Woops! Paper Reports Kerry-Gephardt

The latest from the Political Grapevine:

For or Against Abortion?

John Kerry, who has voted against banning partial-birth abortion and has campaigned for abortion rights, has now taken a position agreeing with a central tenet of anti-abortion groups.

Kerry, in an interview with the Dubuque, Iowa, Telegraph Herald, said, "I believe life does begin at conception," and he said, "I oppose abortion, personally. I don't like abortion."

Speaking of Kerry, a number of people knew Monday that he would be picking John Edwards as his running mate, but Kerry went to extraordinary lengths to make sure they didn't leak it to the press.

At 6 p.m. last night, Kerry called the company that charters his plane to let them know he was changing the aircraft's decal from "John Kerry For President" to "Kerry-Edwards: A Stronger America."

Kerry also had vendors print signs and T-shirts that read "Kerry-Edwards."

But Kerry made vendors sign non-disclosure agreements.

Woops!

The New York Post, which is owned by the parent company of FOX News Channel and Foxnews.com, had an embarrassing moment today when it had an "exclusive" report on its front page that Kerry was going to pick Dick Gephardt as his running mate.

The paper's editor in chief now says he "unreservedly apologize[s] to our readers for the mistake," adding that he decided to go with the story after receiving information his paper believed to be correct.

Meanwhile, copies of Tuesday's New York Post, which sell for 50 cents each at New York newsstands, are fetching thirty times that on e-Bay.

Support Even Stronger?

A new poll out of Iraq shows Iraqis' support for their new interim government is even stronger than previous polls have indicated.

According to the poll, conducted by Baghdad University, 89 percent of Iraqis are ready to cooperate with interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and his administration and 72 percent say they are confident the new interim government can rebuild Iraq and reactivate the economy.

In addition, the poll shows 54 percent of Iraqis approve of the new government using emergency laws, such as curfews, to restore security in Iraq.

Unwelcome News?

Coalition forces have found further weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but at least one news organization seems unable to accept it, even in a story where it reports that such weapons have been found.

Agence France Presse, after saying "Terrorist groups were seeking to acquire the warheads containing mustard or sarin gas which Polish troops recently discovered in Iraq," reports several paragraphs later, "No weapons of mass destruction have yet been found in Iraq, seriously undermining what was the central argument for [going to war in Iraq]."

— FOX News' Michael Levine contributed to this report