AP News in Brief
Biden pushes Obama to declare gay marriage support, then offers his apologies
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sorry, Mr. President.
• After nearly single-handedly pushing gay marriage to the forefront of the presidential campaign and inadvertently pressuring President Barack Obama to declare his support for same-sex unions, there was only one thing left for Vice President Joe Biden to do: apologize.
• Biden's mea culpa came Wednesday in the Oval Office, shortly before the president sat for a hastily arranged interview in which he told the American people that he now supported gay marriage.
• The vice president expressed remorse and regret for declaring his support for same-sex unions ahead of Obama, said a person familiar with the exchange, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversation. Obama accepted the apology, saying he knew Biden had only been speaking from the heart.
• Biden's apology followed days of frustration in the West Wing after the vice president went off script, something he had done plenty of times. Without White House approval, Biden declared on a Sunday talk show that he was "absolutely comfortable" with same-sex married couples having the same rights as heterosexual married couples.
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Obama heads for hard-hit Nevada in wake of Clooney fundraiser and gay marriage buzz
• LOS ANGELES (AP) -- President Barack Obama is turning his attention back to the economy after a day spent raising millions of dollars for his campaign and riding a media wave on his newly declared support for same-sex marriage.
• Obama was to promote housing policies to help homeowners avoid foreclosure in a quick visit Friday to struggling Nevada, which ranks second in the nation in foreclosed homes and has the highest unemployment in the country.
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