State's Wrights

Despite objections from John McCain and the RNC, the NC GOP "will not back away" from airing a TV ad that links footage of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright to LG Beverly Perdue and Treas. Richard Moore, who both have endorsed Barack Obama.

NC GOP Chair Linda Daves: "This is not about the RNC. It is about North Carolina, our values and two Democrat candidates who are out of sync with the values of North Carolina."

Dems "denounced the ad, arguing it's irrelevant" to NC "and echoes racial politics" from the '60s. Perdue: "This is another example of gutter politics where folks are trying to distract us from the ultimate prize, which is people waking up and wanting to participate." The Moore camp "said he stands by his endorsement of Obama and agrees with McCain's rebuke."

GOP candidate/ex-NC justice Bob Orr "agreed with McCain that the party should not run the ad." Orr: "There are numerous grounds based upon the issues and their records to attack Moore and Perdue. We do not need to spend limited media dollars on some tenuous link between the two Democratic candidates for governor and Reverend Wright." (The other three major GOP candidates "said they have not seen the ad and would not comment.")

NC Dem exec. director Caroline Valand "said the ad represents a return" to the GOP's "'Southern strategy' of using race to appeal to white voters." Valand: "They don't have the money to put behind it, so they're using old, Southern, racial politics."

UNC-Charlotte prof. Ted Arrington "said it's telling that the ad begins with a fundraising appeal. ... Arrington doubted whether the ad would sway voters, given the degrees of separation" between Wright and the candidates. "But he said it could raise money" for NC GOPers, "who are perennially strapped for cash (Ingram, Charlotte Observer, 4/24).

National Journal/NBC's Dann reports, NC GOP spokesperson Brent Woodcox "says that the party plans to air the ad" starting 2/28 at 6pm, "but that the buy is 'still being finalized.' (That means that there's still time for the party to balk, rendering the ad a trial balloon or a stunt.)"

Woodcox "said that the urging of party leadership will be 'taken into consideration' but that they stand by the ad as of now (4/23).

Degrees Of Segregation

"Daves denied the ad was race-baiting." Daves: "The accusation of race-baiting is one of the oldest-used tools to drive a wedge between the people of North Carolina. It's a great way to divert the debate from the actual issues that on the table. ... [The ad] is for the people of North Carolina, so that they can be informed and they know what these two gubernatorial candidates are about."

Perdue spokesperson David Kochman: "The ad has absolutely nothing to do with North Carolina and is just a distraction from the real issues" (Binker, Greensboro News & Record, 4/24).

"Daves defended the ad, saying it 'presents a question of patriotism and judgment.'" Daves: "It is entirely appropriate for voters to evaluate candidates based on their past associations."

NC Dem Chair Jerry Meek "said the ad is an attempt to shift attention from real issues." Meek: "It's one thing to criticize somebody for associating with somebody else. But to criticize somebody for associating with somebody who associates with somebody else is ludicrous. Where does it end?" (Quaid, AP, 4/23).

Good Cop, Bad Cop?

Obama: "My understanding is that the Republican National Committee and John McCain have both said that the ad's inappropriate. I take them at their word, and I assume that if John McCain thinks that it's an inappropriate ad, that he can get them to pull it down since he's their nominee and standard-bearer."

McCain "said the ad was described to him." McCain: "I didn't see it, and I hope that I don't see it. ... We asked them not to run it. I'm sending them an e-mail as we speak asking them to take it down. ... I don't know why they do it. Obviously, I don't control them, but I'm making it very clear, as I have a couple of times in the past, that there's no place for that kind of campaigning, and the American people don't want it."

RNC Chair Mike Duncan, "who accompanied McCain [on the road in KY], said he had left a voice mail message for [Daves] asking her to pull the ad."

DNC Chair Howard Dean said McCain "should call the party chairwoman personally." Dean: "If John McCain means what he says, he should call the North Carolina Republican Party chairwoman and tell her not to run this ad. Sending an e-mail and turning a blind eye as the state party ignores him is not leadership" (Quaid, AP, 4/23)

Is NC The New SC?

Time's Scherer reports, "An old right-wing attack dog has returned with a new target: Barack Obama." A "group of conservative activists" led by Floyd Brown -- "author of the famous Willie Horton ad used so effectively" against Michael Dukakis in WH'88 -- "will begin a campaign to tar Obama as weak on crime and terrorism, a strategy that aims to upend Obama's relatively strong reputation" among GOPers.

Brown: "The campaign by Hillary Clinton has not been able to raise Obama's negatives. It is absolutely critical that Obama's negatives go up with Republicans."

"Brown says the initial effort, a 60-second spot called 'Victims' will be aired later this month" in NC and e-mailed to between 3M and 7M conservatives this week, "with a plea for more funding to further spread the message." Brown: "All of the efforts I have ever done in my life have been significantly funded. This is going to be the most Internet-intensive effort for an ad debut ever."

"The new ad recounts the deaths of three Chicago residents" in '01 "at the hands of criminal gangs." An "ominous" female narrator: "That same year, a Chicago state senator named Barack Obama voted against expanding the death penalty for gang-related murders. So the question is, can a man so weak in the war on gangs be trusted in the war on terror?"

Obama spokesperson Bill Burton: "Floyd Brown and the garbage he puts on TV represent everything the American people hate about politics, and we look forward to John McCain denouncing this shameful effort to boost his candidacy using Willie Horton ads."

"Later this week, Brown said he plans to debut a second ad, focusing on" Dem support "for giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, which he says will also be aired" in NC. Brown: "This is a long march to November" (4/22).

So Does This Mean Andy Griffith Hates America Too?

The "folksy" actor Andy Griffith, who played "Sheriff Andy Taylor" in the popular '60s sitcom, "The Andy Griffith Show," endorsed Perdue in a TV ad that began running 4/23. Griffith in ad: "Oh, you're going to be a good governor."

"Griffith, a Mount Airy, [NC] native, praised her 'vision, strength' and 'honesty' and cited her endorsements from teachers' groups, police officers, 'and of course, sheriffs.' Griffith: "Now let's all get behind Bev's positive campaign."

Perdue also received the endorsement of ex-Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt on 4/23. "The announcement by Gantt, Charlotte's first black mayor, aims to boost her support among black voters and liberal" Dems (AP, 2/24).

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