McCain assails North Carolina GOP for Obama ad
Questioning the Democrat's patriotism is 'unacceptable' and shows Republicans there are 'out of touch with reality,' he says.
WASHINGTON — Republican John McCain accused the North Carolina GOP today of being "out of touch with reality" for running an ad questioning Democrat Barack Obama's patriotism.
"We are the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, and this kind of campaigning is unacceptable," the Arizona senator said on the "Today" show. "It will harm the Republicans' cause."
The ad ties Obama to his controversial former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose fiery sermons circulated on the Internet last month, causing a political firestorm. "For 20 years, Barack Obama sat in his pew, listening to his pastor," an announcer says as the ad opens. Wright then appears onscreen, saying, "No, no, no. Not God Bless America. God Damn America!" Later the ad says that Obama "is just too extreme for North Carolina."
North Carolina's Republican Party chairwoman, Linda Daves, defended the ad today, saying that it is meant to remind voters that the two Democratic candidates for governor have endorsed Obama, calling into question their judgment.
"They have endorsed someone who associates himself with radical people," she said on National Public Radio. "The ad is going to be running early next week. This ad is not hurting John McCain." Saying that she has been flooded with supportive e-mails, Daves argued that the state party has an obligation "to look out for the people of North Carolina in the state races, and we need to -- we're going to run the ad."
Asked whether McCain is having it both ways -- taking the high road against the ad while letting it play on -- strategist Charlie Black told CBS that idea is "crazy." But the Democratic National Committee was quick to jump on McCain's statement that he was doing "everything I can" to stop the ad. "If doing everything he can is sending an email, how can we trust John McCain to do everything he can to tackle the challenges America is facing?" DNC Communications Director Karen Finney said in a statement.
Wright, meanwhile, in his first interview since his sermons became an issue, said it was "unsettling" to see himself portrayed as an unpatriotic.
The former U.S. Marine said when he first saw the clips on television, "I felt it was unfair. I felt it was unjust. I felt it was untrue. I felt . . . those who were doing that were doing it for some very devious reason."
