Castro's Comment Contorted?

The latest from the Political Grapevine:

Castro's Comment Contorted?
President Bush (search) last week blasted Cuban President Fidel Castro (search) for encouraging sex tourism by bragging — "Cuba has the cleanest and most-educated prostitutes in the world." But Castro apparently never said that.

It turns out the White House got the quote online, from a college paper written by a 21-year-old... three years ago. A subsequent database search by the L.A. Times has turned up no such quote. And the student who wrote the paper, Charles Trumbull, says he was most likely paraphrasing Castro — who 12 years ago did say that Cuba's prostitutes are healthy and educated even though they are engaging in illegal activity.

Trumbull insists Castro's remark was "contorted [and] taken out of context." But a White House spokeswoman is defending the use of the quote, saying it still expresses a basic truth about Castro's — "morally corrupt attitude."

Sticking it to Her Own
Kentucky Republican Rep. Anne Northup has condemned some of her own Republican officials back home for putting a — "inappropriate" bumper sticker in the window of their office. The Jefferson County Republican Party put up a bumper sticker saying — "Kerry is bin Laden's man. President Bush is mine."

Once Northup learned about the sticker, she called the county Republican Party and asked them to take it down, insisting — "the party needs to focus on ... ideas." Her request has since been granted. But the County Republican Party, quoted by the Louisville Courier-Journal, says it is now being — "flooded" with requests for the sticker.

Political Action via Political Auction
A Radio Host in Detroit says he is so unhappy with the presidential candidates this year, that he has put his vote up for auction on Ebay — with proceeds going to the Humane Society. WKRK Host Gregg Henson says — "A vote for Kerry is a vote against Bush, and a vote for Bush is a vote against Kerry.

That's what it's become. ... I don't think we win either way." Someone has already bid $102.50. But there's a problem: Selling votes is illegal. So Ebay has since closed down the auction.

— FOX News' Michael Levine contributed to this report