LAKEVILLE, MINN. — John McCain cautioned his own supporters Friday that they needed to be "respectful" toward Barack Obama, an attempt to tamp down the increasingly nasty outbursts at his rallies as the Republican ticket slips in the polls.
McCain and running mate Sarah Palin have been under mounting pressure to denounce the venomous attacks on Obama at their events. Videos posted on the Web have captured raw displays of emotion, and the media have focused on the seething anger of the crowds.
On Friday, Obama accused his opponents of inflaming their supporters.
"It's easy to rile up a crowd -- nothing easier than riling up a crowd by stoking anger and division -- but that's not what we need," he said at a rally in Chillicothe, Ohio. "The American people aren't looking for someone who can divide this country; they're looking for somebody who will lead this country."
McCain's town hall event in Lakeville, south of Minneapolis, morphed into an unusual exchange between a crowd openly hostile to an Obama presidency and a candidate who seems conflicted about the visceral emotion the race has unleashed.
The Arizona senator alternately provoked and admonished the crowd, giving the hourlong event a seesaw feel. Even as McCain called for more civility, he went out of his way to invoke Obama's past association with a former member of the radical 1960s-era Weather Underground. And McCain's campaign launched an ad Friday centered on those ties.
In question after question, supporters took the microphone and urged McCain to aggressively confront Obama on Wednesday at the final presidential debate, warning of disastrous consequences if the Democratic nominee wins in November.
McCain vowed to fight. But he also sought to quell the audience's ire. When McCain said, "I admire Sen. Obama and his accomplishments," the crowd booed.
The candidate quickly interjected: "No, no. I want everyone to be respectful." With special emphasis, he added: "And let's make sure we are."
Even prominent Republicans have questioned the McCain campaign's recent tone. On Friday, a Michigan newspaper reported that some of that state's Republican politicians were upset with the campaign, including William Milliken, a former governor.
"I'm disappointed in the tenor and the personal attacks on the part of the McCain campaign," Milliken told the Grand Rapids Press.
