SALT LAKE CITY — Republican House candidate Mia Love is receiving national attention as the general election nears.

Love was featured Wednesday on the front page of Yahoo! News, with the headline: "Mia Love: black, conservative, Mormon, GOP House candidate from Utah."

The article described Love as a "tax- and regulation- slashing, tea party conservative infused with a leave-us- alone libertarian streak."

The candidate is getting attention due to an unusual list of attributes: she is a black, conservative Mormon, and if she beats Democratic incumbent Jim Matheson in November, she will be the first black Republican Congresswoman in U.S. history.

Obama courts college voters

Pres. Obama said Tuesday in a speech to students at the University of North Carolina that he and first lady Michelle Obama were not too far removed from the situation in which many students today find themselves.

"Michelle and I, we've been in your shoes," he said. "Check this out, all right. I'm the president of the United States. We only finished paying off our student loans off about eight years ago. That wasn't that long ago."

The Obamas have told in the past of how they struggled through college, working and accruing "a mountain of debt."

One difference between the Obamas and recent college graduates, though, is income level: According to the Obamas' tax returns, they had a six-figure income by 2000, the earliest available return. And by 2007, the Obamas were, by Obama's own definition, wealthy enough to need to pay a higher tax rate.

Related ...

Love confident heading into fierce battle with Matheson

Results from Saturday's state party conventions set up a potential marquee matchup in November for the new 4th Congressional District between Jim Matheson, the longtime Democratic incumbent, and Republican newcomer Mia Love.

Miss. gov. has some serious allegationsMississippi Gov. Phil Bryant said Tuesday that proponents of legalized abortion have one mission in life: "to abort children."

"Their one mission in life is to abort children, is to kill children in the womb," Bryant said on an Internet talk show hosted by Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association.

The Mississipi House Democratic leader said the statement went "totally, totally too far."

RNC files misuse of government funds complaint against Obama

The Republican National Committee called Wednesday for an investigation into Pres. Obama's alleged use of government funds for campaigning purposes.

In a letter to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro of the Government Accountability Office — the investigative arm of Congress — RNC Chairman Reince Priebus alleged that Obama "has been passing off campaign travel as ‘official events,' thereby allowing taxpayers, rather than his campaign, to pay for his reelection efforts."

According to national policy, taxpayers fund "official trips," while the President's reelection committee is responsible for funding political travel. Priebus called attention to Obama's trip earlier this month to Florida, where the president held three fundraisers and "one short ‘official event' … once again allowing his reelection campaign to save on fuel for Air Force One."

"We request an immediate review of this matter and a formal inquiry into whether this pattern constitutes fraud," the letter closed. "Because this behavior shows no sign of changing, action must be taken with haste to protect the taxpayers who are being cheated by their government."

The story behind Obama's singing

In an interview with Rolling Stone published Wednesday, Pres. Obama told the story behind his now-infamous January performance at a New York City fundraiser.

The clip of Obama singing the opening line of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" quickly went viral, and soon after was released as a ringtone on the Obama campaign's website.

Obama said during the interview that the performance was impromptu.

"The truth is … this is my fifth event of the day," he said. "It's about 10:30 at night … I wanted to hear Al Green."

Obama said he was told he had missed Green's performance, and was "frustrated." Backstage, he "broke into a rendition of ‘Let's Stay Together," after which he was told he could sing and that he could do it on stage.

"I said, well, yeah, I'll do that. You don't think I can do that on stage?"

"So I went up there and we did it."

Related topics