RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Republican leaders are standing by a TV ad critical of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama despite dissension in their own ranks and one station’s refusal to air it.
Republican National Committee member Linda Shaw said Thursday that she was shocked that her colleagues decided to produce and air the ad, which shows Obama with his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, and a clip of Wright’s controversial comments.
John McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee, asked party officials to not run the ad on Wednesday and again Thursday.
“I cannot dictate to the North Carolina Republican Party what their message is, but I condemn it and I can appeal to the overwhelming majority of Republicans in the state of North Carolina,” McCain said while campaigning in New Orleans.
State GOP spokesman Brent Woodcox said officials still planned to air the ad Monday, beginning with the evening newscasts.
