piers Morgan about Romney, "It's very clear that he's going to be the Republican nominee and I'm going to be for the Republican nominee and we're going to do everything we can to defeat Barack Obama." Morgan could not goad him into a proper endorsement.

Gingrich all but bowed out last week, saying: "It's clear Romney is the nominee and the focus should be on defeating Obama. We should not focus on defeating ourselves."

He plans to officially end his campaign in the coming days and endorse Romney.

Romney, for his part, has been working to bring the party together after a bruising primary season, and nods from Santorum and Gingrich could help mend those wounds. Both Santorum and Gingrich have fervent followings among conservatives who make up the base of the party and who generally view Romney skeptically because of his positions on a host of issues.

Romney has changed his position on bedrock issues such as abortion and gay rights. He supported the 2008 Wall Street bailout that angered conservatives and paved the way for the rise of the tea party. And he signed a health care overhaul as governor that provided the groundwork for Democrats' national law that requires all Americans to buy insurance or face a fine. Romney's health care overhaul in Massachusetts required health care coverage.

That's the primary issue Santorum plans to discuss Friday when he meets privately with Romney.

"We want to make sure he doesn't replace it with any kind of mandate," Santorum adviser Hogan Gidley said. He added, "Rick just wants to have a candid, open conversation about making sure the folks in the 11 states that voted for him, and the conservative movement, have a voice in the Romney campaign."

Advisers caution that an endorsement ? or a public appearance for that matter ? is unlikely to immediately follow Santorum's private meeting with Romney.

Santorum is in no rush to rally to Romney's side. People close to Santorum said deep resentment remains between the men. But he also recognizes he risks looking like a sore loser and is expected to eventually support Romney.

Even so, key members of Santorum's team have rallied behind Romney in recent weeks. Mike Biundo, Santorum's former campaign manager, signed on with the Romney campaign in Boston to lead outreach to conservatives. Foster Friess, the driving force behind a pro-Santorum super PAC that kept his presidential ambitions afloat, has agreed to rejoin Romney's camp.

For Santorum, there are political considerations if he is to keep the door open to a future presidential run. He has tremendous sway among conservatives, and is mindful of his personal political brand. Embracing a candidate whom some conservatives don't trust could backfire in the long run because many of Santorum's supporters voted for him in hopes of preventing Romney from winning.

So, people close to Santorum said, he wants assurances from Romney that the party's platform would represent conservatives' interests, and that Romney would govern as a conservative.

Unlike Gingrich, Santorum also doesn't need Romney's help to retire campaign debt.

Gingrich has reported more than $4.5 million in debt. He is looking for other quick ways to pay off vendors and has rented out his e-mail lists to private businesses.

A better option would be a nod from Romney to his supporters that it's time to help the one-time foe, much as he did for former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who bowed out last summer and locked arms with his rival. Romney thanked him with a check for $2,500 ? the maximum personal donation allowed ? as did at least 12 other family members.

Gingrich also leaves the GOP campaign with his reputation battered. He is looking to repair his standing as one of the party's intellectual heavyweights. Romney, now the party's leader, could afford him that platform.

But Gingrich hasn't yet committed to a joint appearance with Romney. He might just do it on his own and be done with it. Understated endorsements have been the norm this year.

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced he was backing Romney in a written statement, and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman announced his withdrawal from the race and endorsement of Romney without Romney at his side.

Associated Press

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Use Personalized Golf Gear for Business or Personal Use

There are a lot of people in the United States and around the world that play golf. This sport is internationally recognized, and no matter where you go the rules are the same. In some countries, such as Germany, they take the game of golf so seriously that you must get special licensing in order to play. Fortunately, most countries allow you to play regardless of your skill level. If you enjoy playing golf, or if you play golf for the express purpose of communicating with clients or even your boss, you might want to consider getting a personalized golf club in your bag to use while you play.

If you?re express purpose for playing golf is business, then you might want to consider buying promotional putters. A promotional putter is a putter that has the name of your business on it, your slogan, your motto and so on. While this is an expensive item for a promotional product, if you have a high-end business that provides client services this kind of gift will be very impressive to your clients and potential clients who play golf. You can design a specific putter or you can choose from premade designs from the place you make your purchase.

If you want to take everything to the next level when it comes to personalized golf paraphernalia, then you?ll want to consider a custom putter. You can do virtually anything that you won?t with custom putter. If you want to create a putter for your best client you can include their business information on the putter or the client?s name. If you?re a big fan of a specific sports team then you can create a putter that glorifies the team that you love so much. Essentially, you are only limited by your imagination when you?re creating your own custom putter.

Having personalized golf supplies has an additional benefit to a promotional one. When you personalize your golf balls for example, when you hit a ball astray you?ll have no problem identifying which one is yours. In addition, you can personalize golf shirts and hats with your organization or business name and be a walking promotion if you?d like. No matter what tack you take, you?ll find that there are many benefits to personalized golf gear.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 30th, 2012 at 2:00 am and is filed under recreation. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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U.S. official acknowledges drone strikes, civilian deaths

Thir Khan / AFP-Getty Images file

Pakistani tribesmen pray for the victims of a missile strike in Miranshah, Pakistan, on Feb. 15, 2009, after a suspected U.S. drone blasted a Taliban training camp, killing at least 27 people, according to Pakistani security officials said.

By Michael IsikoffNBC News

White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan on Monday spoke openly -- and at great length -- about what has long been one of the government?s most controversial official secrets:? the use of remotely piloted drones to kill suspected terrorists.

In doing so, he became the first U.S. government official to acknowledge that the drone strikes sometimes kill innocent people, though he characterized such deaths as? ?exceedingly rare.? But a new analysis by an independent Washington think tank estimates that more than 300 civilians have been killed by drones since President Barack Obama took office.

In a major speech on the anniversary of Osama bin Laden?s death during a raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan, by U.S. Navy SEALs, Brennan proclaimed that al-Qaida is now "on the path to its destruction."? But the headline was what he had to say about the drone program ? long a forbidden subject for senior U.S. officials ?? and how the U.S. government uses it.

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?The United States conducts targeted strikes against specific al-Qaida terrorists, sometimes using remotely piloted aircraft, often referred to publicly as drones,? said Brennan, in his speech at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a Washington, D.C., foreign policy think tank.??

While it has been openly reported in the press for years, the use by the CIA of pilotless drones to kill members of al-Qaida has long been officially classified,? prompting government officials to talk obliquely about ?lethal operations? and ?removal? of terrorists. They have done so even as Obama has dramatically escalated the number of such attacks and made them the central component of the administration?s counterterrorism efforts.

Saul Loeb / Getty Images

White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan in a May 2, 2011, file photo.

One U.S. intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told NBC News that the speech represents ?a pretty big sea change for us? in terms of what officials will now be permitted to talk about. But the official said that while Brennan?s speech had been carefully vetted throughout the U.S. intelligence and national security community, there had been no formal declassification of the drone program. ?The president can declassify anything he wants,? said the official, adding that Brennan ? as the representative of the president ? can speak about anything his boss wants him to discuss.? ?

Under Obama, there have been an estimated 250 drone strikes in northwest Pakistan that have killed as many as 2,345 people, according to an analysis by the New America Foundation, a Washington think tank that closely tracks the program. Such strikes have generated a storm of protest in Pakistan and stepped up demands by the Pakistani government to halt them.???

In what he described as an effort to be more open with the American people, Brennan on Monday described an elaborate process under which senior government officials select targets for drone strikes. They must first determine whether a prospective target is a bona fide member of al-Qaida or ?associated forces? and poses a ?significant threat? to U.S. interests. ?The ?lethal action? strikes are not used for ?punishing terrorists for past crimes? or ?seeking vengeance.? Instead, they are used to ?stop plots? and ?prevent future attacks,? citing as one example, targeting individuals ?who possess ?unique operational skills.?

Read more reporting by Michael Isikoff in 'The Isikoff Files'

Brennan ?said the use of drones gives U.S. intelligence agencies the ability to use ?laser-like? precision against the terrorists. But he acknowledged that "innocent civilians have been killed in these strikes." He said such instances have been "exceedingly rare, but it has happened.

?When it does, it pains us and we regret it deeply, as we do any time innocents are killed in war," he added.?

That passage of his speech alone was significant. In June 2011, Brennan said that in the previous year of operations in the government?s then-unspecified program to eliminate al-Qaida members, ?There hasn?t been a single collateral death because of the exceptional proficiency, precision of the capabilities we?ve been able to develop.?? ?

Brennan later changed that statement in response to questions by the New York Times, spurred in part by ?reports about a May 6 strike in Pakistan that ?hit a religious school, an adjourning restaurant and a house, killing 18 people. Although 12 militants were allegedly killed, British and Pakistani journalists on the scene reported that six civilians also died in the strike.

In Brennan?s adjusted statement last year, he said, ?Fortunately, for more than a year, due to our discretion and precision, the U.S. government has not found credible evidence of collateral deaths resulting from U.S. counterterrorism operations outside of Afghanistan or Iraq.?

Brennan did not give any details on Monday about how rare civilian deaths have been. But according to the analysis by the New America Foundation, which relies heavily on local media and other reports from observers in Pakistan, about 17 percent of those who have been killed by drones since the program effectively began in 2004 were ?non-militants.?? The foundation estimated that the? ?non-military fatality rate? has since dropped to about 13 percent under Obama ? as drone strikes have become more frequent and more precise.

Those numbers translate to 471 civilian deaths, including 309 under Obama.

Human rights groups ? who have challenged the administration to be more open about its drone program ? were not satisfied with the new details provided by Brennan?s speech.

?It is not enough that care is taken to avoid harm to innocent civilians,? said Raha Wala, an official with Human Rights First. ?Brennan's assertion that any 'member' of al-Qaida or 'associated forces' is legally targetable is wrong. Under the laws of armed conflict, only members of the enemy's armed forces, or those directly participating in hostilities or who perform a continuous combat function, may be targeted.?

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