McCain and Palin Inciting Violence in North Carolina

Forced to defend what should be reliable red state turf, John McCain and Sarah Palin finally showed up in North Carolina over the past few weeks. So far in October, the GOP running mates have appeared at four campaign rallies here. And in the wake of their visits, a string of election season crimes have occurred around the state involving violence, vandalism, and harassment.

First, a reporter was assaulted at a Palin rally held last Thursday at Elon College. Greenboro News & Record reporter Joe Killian was kicked to the ground by a Palin supporter as he was trying to interview protestors at the event who backed Barack Obama. From Joe's blog:

"Oh, you think that's funny?!" the large bearded man said. His face was turning red. "Yeah, that's real funny..." he said. And then he kicked the back of my leg, buckling my right knee and sending me sprawling onto the ground.

An MSNBC sound technician was hit in the head by a rock thrown by another Palin supporter at this same rally.

Next, over the weekend, about 30 Obama supporters had their tires slashed while attending an Obama rally that attracted an overflow crowd of more than 10,000 at the Fayetteville Crown Coliseum. Among the citizens left stranded were a single mother and toddler. "This is an embarrassment to this city and to me as a citizen," said a nearby resident. "This is a crying shame."

After the rally finished, a mob of white McCain-Palin supporters jeered and harassed a steady stream of mostly black Fayetteville residents standing in line to vote early at the downtown Board of Elections office. According to the Washington Times correspondent who reported the story, "people were shouting about Obama's acknowledged cocaine use as a young man, abortion and one man used the word 'terrorist.' " In doing so, they almost certainly violated the Voting Rights Act of 1964, which states:

"No person, whether acting under color of law or otherwise, shall intimidate, threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person for voting or attempting to vote"

McCain supporters heckle early voters in Fayetteville, N.C., Oct. 19

And this Monday, a black bear cub was killed and left at the entrance to Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, with Obama campaign signs wrapped around its body, including two taped together over its head. Police reports are calling the incident a "prank," and claim seven students are being questioned. Whatever the motive, this latest development was met with immediate public revulsion and condemnation. As the Asheville Citizen-Times editorialized today, "It was an innocent bear cub that lost its life this time as some deranged person or persons expressed their political rage. Next time, it could be an innocent person."

These incidents have all been perpetrated by or linked to McCain supporters, and stirred up by McCain and Palin's angry, hateful campaign rhetoric. Like during Palin's first stop in the state at a Greenville rally on Oct. 7, when she continued trying to smear Obama over his tenuous connection to Bill Ayers. With uniformed service members standing in the crowd behind her, she again peddled her discredited attack line that Obama was "palling around with terrorists" by asking, "He didn't know that he had launched his political career in the living room of a domestic terrorist?"

The McCain campaign is currently flooding the state with robocalls making identical false charges. The N.C. Republican Party is aiding the attack with a scurrilous mailer sent to N.C. voters headlined, "Obama has close ties to domestic terrorist," with mug shots of Ayers from 1968 and a recent photo of him wearing a Cuban national baseball team jersey. This is the same ridiculously far right state GOP party that ran an attack ad during the primaries tying Obama to Rev. Jeremiah Wright, which McCain repudiated at the time.

Briefly, McCain realized the angry tone of his rallies was turning off voters, and rebuked an elderly supporter who called Obama "an Arab." Within days, he was back in the gutter at their final debate. Before 56.5 million people, he linked Obama to the community organizing group ACORN's voter registration efforts, and hysterically insisted ACORN was "on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy."

On Saturday, McCain recorded a radio address in Concord, N.C. in which he made the racially loaded claim that "Barack Obama's tax plan would convert the IRS into a giant welfare agency," then appeared at a rally attended by several thousand supporters. There McCain was introduced by loony Republican Congressman Robin Hayes, who informed the crowd, "Liberals hate real Americans that work and accomplish and achieve and believe in God." Hayes is locked in a tight rematch against challenger Larry Kissell, a progressive former textile worker who lost to Hayes in 2006 by only 329 votes.

Last week, Palin told big donors at a fundraiser in Greensboro that she was thrilled to be visiting the "pro-America areas of this great nation," a gaffe so ill-advised and guaranteed to offend that she actually apologized for it, a first for Palin. But it was entirely consistent with her worldview, which is warped and narrow minded, categorizing anyone who doesn't share her extreme beliefs as "haters" and enemies.

The same day, she was asked by a local reporter what she thought of the late Sen. Jesse Helms, who was the last unapologeticly racist U.S. politician of the segregation era, held legendary, disgraceful campaign rallies of his own, and whose ultra right wing views were cut from the same cloth as Palin's. No wonder she expressed admiration for the man, admitting that "I do respect those years of service that he had provided." She also did her best to whitewash Helms' shameful legacy by falsely claiming he had apologized for his past misdeeds.

Interviewed by the Washington Post for a recent story on McCain's early political career, former executive director of the Arizona Republican Party Jon Hinz gave some insight into why McCain shows little concern over his campaign stooping to such lengths to trash Obama. "He needs to make enemies of the people he's going against in order to get fired up," said Hinz.

The violent incidents we've witnessed in North Carolina are all lower than low, in fact, they're despicable. But McCain and Palin are to blame for creating an environment where their more unbalanced supporters feel these kinds of actions are legitimate.

Supporters line up for a McCain rally in Wilmington, N.C., Oct. 13

It shows what dangerous ground McCain-Palin are traveling by relying on increasingly desperate, unfounded character attacks on Obama in their attempts to distract our country from the ongoing economic crisis. Yet as polls continue to indicate, these attacks have backfired. They are contributing to voters' distaste for the Republican ticket.

And they're leaving behind a hollowed out party destined for minority status. As independents and moderate Republicans like Colin Powell abandon the McCain-Palin GOP in droves, all that remains are increasingly bitter, frustrated, far-right voters. This election's coming Democratic tsunami will exile Republicans to the political wilderness, where they will have to decide whether to keep clinging to yesterday's politics of fear.

As for John McCain and Sarah Palin, shame on both of them. After resorting to careless demagoguery and stirring up hatred and division so recklessly, neither deserves to hold public office.

Erik Ose is a veteran of Democratic campaigns in North Carolina and blogs at The Latest Outrage.

Comments

[hortonhearsawho]

John is far right......

[merle7]

NOW I SEE WHY SOMETIMES PEOPLE DON'T GET TO KNOW THEIR NEIGHBORS. I NEVER WOULD HAVE IMAGINED THAT THEIR IS SO MUCH HATE IN AMERICA STILL IN THE 21 CENTURY. MAYBE SOME OF THESE BIBLE VERSES MAY HELP. 1 John 4:19-20 1 John 3:10 Proverbs 10:12 1 Corinthians 13:4-13

[ArtsyMomma]

This report makes me ashamed to live right outside Fayetteville. It's a great Military town, don't get me wrong, but where the military is getting it wrong this time is assuming every soldier is a McCain supporter. I know a TON of people that live here that won't vote for Obama just because he is Black. It's a crying shame this country won't move forward from that kind of attitude. It's 2008 for God's sake. Not, 1958. My soldier and I are voting for change and that's our right and what he's fighting for.

People need to get off the whole abortion issue. What a woman does with her own body is her choice. You don't have to agree with it but you can't always know every detail of every situation and just interject in people's lives. They're even photoshopping him to look darker in the mailers they're sending out... it's just disgusting. I've gotten all the godless mailers and terrorist crap. Do they really think they're going to win this by fear this time?!

[H2Opolomom]

It's sad for this country to be in the situation where negativity, slander, slime, and corrupt ways win an election.

Why don't the people who rally and support such methods stop and think about what this means. This is bullying - this is inciting fear. Is this what this nation wants for leaders?

I am personally embarrassed as a citizen of this great nation. If one were to step back in history, this is NOT the way our forefathers envisioned the political process of this country.

Dirty politics is disgusting and belittling.

Shame.

[arthur2008]

Neither John McCain nor his apologists can wash their hands of the consequences of the campaign's inflammatory words and actions.

Even many Republicans have urged him to salvage some dignity and principle in the final days of the campaign.

Obviously, he has no dignity and no priciples to save.

[butterfly218]

Where is the Congress? Where is Reed? Where are the Clintons?How can this go on happening in America. We have all of these news outlets that feed us canned news, except for Huffington post, and we do not call them and demand that they uphold the rule of law and truth. They know John and Sarah are lying but they play their speeches on T.V. and their sponsers sell the lies on to us.Yes ,we can do better. The world is watching this young country . America is evolving and saying " NO " to hate and racism. Stand with OBAMA and see what a "Great America "can do.

[Aywaller]

This is getting scary. People are getting violent. You should see what some people are posting on these right-wing blogs. I know people disagree politically, but I don't remember seeing this level of nastiness in past campaigns. One thing I hope for is an Obama landslide that will make people see that these crazies are clearly in the minority.

[Cheryllou]

These people are making it worse for us around the world. My God, they are already laughing at us! we could agree to disagree, but to incite violence is truly pathetic. I don't agree with McCain on the issues, I dislike him even more for the way he's conducting his rallies, but this has gone above and beyond. It's sad to see, really sad to see.

[sisteract]

What has happened to our democracy when people feel that it is their right to protest early voting? It is as if they think that thier actions speak well of the person they support. They don't and the Republican ticket should put a stop to this stuff. But of course, they won't. It's all they have left.

[equaltime1]

this is not one-sided:

http://www.local6.com/politics/17784129/detail.html

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_594853.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQalRPQ8stI

learn to be skeptical, you sheep.

[it48]

you're telling others to learn to be skeptical when you're referencing what is largely considered to be a HOAX as an example of the same sort of business on the other side? More and more details are coming out of the pitsburgh case and a story that already didn't add up is falling apart. Did you even see her picture? The "B" is scratched into her face in mirror writing. She claims the guy was sitting on her chest when he somehow carved an immaculate mirror-B into her cheek with what must be the dullest knife in the world.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003877727

even conservative Fox News columnists are calling hoax!

So your counter-punch is a crazy texan in pittsburgh trying to make Obama look bad by claiming she was mugged by a black guy because she was a mccain supporter. Beautiful.

[lisakaz2]

One seems to be a hoax (woman being given a lie detector test over inconsistencies and her too perfect inverted B; is the perp a dyslexic surgeon?) and the other two isolated single gestures, not exactly the same as organized intimidation, either by a PI or lawyer or chanting fascists.

[amak16701]

The one big difference between any incidents reported against McCain/Palin supporters and Obama supporters is that the Obama campaign has not been connected to putting outrageously exaggerated and/or flat-out false, hate-mongering accusations out to voters at rallies, through mailers, through robocalls, etc, while the McCain/Palin campaign has been.

[silarius]

Ridiculous.

I watched the video of "McCain marchers" in Manhattan--well, I watched most of it. It's numbingly boring, and since it was offered as evidence of violence, and all I saw was a few minutes people deriding a stunt, I didn't watch the whole thing. Did I miss an assault in there somewhere? In any case, it's just a provocative stunt and a predictable reaction.

The Todd mutilation hoax has been outed already. You found that persuasive, despite your "skepticism," huh? I suspect you are skeptical only of news that doesn't come to you via Republican mouthpieces.

The guy whose windows were shot with a pellet gun?

'The Republican manager said he is convinced he was targeted because of new McCain signs he added around his home.

"All I can tell you is this, I have a very good relationship with my neighbors," Coverely said. "I mow my lawn. The only thing that has changed is I have two McCain signs in my front yard.'

That's bad, whether his conclusion is correct or not, but it doesn't stack up to reporters being assaulted at rallies, or people getting heckled by a crowd of protesters for voting. His windows weren't shot by a crowd of people in Obama t-shirts coming home from a rally. "He said he is convinced"--let me remain "skeptical."

[foxfan]

What is Obama's connection to ACORN? He never answered the acusation at the debate?

[gluvox12]

Do you even know what ACORN is? Stop being foolish. He addressed the issue clearly at the debate and on several occasions. Maybe start with factcheck.org if you're not too lazy.

[lisakaz2]

Let's see: he was a lawyer in a case for them where they were also getting help from the DoJ. How radical. And he gave 'em some money.

How 'bout mc--same's speach extolling their efforts in 2006? Why don't you look that up? Ever heard of a smokescreen?

[ouroborous]

What was McCain's connection to ACORN? (Hint: google McCain Acorn 2006, and don't just read Drudge or FOX or whatever).

Besides that, ACORN is not a criminal organization, despite how much the right-wing conspiracy theorists claim that it is (let's face it, they need an excuse to explain why they're going to lose in a landslide in 2008... it couldn't POSSIBLY be that the country is fed up with them and their divisive, only-for-the-rich policies).

[rich misty]

And in the end... All that was left was an angry mob

[hopefulinpa]

I think McCain corrected that woman at his rally that said Obama was an arab because he is counting on being able to say see.. .I corrected people, I never said Obama was linked with terrorists or is one...yada yada yada.. It was a ploy to stay out of jail for insighting this bad behavior. As far as I am concerned McCain and Palin should both be jailed and the RNC who are trying to "actually comit voter fraud" by tricking people, tampered with voting machines, nonsense legal crap to prevent voting, etc - you name it.. Shouldn't the Justice Dept (such as that is now) be keeping the election above board????

Obama/Biden '08

[rich misty]

"Shouldn't the Justice Dept (such as that is now) be keeping the election above board???? "

Why do you think Rove ordered Justice Dept prosecutors fired?

[Poboy]

"Why do you think Rove ordered Justice Dept prosecutors fired?"

Why do you think the Democratic Congress hasn't gotten to the bottom of this?

[patianneb]

My understanding is that the pro-america bit was delivered, at Elon College, as stated, not in the city of Greensboro, which I don't think she visited. I'm in G'bo, so it matters to me. Bad enough, but as an NC resident, I can tell you that a lot of die hard Repubs are very very angry and even embarrassed at that campaign's behavior.
This state still feels more Republican than I would like, but a LOT LESS reactionary than when I first moved here 16 years ago. NC has come a long way, and takes pride in it, since those first protesters staged the sit in at the Elm Street Woolworth in Greensboro, and going backwards, OR BEING SEEN TO, is not something the vast majority of people welcome.
Thanks for the article: As terribly as it reflects on some North Carolinians, it needs to be told.

[openlids]

wow, riveting piece. i can't believe MSNBC never reported on their employee who was hit in the head with a rock, but still manage to give full coverage of every McCain, Palin rally.

i had to watch coverage of the huge events in MO on a local news station here in Los Angeles.

i'm guessing if a white reporter was hit in the head with a stone by a minority at a Obama rally, or there were minorities jeering a line of white people voting, there ould be hell to pay.

as there should be now!