The American Spectator

Washington Prowler

p> HOMELAND INSECURITY br> The White House has told Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Mitt Romney to make the ongoing controversy surrounding his legal, permanent residency "go away," says a White House political operative. "We pushed for Romney to get into this race because he could win. This controversy will just dog him and will hurt him if he lets it fester." /p>

No sooner did Romney get the call from presidential special adviser Karl Rove last Tuesday than Romney announced that he was returning the $54,000 tax rebate he received from Utah earlier this year. The controversy stems from Romney's 2001 tax returns, in which he listed his Utah condominium as his primary residence. Utah state residents get a tax break if they stay in the state for much of the year.

Democrats seized on the tax filing as evidence that Romney no longer considered Massachusetts his home state, even though Romney filed Massachusetts tax returns for each of the past three years that saw him head the 2002 Winter Olympics project in Utah. "Romney seemed surprised by the stories, and he wasn't moving fast enough to make it go away," says the White House staffer. "Sometimes these guys need a little kick in the [behind] to snap out of it and resolve it."

p> RICE CAPADES br> Despite inside the Beltway buzz about a possible Senate bid in California by current national security adviser Condoleezza Rice forget about it. While Barbara Boxer may be the weaker of California's two Democratic senators,

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