Republican California Senate candidate Carly Fiorina said Sunday she regretted comments she'd made mocking incumbent Sen. Barbara Boxer's haircut but stopped short of apologizing.

"God, what is that... so yesterday," she was caught saying on an open microphone during a Sacramento TV appearance Wednesday.

Fiorina, on "Fox News Sunday," also defended her tenure as CEO of Hewlett Packard, during which 30,000 American workers were laid off, saying she ran the company during the worst technology slump in 25 years.

Asked about whether she would tack to the center on issues such as abortion now that the primary's over, Fiorina said she wouldn't change who she was on social issues but that the election would be fought over jobs and the economy.

And she did not back off from her controversial statement that people on the federal no-fly list should not be denied the right to buy guns, saying the list is much too broad and people shouldn't have their rights curtailed because of "government incompetence."

James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said Sunday that experiences in his own primary bolstered suspicions about Alvin Greene being a "plant."

Alvin Greene, a 32-year-old unemployed veteran, says he spent less than $12,500 on his primary campaign.

Jerry Brown's campaign for California governor continues to suffer fallout from off-the-cuff comments he made to a radio reporter.

Gov. Charlie Crist (R) vetoed a controversial abortion bill Friday, prompting an outcry from his opponents in Florida's Senate campaign.

The legislation, known as HB 1143, would have required women seeking an abortion during their first trimester to have an ultrasound and cover the cost themselves.

Crist said it placed an undue burden on women seeking an abortion, according to the Associated Press.

Crist's veto is the latest chapter in what's become a running feud with the Republican-controlled Legislature.

Crist's opponents in the Senate race were quick to react.

Republican Marco Rubio said Crist's decision "clears the way for taxpayer funding of abortion in Florida."

"Once again, Charlie Crist has put politics ahead of principled policy-making," he said in statement. "Not only would this commonsense measure have provided women with vital information as they make a critical decision, but now Governor Crist’s veto also clears the way for taxpayer funding of abortion in Florida."

Democrat Kendrick Meek called the decision a "no-brainer" but pointed out Crist's not necessarily pro-choice.

"The governor can never escape his anti-choice past however hard he tries to run away from it," he said in a statement.

Meek's rival for the Democratic nod, real estate mogul Jeff Greene, had a similar reaction. "The fact that Charlie Crist even had to think about whether or not to veto this bill is just more evidence that Crist is a flip-flopper," he said in a statement.  

A new Public Policy Polling survey has Democrats leading on the generic Congressional ballot for the first time since December.

Bennet can't remember how he was made aware, but knew the White House contacted Romanoff.

The White House is fighting back against Rep. Mark Kirk's (R-Ill.) allegation that the administration leaked information about Kirk's military record.

Kirk made the accusation with "no evidence," the Chicago Sun-Times reports, and White House adviser David Axelrod said Thursday is not true.

"Obviously, Congressman Kirk has some problems that are of his creation, and he can't download them on us," Axelrod told the paper. "I assure you that everyone here has plenty to do. No one is trafficking in revelatory records about him."

Kirk, who's running for President Barack Obama's former Senate seat, has been damaged by a series of revelations about his military career.

The White House has come under fire for involvement in other Senate races, including allegations it made job offers to candidates in Pennsylvania and Colorado to encourage them not to run. Administration officials also got involved in the New York Senate race, helping to clear the primary field for Sen. Kristen Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)

The Kirk campaign told the paper they will file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for all correspondence between "administration officials and Democratic campaigns or political operative regarding Mr. Kirk's personal military records."

The White House isn't covered by FOIA and neither are the campaign committees, the Sun-Times points out.

The latest poll on the race, released Wednesday, shows it's a close one. Kirk leads Democrat Alexi Giannoulias by three points, according to Rasmussen Reports.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) warned Friday that the GOP should encourage more candidates who aren't middle-aged men as candidates.

On the heels of primaries in which a number of women candidates, many of them Republicans, won their party's nomination, Pawlenty said he thought this year's elections would be, in part, "the year of the woman."

"Our party needs to have more faces and voices that aren't middle-aged men," Pawlenty said during an appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America."
 
Mentioning the victories of GOP candidates Susana Martinez in New Mexico and Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina in California, Pawlenty said the GOP must "celebrate the success of our female candidates," which he says will help "the pendulum swing back our way" in the fall.

"This is going to be in part the year of women," the potential 2012 presidential candidate said.

Host George Stephanopoulos pointed out that Pawlenty did not mention the victory of Sharron Angle in Nevada and asked about his opinion on her strong calls to abolish Social Security and the EPA and make alcohol illegal.

Pawlenty said he thought Angle would be successful in the end despite her somewhat controversial positions, avoiding criticizing the Tea Party movement that heavily backed Angle's candidacy.

-- Cross-posted from the Blog Briefing Room.

Pawlenty also appeared on the Daily Show Thursday night. Video of his appearance can be seen here.