McCain Aide Suspended For Circulating Obama/Wright Video

By: Scott Conroy
Topics: John McCain

Jonathan Martin at The Politico reports that a John McCain campaign aide was suspended today for sending out a racially-tinged Web video that calls into question Barack Obama's patriotism.

Soren Dayton, who works on McCain's political operation, distributed the YouTube link to the video on Twitter, but the link has since been taken down, Martin reports.

The video in question highlights some of the controversial statements made by Obama's pastor Jeremiah Wright, including his now infamous "God damn America" diatribe.

It also questions Obama's patriotism using a clip of the Illinois senator listening to the national anthem without placing a hand on his heart and a separate shot of him saying, "I won't wear that pin on my chest." (In an October Interview, Obama said he stopped wearing the American flag pin because it had become a substitute for "true patriotism").

But the controversial video doesn't stop there. It included racial overtones, using an archived shot of Malcolm X and showing a "60 Minutes" clip of Michelle Obama saying, "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I'm really proud of my country." Parts of the video were also set to the song "Fight The Power" by Public Enemy, an iconic hip-hop group known for its left-wing political activism and racially-charged lyrics.

McCain's communications director Jill Hazelbaker released the following statement:

"We have been very clear on the type of campaign we intend to run and this staffer acted in violation of our policy. He has been reprimanded by campaign leadership and suspended from the campaign."

The McCain campaign told CBS News that Dayton is a low-level employee who does not work on the communications side of the campaign.

Scott Conroy
Scott Conroy is a National Political Reporter for RealClearPolitics and a contributor for CBS News.
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by sunnygirl613 March 22, 2008 7:36 AM EDT: Blasphemy in the media. The truth about Rev. Wright.

Enlighten yourself and see the truth before passing judgment on false pretences.

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvMbeVQj6Lw

If you watch these videos, you will see that Rev. Wright is a God loving Christian. He is not one ounce the person that the media has portrayed. Please share the TRUTH!

I would think that if you were a journalist, you would like to have some creditability behind your name. To all those incompetent journalists reporting false information, please do your homework! It wasn%u2019t very hard to find the truth.; Reply to this comment


by grammawhamma March 21, 2008 9:05 PM EDT: After last week I would rather vote for the man on the moon than obama. All his and his wife''s previous lack of patriotism are now starting to fit into place like a puzzle. He can make all the pretty speeches he wants to...words are cheap.
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God "BLESS" America; Reply to this comment


by forthepeopl1 March 21, 2008 8:13 PM EDT: BEFORE VOTING FOR THIS MAN know just who and what you are voting for... It is now time for Senator John McCain and his implementation of the John Boyden, Esq. plan to "disappear" the Navajo of Arizona, so as to profit from the sale of Coal under their land, to be brought to Justice for criminal violation of the United States own Human Rights Laws, in a pattern of behavior that mirrors that of NAZI GERMANY and it''''s Genocide of the Jews of Europe..

Along with him, officials of the Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs who arranged to embezzle the licensing money paid in by Peabody Western Coal, supposedly for use to help the Navajo, but embezzled anyway, along with officials of the Bureau of Land Management and Mines, who manipulate the wildlife rights of American Indians every year, so as to reduce their number, concentration and ability to prosper by living off the land. In the most BRAZEN coordinated effort of Genocide in History, corrupt public officials are literally murdering the Navajo of Arizona and converting their lives and their lands into instant personal gain, by selling them off under the table to mining industry and the Power Industry. In Arizona, John McCain claims there is a "Range War" going on in the Black Mesa.
please go to this site and find out what mcshame is

www.Acsa.net/cain2004.org; Reply to this comment


by objectivity2 March 21, 2008 3:45 PM EDT: The photo of Pres. Clinton shaking hands with Rev. Wright is a non-issue. It simply shows the president to be a courteous gentleman, and in no way implies he supports Rev. Wright. Certainly Rev. Wright shaking Pres. Clinton''s hand implies the same courteous behavior upon introduction and in no way implies that the Reverand has changed his rhetoric just because the Reverand offered his facilty for a meeting of religious leaders.; Reply to this comment


by objectivity2 March 21, 2008 3:38 PM EDT: Each candidate, by choosing to run for publicly elected office, is aware that they are choosing to undergo the scrutiny of the American public with regard to their qualifications, experience, character, and judgment, both politically and personally. Therefore, evidence of deficiencies in any of these areas in thier past activiteis and associations are fair game and speak to the integrity and credibility of the candidate. The news media cannot on one hand chastise any group or organization who makes public pertinent information because it is damaging to the candidate they have chosen to support, and on the other hand cry freedom of information and the press when they wish to do so in their efforts to despoil the opposing candidate(s).; Reply to this comment


by realpatriot1 March 21, 2008 2:27 PM EDT: The suspension means he has time to hunt for a gig with an independent swift boat group that will post the same trash while McCain claims to be on the high road.

The Republicans have already made it clear they intend to milk this; if they do, Rev. Hagee and Pat Robertson and the like are fair game.; Reply to this comment


by mattcat25 March 21, 2008 12:38 PM EDT: The Right Wing has been in control of our destiny for 7 years of Bush/Cheney and 12 years of Newt Gingrich%u2019s Contract with America%u2026the results have been:

Perpetual War
Unfair taxation of the middle class
High prices for energy and everything else
High medical costs and prescription drugs
Pollution
Corruption
Religious hypocrisy and abuse of church status tax laws
Degradation of our infrastructure
Continued export of American jobs to overseas slave labor
Decline in US stature and respect of the world community

And, the only thing the Right can run on in this Presidential Election cycle is the same old playbook of Swift Boating and Racism.

STICK TO THE ISSUES AMERICA!; Reply to this comment


by eshaneua March 21, 2008 10:04 AM EDT: Bill Clinton And Jeremiah Wright Photo Uncovered
Huffington Post | March 20, 2008 08:49 PM

**UPDATED**
Politico is reporting on a recently uncovered photo of Bill Clinton and Rev. Jeremiah Wright:

The recent coverage of Rev. Jeremiah Wright has often cast him as a marginal, almost fringe figure, but Trinity Church is a major Chicago institution, and Wright has long been a prominent pastor on the American scene.

And an anonymous blog set up to defend his church offers some compelling photographic evidence of this: A photograph of Wright and President Clinton, which it says was taken on September 11, 1998 -- the date of a White House gathering for religious leaders.

Hillary Clinton, according to her recently-released schedule for the day, was present at the gathering.

Clinton Campaign Statement:

Less than 48 hours after calling for a high-minded conversation on race, according to the New York Times the Obama campaign is peddling photos of an occasion when President Clinton shook hands with Reverend Wright. To be clear, President Clinton took tens of thousands of photos during his eight years as president.

Obama Campaign Statement:
After their top surrogates pushed this story line and Senator Clinton''s campaign outlined this as a central strategy in her plan to overturn the will of Democratic voters, I can see why they wouldn''t want such a photo out there that shows the respect even President Clinton has for Reverend Wright.; Reply to this comment


by ji_john March 21, 2008 2:46 AM EDT: What religion has been by far the most popular in the country? Not Catholicism; not Protestantism; and certainly not Islam (research, however, say that it is the fastest growing religion in the US)! No, the most popular religion in America is Patriotism. Jeremiah Wright''s equating America with the Ku Klux Klan (KKKA), and his now imfamous uttering, God ''____'' America offended American''s sense of patriotism. How many poeple go to church on Sunday, anyway? Christianity in this country has been on the decline (also researched). Talk about Jesus, and a few people will get offended. Talk badly about Allah, and you can get killed. Osama bin Laden even thinks that the Pope had something to do with the re-release of the Muhammad cartoon, directing his minions to go after him. But in AMERICA, talk bad about this country, and your toast. McCain was right; he should have let this guy go. I am not a Muslim, I''m a Christian. Jeremiah Wright will one day speak mfor himself; I don''t think he would say what he said and NOT stand by it. But Obama denounced Wright''s rhetoric, and gave the most thought provoking speech on Race since the days of Dr. King. McCain realizes racial politics should not be injected into the election process. This election is about the issues we face, and not about the fears we can conjure up.; Reply to this comment


by missglo March 21, 2008 1:42 AM EDT: I have never seen Politics at its all time low. Until now, I am shocked at the things that people are doing. And turn around and say. Trust me!; Reply to this comment