Palin apologizes for 'pro-American' remark

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin apologized for hinting some parts of the United States were more American than others.

Palin said comments she made last week in which she praised small towns as "pro-America areas of this great nation" weren't intended to suggest that other parts of the country are less patriotic, The Washington Post reported.

"If that's the way it came across, I apologize," Palin said in a CNN interview.

"Pro-America" comments by two U.S. representatives, however, created a backlash and threaten their re-election bids, the Post reported.

In Minnesota, Democratic challenger Elwyn Tinklenberg said he raised $1 million after incumbent Rep. Michele Bachmann's comments on MSNBC's "Hardball" questioned the patriotism of Democratic standard-bearer Barack Obama and suggested the media investigate whether congressional members are "pro-America" or "anti-America."

The non-partisan Cook Political Report recategorized the race from "likely Republican" to "tossup" and a Republican who lost to Bachmann in the party's primary began a write-in campaign.

In North Carolina, Republican Rep. Robin Hayes, locked in a heated campaign, also drew fire after telling a crowd "liberals hate real Americans that work and accomplish and achieve and believe in God."

A spokesman for Democratic challenger Larry Kissell, said Hayes' remarks belie the Republican's comments about being a consensus-builder and indicate "his hypocrisy knows no bounds."