McCain apology raises questions about state GOP

UPDATE - McCain camp issues statement, 'rejects' Tennessee GOP tactics; GOP to remove release and photo following request from Sen. Lamar Alexander

Email | Print By Ken Whitehouse

Updated 4:58 p.m. CST: Lee Pitts, spokesman for U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), has issued the following statement:

"Senator Alexander has talked with Robin Smith, and she is removing the release and the photo from the website. She and the senator agreed it could be easily misinterpreted, taken out of context and considered inappropriate."

Updated 4:04 p.m. CST: Crystal Benton, a spokeswoman for the John McCain for President campaign has issued the following statement to Tennessee media:

"Senator McCain has made clear that he rejects these sort of tactics and will campaign on his record."

Updated 2:44 p.m. CST: State Rep. G.A. Hardaway (D-Memphis), a member of the Tennesseans for Obama steering committee, has called on the Tennessee Republican party to apologize for the press release titled “Anti-Semites for Obama.”

Hardaway told NashvillePost.com, “This is a bigoted press release that had to come from the mind of a bigot.” He then called on Republican Party Chairwoman Robin Smith to repudiate and distance herself from GOP Communications Director Bill Hobbs.

“Absolutely nothing that is in the release is in context. Obama has already renounced and rejected the philosophy of Louis Farrakhan. This is disgusting and disappointing. This is the kind of politics that a campaign like Obama’s can eliminate.”

After Hardaway made his comments, NashvillePost.com made repeated attempted to contact Hobbs for comment on the controversy. While we have been unable to reach him at the time of publication of this article, he has already posted an entry on his personal blog that states, “Apparently, using Barack Hussein Obama's middle name is a no-no. The TN GOP received back-to-back phone calls minutes ago from reporters for the Chattanooga Times-Free Press and the Nashville City Paper, asking the same basic questions, all of which ignored the main point of the press release, which is that Barack Hussein Obama is not a friend of Israel.”

Hobbs also takes issue with NashvillePost.com on his blog, saying that an earlier story posted only had comments from Democrats.

Hobbs is not shy of controversy: Almost two years ago, he parted ways with then-employer Belmont University after it came to light that he had posted anti-Muslim cartoons on his personal Web site. Belmont, ironically, will be hosting a presidential debate later this year.

The McCain campaign has yet to return phone calls on the matter.

Article as originally posted:

Earlier this week, the Tennessee Republican Party issued a press release titled "Anti-Semites for Obama." Now, it seems that release is out of step with their all-but-certain presidential nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain.

At a campaign rally in Cincinnati yesterday, McCain was introduced to the crowd by conservative radio talk show host Bill Cunningham. Cunningham repeatedly referred to Obama as "Barack Hussein Obama," a tactic largely seen by political professionals as trying to stir up racial and religious tension. Cunningham also made other statements that were highly derogatory about the Democratic front-runner.

After the rally, according to reports, McCain huddled with staffers and apologized to Obama and the public for the comments, saying, "I repudiate them."

Earlier this week, the Tennessee Republican Party had issued a press release calling Obama "anti-Israel" and pointed to statements made by the controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan that were supportive of the Obama candidacy. A copy of the entire GOP press release can be found at this link.

Calls to the McCain campaign for comment have yet to be returned at the time of publication, but Tennessee Democratic Party chairman Gray Sasser has wasted no time in registering his disapproval.

"The tone and the accuracy of this release unfortunately is what we have come to expect from the Tennessee Republican Party in recent times, and this release is the worst of the bunch," Sasser said. "It amplifies misinformation, discredited tall tales, and internet innuendo to appeal to the worst in people. John McCain has forcefully come out and rejected these types of gutter politics. Now, it is time that Republican leaders in Tennessee like Ron Ramsey and Lamar Alexander join their Republican nominee and disapprove of these tactics."

In a conversation with the Knoxville News-Sentinel, the Tennessee Republican Party said it stands by its press release and said it has a "duty to inform the Republican base."