UPDATE: 4:05 p.m. Post clarified to reflect that Rossi campaign is correct when they note some early national media reports mixed up the votes in question.

Republican Dino Rossi's campaign staff thought they'd caught Sen. Patty Murray in an embarrassing flip-flop last night on the issue of extending unemployment benefits.

After the Senate voted on the extension, Rossi issued a gotcha press release accusing Murray of a "flip" on whether the $34 billion, six-month benefits extension needed to be paid for with cuts to other areas of the budget.

Rossi claimed that Murray had voted for an amendment by Sen. Tom Coburn which would have required that the benefits be offset with cuts to other areas of the budget.

That was based on early media reports by Politico and the Associated Press, which it turns out had mixed up that vote with another Coburn amendment.

The disputed amendment, which needed two-thirds vote, failed. But it would indeed have been a reversal of Murray's longstanding position if she'd voted for it. She has noted benefits have long been treated by both parties as "emergency" measures which don't need to be offset with budget cuts.

Rossi's camp issued a statement crowing about the alleged flip and sarcastically thanking Murray for "heeding his advice" on the issue he's been hammering for weeks.

"It's great that Patty Murray is finally doing her job as a United States Senator, but it shouldn't take an election to remind her that she answers to the families here in Washington State, and not the Democratic Leadership in Washington, D.C.," Rossi's statement said.

Murray immediately responded that Rossi had got it wrong and that Murray voted for the other Coburn amendment related to budget transparency. (That amendment failed too.)

"In his haste to claim credit for something he had no involvement in whatsoever, Dino Rossi is again showing how little he understands the bills before the Senate, and worse, how little he cares about the truth," said Julie Edwards, Murray's campaign spokeswoman, in a statement.

As of last night, Rossi's campaign spokeswoman, Jennifer Morris, was sticking steadfastly to their position - pointing to the stories by Politico and the Associated Press which suggested Murray had voted for the amendment in question.

By this morning, the news reports were corrected and Rossi's campaign had to eat crow.

Morris sent out a news release blaming the error on the erroneous media reports.

"We regret the error, but still believe that Sen. Murray should have joined with the 49 other Senators, including 9 Democrats, who supported a commonsense measure to extend unemployment benefits in a fiscally responsible manner," Morris said in a statement.

Following Wednesday's Senate 59-39 vote, the House approved the jobless benefits this morning on a 272-152 vote, sending the measure to President Obama.