Mike Parry, the Republican Party’s endorsed candidate to succeed Republican Dick Day in Senate District 26, apparently has decided it’s easier — and perhaps wiser — to apologize than to explain. Or at least, kind of apologize.

Parry, who has taken a beating from some on the blogosphere for offensive comments he apparently had written on his Twitter account, has tried a couple of approaches to solving the problem of his own words. First, he apparently attempted to erase at least some of the more offensive words. Second, he was defensive when explaining some of his tweets.

Today, he was apologetic while still still blasting away at “wasteful spending.”

“I sincerely apologize for past tweets which were written in haste and out of the frustration I felt for the out of control spending in Washington,” the Waseca businessman said in a statement. “Given the fragile state of our economy and the kind of out of control and wasteful spending we’re seeing from Democrats, the people in Senate District 26 must have an election about the future.”

This apology may not get Parry entirely off the hook. Calling President Obama “a power-hungry, arrogant black man” as Parry did in one tweet, doesn’t seem to have a lot to do with economics.

If nothing else, those sorts of words have raised Parry’s profile in the world of blogs. Why, because of Parry’s words, this little state Senate race even is getting mentions on the Huffington Post.

His words also led to him being blasted today by the DFL at a news conference.

“Mike Parry has said that he is not afraid of political correctness, but his actions tell a different story,’’ said DFL Chairman Brian Melendez. “As a candidate for elected office, he needs to answer the questions that these statements have raised rather than glossing over them with a glib answer and pleading ignorance with technology. Minnesotans deserve to know the truth.”

Parry, who won GOP endorsement last week, is to face the DFL’s Jason Engbrecht in a Jan. 26 special election to fill the vacancy created when Day stepped down to become a president of an organization seeking to legalize casino-type gambling at the state’s two racetracks.

Engbrecht is a St. Olaf College professor who lives in Faribault.