Iraq Watch: In the “Gee, I wish...

Iraq Watch: In the “Gee, I wish I hadn’t said that” category is a comment by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Penn.), who met with Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein in January. According to Congressional Quarterly’s Insight Newsletter, Specter said: “It is apparent that the Iraqis are expressing a strong preference for diplomatic rather than military solutions.”

Crimp in the Campaign: The mobilization of thousands of U.S. troops to the Mideast has upended at least one political campaign. Marine reserve colonel James Gallaway, a Republican candidate for Nevada governor, was called up during a critical stretch of his primary campaign. “I should be able to come back the night of Aug. 28 if no bullets are fired,” said Gallaway in Carson City.

Clearing the Air: After four decades of being misidentified, a cultural icon wants it known that he has no middle name. It’s simply Smokey Bear, said the Ad Council in Chicago, which has launched a national advertising campaign to eliminate the the usually attached to the bear’s name. The council helped create the ursine forest ranger in 1944.

Mourning: The Kennedy family turned out in force Tuesday for the funeral of Stephen E. Smith who had a been its political and financial manager for more than 30 years. Smith died Sunday at age 62 after a long bout with cancer. The service attracted scores of celebrity watchers to the street outside a New York church. Smith married the late Joseph P. Kennedy’s daughter, Jean, in 1956, and managed John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign in 1960.