Romney Says Perry Camp Name ‘Offensive'

White House also says name is offensive but press secretary passes up chance to criticize Perry

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is criticizing rival Rick Perry for what he calls "offensive" language in the name of a Texas hunting camp his family once leased.

Romney told Sean Hannity's radio show Monday that he found the camp's name, Niggerhead, inappropriate and said called on Perry to address it.

Also Monday, the White House said the name is "clearly offensive." But press secretary Jay Carney said Perry evidently thinks so, too, and he passed up a chance to criticize the GOP presidential hopeful over the racial slur.

Carney was asked at the White House press briefing Monday about the controversy over the name, Niggerhead, that was painted on a rock outside the Texas camp.

Perry has said it's an offensive name and that once he saw it, sometime in 1983 or 1984, he raised it with his parents and the word was painted over.

Carney said the name was clearly offensive but that from what he's seen, Perry shares that opinion, and that's all he could say about it.

The Washington Post reported Sunday that the origins of the name were unclear and there was no definitive account for when and how the name first appeared on rock at property's gate. But it hasn't spared Perry criticism.

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