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Gingrich May Get Into Presidential Race
"I feel guilty not having done it," Josh Romney, the 31-year-old middle son, said amid a profile of his father broadcast Sunday on the CBS News program "60 Minutes."
Matt Romney, at 35 the second eldest son, also told interviewer Mike Wallace, "I hope to be able to make a sacrifice of that caliber at some point in my life."
![]() Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks at a rally in Kansas City, Mo., Saturday, May 12, 2007. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner) (Orlin Wagner - AP)
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Ben Romney, 28, the second youngest, said, "I've seen a lot and read a lot that has made me say, `My goodness, I hope I never have to do that.'"
All five of the Romney sons, who now range in age from 26 to 37, served two years as Mormon missionaries.
Mitt Romney himself also served as a Mormon missionary, which enabled him to receive a draft deferment from the Vietnam War. In addition, he received a college deferment. When he finally was draft-eligible, he received a high lottery number and never was drafted.
On the stump, Romney argues for a robust national defense. He says he wants to add 100,000 troops to the U.S. military and commit 4 percent of the gross domestic product to funding the armed forces.
He also has defended the current all-volunteer military, saying he doesn't envision the need to return to a Vietnam-style draft.
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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) _ John McCain is the target of an ad that a veterans group plans to run on Fox News Channel immediately following the second GOP presidential debate Tuesday.
VoteVets.org's commercial features retired Maj. Gen. John Batiste, who commanded the First U.S. Infantry Division in Iraq. The ad is a version of others running in targeted House and Senate districts. In them, Batiste says the president's Iraq policies endanger U.S. security.
"Senator McCain, protect America, not George Bush," the ad that will run after the debate says. The group says it is spending $25,000 to run it.
The four-term Arizona senator has staunchly supported President Bush's troop buildup, and has said failure in Iraq would be catastrophic.
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Associated Press writers Glen Johnson in Boston, Marc Humbert in Albany, Jim Kuhnhenn in Washington, Janet Frankston Lorin in Teterboro, Tom Hester Jr. in Trenton and Liz Sidoti in Columbia contributed to this report.


