Clinton: "misspoke" on Bosnia incident

WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign said she "misspoke" last week when saying she had landed under sniper fire during a trip to Bosnia as first lady in March 1996.

Clinton often cites the goodwill trip with her daughter and several celebrities as an example of her foreign-policy experience.

During a speech March 17 on Iraq, she said of the Bosnia trip: "I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base."

But CBS News showed footage of her walking calmly across the tarmac with her daughter, Chelsea, and being greeted by dignitaries and a child. And one of her companions, comedian Sinbad, an Obama supporter, told The Washington Post he has no recollection either of the threat or reality of gunfire.

When asked Monday about the New York senator's remarks about the trip, Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson pointed to Clinton's written account of it in her book, "Living History," in which she described a shortened welcoming ceremony at Tuzla Air Base, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Clinton corrected herself at a meeting with the Philadelphia Daily News editorial board on Monday. She said she had been told "that we had to land a certain way and move quickly because of the threat of sniper fire," not that actual shots were being fired.

Surge in registration for Pennsylvania vote

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Democratic Party enrollment surged past the 4 million mark Monday, setting a state record on the last day Pennsylvanians had to register to vote in next month's presidential primary.

The figures, which showed modest declines in the ranks of Republicans and independents, reflected intense interest in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination and recruitment efforts by both candidates, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois.

Since last year's election, which featured races for judicial and municipal offices, the number of Democrats increased by more than 161,000, or more than 4 percent, to at least 4,044,952. No political party in the state had previously reached the 4 million threshold. Registration in the GOP declined by about 1 percent, to 3,215,478 statewide.

The figures, released by state elections officials, did not include the final hours of voter registration in the state's 67 counties or mailed-in applications, which will count as long as they are postmarked Monday.

With four weeks remaining until the April 22 primary, Clinton retains a strong lead over Obama in Pennsylvania. Only registered Democrats and Republicans can vote in the primary.

Also

Puerto Rico primary: The Democratic Party on Monday approved Puerto Rico's proposal to scrap its caucus and hold a presidential primary on June 1. Puerto Rico Democratic Chairman Roberto Prats said caucuses were fine in previous years, when the party nominee was settled by the time Puerto Rico voted and the only task was to choose delegates to the national convention. "Now it's different," Prats said of the 55 delegates at stake in its primary, to be awarded proportionally. Montana and South Dakota will hold the party's last nominating contests, on June 3.

Obama vacations: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama and family are spending a few days of vacation in the U.S. Virgin Islands, an official said Monday.

Seattle Times news services