Michigan Fundraiser Highlights McCain's Radical Friends, Says Democratic
National Committee
WASHINGTON, May 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Tonight, John McCain will attend
a fundraiser for his presidential campaign in Michigan. According to the
invitation, he will be joined by the chair of his Michigan Victory 08
committee, John Rakolta, Jr., and McCain Michigan co-chairman Robert Liggett.
What the invitation does not say, however, is that Rakolta and Liggett were
two of the key backers of an organization that helped finance an ad that
compared Democrats to Adolf Hitler in the 2006 election. Rakolta and his wife
contributed $10,000 to a group called Voice the Vote, which used the money to
buy a newspaper ad that compared Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm and a
procession of Democratic presidents to Hitler. [Associated Press, 3/21/07;
McCain campaign invitation, via:
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2008/04/exclusive_who_i.html (accessed
5/5/08)]
Rakolta is just one of a troubling circle of radical friends and cronies
surrounding McCain. As the Chicago Tribune noted this week, McCain has
praised G. Gordon Liddy and attended fundraisers in his home despite the fact
that Liddy served a four-year prison term for his role in the Watergate break
in. He spent a year seeking the endorsement of Rev. John Hagee, despite
Hagee's history of anti-Catholic, anti-women, anti-LGBT, and anti-African
American rhetoric. McCain's former campaign manager, Terry Nelson, was
responsible for a racist ad against Harold Ford in 2006. McCain himself even
campaigned for George Wallace, Jr., a known apologist for racist groups.
"John McCain consistently says he will be a new kind of Republican, but time
and time again he surrounds himself with some of the most radical and
inflammatory voices in his Party," said Democratic National Committee
Communications Director Karen Finney. "McCain's failure to distance himself
from people who compare political opponents to Hitler, propose kidnapping war
protesters, or defend radical organizations is one more reason John McCain is
the wrong choice for America's future. If McCain is willing to stoop to this
level, he truly will do anything to win."
McCain's Friends on the Fringe
HITLER AD FINANCIER JOHN RAKOLTA
Voice the Vote Bankrolled by Rakolta, Liggett and Cummings Families.Michigan's
Voice the Vote PAC, which was active during the 2006 mid-term elections,
"placed a racially charged ad...in a weekly Detroit newspaper that compared
Gov. Jennifer Granholm and other Democrats to Adolf Hitler.." According to
campaign finance records, "state Republican fund-raising heavyweights Julie
and Peter Cummings, John and Terry Rakolta and Robert Liggett contributed more
than two-thirds of the cash the group raised." [Detroit Free Press, 3/15/07]
Voice the Vote PAC Produced Ad Comparing Democrats to Adolf Hitler. In 2006,
the Detroit-based political action committee Voice the Vote ran ads in the
Michigan Chronicle that "featured photographs of Hitler, Granholm and former
Democratic presidents, claiming Granholm was the latest in a long line of
Democrats to take black voters for granted." [Detroit Free Press, 3/15/07]
WATERGATE CONSPIRATOR G. GORDON LIDDY
McCain Praises Liddy's Values, Says He's "Proud" of Him. "In 1998, Liddy's
home was the site of a McCain fundraiser. Over the years, he has made at least
four contributions totaling $5,000 to the senator's campaigns--including
$1,000 this year. Last November, McCain went on his radio show. Liddy greeted
him as 'an old friend,' and McCain sounded like one. 'I'm proud of you, I'm
proud of your family,' he gushed. 'It's always a pleasure for me to come on
your program, Gordon, and congratulations on your continued success and
adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great.'"
[Chicago Tribune, 5/4/08]
Liddy Plotted Murder, Plotted to Kidnap War Protesters, Has No Regrets Over
Watergate Role. "Which principles would those be? The ones that told Liddy it
was fine to break into the office of the Democratic National Committee to
plant bugs and photograph documents? The ones that made him propose to kidnap
anti-war activists so they couldn't disrupt the 1972 Republican National
Convention? The ones that inspired him to plan the murder (never carried out)
of an unfriendly newspaper columnist? Liddy was in the thick of the biggest
political scandal in American history--and one of the greatest threats to the
rule of law. He has said he has no regrets about what he did, insisting that
he went to jail as 'a prisoner of war.'" [Chicago Tribune, 5/4/08]
RADICAL REVEREND JOHN HAGEE
McCain Spent One Year Courting Hagee Endorsement. "In an interview that will
appear in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine, controversial televangelist
Rev. John Hagee declares, 'It's true that [John] McCain's campaign sought my
endorsement.' McCain has attempted to distance himself from some of Hagee's
views, much as Barack Obama is doing in relation to Rev. Jeremiah Wright. But
unlike McCain, Obama has not stood on stage with Wright and accepted his
accolades this year." Editor and Publisher, 3/20/08]
Rev. John Hagee on Hurricane Katrina: "All hurricanes are acts of God because
God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that
was offensive to God and they were recipients of the judgment of God for
that." [NPR Fresh Air, 9/18/06]
-- Hagee Repeated Claim: "The topic of that day was cursing and
blessing... What happened in New Orleans looked like the curse of God,
in time if New Orleans recovers and becomes the pristine city it can
become it may in time be called a blessing. But at this time it's
called a curse... In the case of New Orleans, their plan to have that
homosexual rally was sin. But it never happened. The rally never
happened." [Dennis Prager Radio show, 4/22/08]
Hagee on African Americans: The San Antonio Express-News reported that Hagee
was going to "meet with black religious leaders privately at an unspecified
future date to discuss comments he made in his newsletter about a 'slave
sale,' an East Side minister said Wednesday." The Express-News reported:
"Hagee, pastor of the 16,000-member Cornerstone Church, last week had
announced a 'slave sale' to raise funds for high school seniors in his church
bulletin, 'The Cluster.' "The item was introduced with the sentence 'Slavery
in America is returning to Cornerstone" and ended with "Make plans to come and
go home with a slave." [San Antonio Express-News, 3/7/96]
Hagee on Catholicism: "Most readers will be shocked by the clear record of
history linking Adolf Hitler and the Roman Catholic Church in a conspiracy to
exterminate the Jews." [Jerusalem Countdown by John Hagee]
Hagee on Women: "Do you know the difference between a woman with PMS and a
snarling Doberman pinscher? The answer is lipstick. Do you know the difference
between a terrorist and a woman with PMS? You can negotiate with a terrorist."
[God's Profits: Faith, Fraud and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters,
Sarah Posner]
More Hagee on Women: "[T]he feminist movement today is throwing off authority
in rebellion against God's pattern for the family." ["Bible Positions on
Political Issues," John Hagee]
RACIST AD CREATOR TERRY NELSON
Racist Ad Against Harold Ford Approved By Terry Nelson, Former Senior McCain
Strategist.Terry Nelson, who served as McCain's campaign manager in 2006 and
part of 2007, was the head of the independent expenditures operation for the
RNC responsible for the content of the advertisements run against African
American Senate candidate Harold Ford that experts said played on racial fears
of voters. "John Geer, a professor at Vanderbilt University and a specialist
in political advertising, said that it 'is playing to a lot of fears' and
'frankly makes the Willie Horton ad look like child's play.'" Despite Nelson's
role in approving the ad, McCain strategist John Weaver said that the campaign
had no intention of firing him. [New York Times, 10/27/06; Washington Post,
7/11/2007; New York Times, 10/26/2006]
-- Washington Head of NAACP Said Ad Plays To Racial Fears. Hilary
Shelton,
Washington director of the NAACP, said the ad plays off racial fears
of
some voters. "In a Southern state like Tennessee, some stereotypes
still exist...There's very clearly some racial subtext in an ad
like that." [AP, 10/26/2006]
MLK HOLIDAY OPPONENT RICHARD QUINN
Richard Quinn, McCain's South Carolina Spokesman, Criticized the MLK Holiday
as "Vitriolic and Profane."Richard Quinn, identified as "McCain's South
Carolina strategist" in 2008, also worked for the Senator in the 2000
campaign. In 1983, Quinn wrote a column "arguing against the recognition of
Martin Luther King Day," saying, "King Day should have been rejected because
its purpose is vitriolic and profane. The Black leaders who lobbied so
furiously for King Day confirmed another unpleasant reality. By celebrating
King as the incarnation of all they admire, they have chosen to glorify the
histrionic rather than by heroic and by inference they spurned the brightest
and best among their own race." [Greenville News, 3/16/2008; Spartanburg
Herald-Journal, 1/6/2006; Philadelphia Tribune, 2/22/2000]
-- Quinn Served As Editor Of Magazine Described As "Rabidly Devoted To
The South's Confederate Heritage." In its November 2004
issue, Vanity Fair described Southern Partisan, the magazine of which
Richard Quinn served as editor, as "rabidly devoted to the
South's Confederate heritage." [Vanity Fair, 11/2004]
-- Quinn Praised Ku Klux Klan Member David Duke. In Southern Partisan,
Quinn praised David Duke in a 1990 entry, writing, "what better way
to reject politics-as-usual than to elect a maverick like David
Duke?" [Newsday, 2/17/2000]
-- McCain Repeatedly Defended Quinn, Refused To Fire Him Despite Views.
In
2000, when the group, People For the American Way, called on McCain to
fire Richard Quinn, McCain defended him saying, "this is a fine man
who worked for Ronald Reagan and Strom Thurmond and other fine
people." In a 2000 ABC News interview, McCain said Quinn was
"a man who is very intelligent, and a man who has done a great job
for me in the state of South Carolina. And I do not believe that he
is
a racist." [Associated Press, 2/18/2000; ABC News, "This
Week," 2/6/2000]
HATE GROUP DEFENDER GEORGE WALLACE, JR.
McCain Endorsed George Wallace Jr., Called Him A "Committed Conservative
Reformer," Despite Speeches to Hate Group. In November 2005, McCain visited
three Alabama cities to endorse George Wallace Jr. for lieutenant governor.
McCain said, "I'm proud to offer my support to this committed conservative
reformer. George will bring great leadership and integrity to the lieutenant
governor's office." [AP, 11/17/2005]
-- Wallace Spoke Repeatedly To White Supremacist Group. Wallace had
spoken
on numerous occasions to the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), a
white supremacist hate group; once in 1998, twice during 1999, and
gave
the opening remarks to their national meeting in June of 2005. The
audience for his speech included "Don Black, proprietor of
Stormfront.org, the most influential hate site on the Internet, and
former Alabama grand dragon of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan; Jamie
Kelso, right-hand man and Louisiana roommate of former Klan leader
David
Duke; Jared Taylor, editor of the neo-eugenicist American Renaissance
magazine; Alabama CCC leader Leonard "Flagpole" Wilson, who
got his nickname shouting "Keep Bama white!" from atop a
flagpole during the University of Alabama race riots in 1956."
[Southern Poverty Law Center, Intelligence Report, "Into the
Mainstream," Summer 2005,
http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=541 ]
-- Wallace Said There Was "Nothing Hateful" About The CCC. After
speaking to the Council of Conservative Citizens, George Wallace Jr.
said the group appeared to him to be "good patriotic people...There
is nothing hateful about those people that I've seen."
According to the Associated Press, "the Council of Conservative
Citizens says it opposes interracial marriage, massive immigration of
non-European and non-Western peoples, hate crime legislation, and
multicultural and 'Afrocentric' curricula in schools."
[AP, 6/6/2005]
Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee,
www.democrats.org.
This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's
committee.
SOURCE Democratic National Committee
Damien LaVera of Democratic National Committee, +1-202-863-8148
