The White House just released an official statement from the President regarding today's shooting at DC's Holocaust Museum, which left one security guard dead.

 “I am shocked and saddened by today’s shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. This outrageous act reminds us that we must remain vigilant against anti-Semitism and prejudice in all its forms. No American institution is more important to this effort than the Holocaust Museum, and no act of violence will diminish our determination to honor those who were lost by building a more peaceful and tolerant world.

“Today, we have lost a courageous security guard who stood watch at this place of solemn remembrance. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends in this painful time.”

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has responded to an off-color joke about her 14 year old daughter Willow made by Late Show host David Letterman Monday night. During his regular monologue, Letterman joked about Palin's daughter getting knocked up by Alex Rodriguez after the Governor's recent visit to Yankee Stadium. MSNBC has Palin's response:

 "Concerning Letterman's comments about my young daughter (and I doubt he'd ever dare make such comments about anyone else's daughter): 'Laughter incited by sexually-perverted comments made by a 62-year-old male celebrity aimed at a 14-year-old girl is not only disgusting, but it reminds us some Hollywood/NY entertainers have a long way to go in understanding what the rest of America understands -- that acceptance of inappropriate sexual comments about an underage girl, who could be anyone's daughter, contributes to the atrociously high rate of sexual exploitation of minors by older men who use and abuse others.'" 

photo by pete souza/white house

Your Gaggler has said it before, and she’ll say it again: This White House is extremely smart about managing President Obama’s image. Yesterday, aides updated the official White House Flickr account with dozens of candid behind the scenes photos of Obama’s trip to the Middle East and Europe last week. It’s pure candy for people who like getting a glimpse behind the curtain. Even if it’s not the most private of moments—Obama clearly knows he’s being photographed—it’s more than we’ve seen in real time from other modern day presidents. In this particular set, there are photos of Obama roaming a Paris art museum with his daughters, a shot of Obama body guy Reggie Love showing the president and his aides pictures on his laptop (a Dell?!), and a photo of Obama wearing an Indiana Jones hat during his tour of the pyramids in Egypt. (Don’t quit your day job, Mr. President.) The White House’s message here: Obama is a real person, just like you and me.  He wears silly hats and mugs for the camera, just like we would do. And just like us, Michelle Obama has to be polite to old guys who are little too touchy feely. (Yes, we’re looking at you, Nicolas Sarkozy. A little handsy, no?)

For months, Creigh Deeds trailed his two better funded, media magnet opponents in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in Virginia. Last night he trounced both of them, winning with 50 percent of the vote. Former DNC Chairman and Chair of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign Terry McAuliffe and Virginia House of Delegates member Brian Moran trailed badly, with 26 and 24 percent of the vote respectively. Polls had shown Deeds closing the gap in the final days of the campaign, but few pundits expected such large, wide-ranging success for the moderate state delegate who until recently struggled for name recognition in a field including Moran and press drawcard McAuliffe. McAuliffe's campaign told reporters they thought it would come down to the wire. Instead, Deeds won a stunning statewide victory, winning 10 out of 11 congressional disctricts and even capturing one held by Moran's brother Jim.

Political reporters like to search for broader national meaning in these between cycle races. As newly purple state that fell for Obama's charms in 2008, Virginia is a particularly juicy target for electoral speculation. What does the result mean for the 2010 Congressional cycle? What does it indicate about Obama's coattails? The answers to these questions are both elusive and mercurial. And Virginia's politics, which encompass both liberal beltway types and conservative Southerners, are unique and idiosyncratic, so searching for national meaning can be a process of creative interpretation. But perhaps one lesson to be drawn here is that in the current political climate, once again, presumptive candidates have given voters pause. McAuliffe has been a presence on the national political scene for many years. He was the state equivalent of a fundraising juggernaut, raising $6.9 million to Deeds' $3.8 million. He dominated in terms of advertising and media coverage, his colorful personality and political prominence proving an irresistible lure to reporters. And he had some star power up his sleeve - a pal of both Clintons, McAuliffe benefitted from several swings through the state by the former President.

Is any of this sounding a bit familiar? An establishment candidate in a Democratic primary is presumed to be a shoe in, only to be upstaged by an opponent lacking lacking history and connections? Arguing that the result is a further rejection of the Clintons is a bridge too far, but it's plausible to believe that voters have maintained the same wariness of insider political power that helped propel Obama to victory. Virginia voters demanded compelling arguments for representation, not simply a polished political CV. Perhaps that's one lesson from this race that can be extrapolated nationally.

Our favorites this morning from around the web:

GOP-ing at straws
What's it like to be a college Republican these days? About as little fun as you'd think. Slate visits a regional convention to find a humorously hopeless scene of students who, just like big-kid Republicans, sit around questioning what to do now. (Slate)

Fawning over pawning
French banks, seemingly more than those in any other large country, have drastically cut back on lending in the face of the economic downturn. That has meant a surprising upturn for society's next tier of "lenders:" pawn shops. (NPR)

Bumper to bumper tax
The city of Los Angeles has an idea to raise cash in the midst of the state's perilous slowdown: charge a congestion tax. Genius, yes, in a city known for awful traffic, but one columnist says it'll turn into a social issue that hardly effects the wealthy and discriminates against a sizable number of the city's working poor. (LA Times)