Kerry Condemns "Hate-Filled" Language At McCain-Palin Rallies

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: Democrats

The Obama campaign has thus far largely stayed away from reports about the increasingly angry rhetoric coming from some attendees of McCain-Palin rallies. (The candidate did make an indirect reference to the rallies this morning, saying, "it's not hard to rile up a crowd by stoking anger and division.") 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry, however, directly addresses the issue in a fundraising appeal today.

"The reports are piling up of ugliness at the campaign rallies of John McCain and Sarah Palin," Kerry writes. "Audience members hurl insults and racial epithets, call out 'Kill Him!' and 'Off With His Head,' and yell 'treason' when Senator Obama's name is mentioned. I strongly condemn language like this which can only be described as hate-filled."

Kerry also put the comments on his "anti-"smear" site. And he added in the fundraising appeal: "According to reports, every ad paid for by the John McCain campaign is now a negative ad - every single one! McCain allows his running mate to make outrageous charges that only a few years ago would have disqualified someone from serious consideration for national office."

The Obama campaign is in a somewhat difficult position when it comes to handling reports of offensive behavior at McCain-Palin events. On the one hand, it's in Obama's best interest to spotlight extreme rhetoric that surfaces at GOP rallies. On the other, the Obama campaign has accused the McCain camp of trying to distract the American people instead of addressing real issues. And that's a tough case to make if they start talking about these sorts of ugly sideshows.

Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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by catmill October 13, 2008 1:13 PM EDT: FINALLY McCain had the decency to correct the negative, hateful and disdain behavior he and Palin have created and nurtured in their rallies. It''s too bad his camp had to be forced (by public uproar) to publicly admit it was unacceptable. FINALLY!; Reply to this comment


by mattcat25 October 13, 2008 3:33 AM EDT: Republicans are showing their moral values?; Reply to this comment


by williem123 October 13, 2008 3:08 AM EDT: McCain has basically lost control of the Republican Party. The Republican Party has become a stark raving mob under the McCain, Palin%u2019s leadership. Now he is trying to conduct damage control and the mob is resisting his efforts. We are Americans. We need a leader that can stay on course with a steady hand. We need a leader who can motivate us in positive way. We need a leader to unite this nation, to solve our economic issues, and to lead us in a positive way. We definitely don%u2019t need a Vice president that condones and tolerate a radical group that wants to withdraw the State of Alaska from the United States.
Senator McCain has fallen off the path of leadership and honor.; Reply to this comment


by williem123 October 13, 2008 2:52 AM EDT: McCain has basically lost control of the Republican Party. The Republican Party has become a stark raving mob under the McCain, Palin%u2019s leadership. Now he is trying to conduct damage control and the mob is resisting his efforts. We are Americans. We need a leader that can stay on course with a steady hand. We need a leader who can motivate us in positive way. We need a leader to unite this nation, to solve our economic issues, and to lead us in a positive way.
Senator McCain has fallen off the path of leadership and honor.; Reply to this comment


by logansprings October 13, 2008 2:01 AM EDT: With past associations such as Bill Ayers, Louis Farrakhan, Jeremiah Wright, and the like, one can easily see why many voters are voicing serious discontent at the prospect of an Obama/Biden regime.

Obama may or may not have the same idealogy as these radical men, but his association with them suggests that they may share some of the same political interests and goals--goals that many citizens view as contrary to traditional American ideals and values.

Couple the financial support and political assistance of men like terrorist-bomber Bill Ayers, and the responses from the crowds take on a tone that can be easily understood in the context of a political rally for Obama opposition.; Reply to this comment


by ubu2008 October 13, 2008 1:19 AM EDT: Of course there isn''t a single democrat in the Senate who understands personal responsibility. The real question is why did Obama and Axelrod lie for a year about his relationship with Ayers. The anger is the fault of Obama who cries foul when he gets caught in a lie. Whinny little liar.; Reply to this comment


by redfromla October 12, 2008 11:07 PM EDT: whiner245a

Did you check McCain''s list or are you another one of his blind followers?; Reply to this comment


by redfromla October 12, 2008 9:33 PM EDT: Posted by Latrocinor at 03:42 PM

"For 8 years the hate drooling haters of Bush, GOP and Republican have made slime and smear and acually created a cash making industry of hating Bush, the GOP and the Republicans."

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So you love Bush, GOP and Republicans without conditions despite their errors (4,000 dead americans in combat/more than 2,500 in 9/11, Osama Bin Laden and Al Quaeda still doing the polka, and the Taliban is back in Afghanistan, as well as all those years of Republicans not seeing the sh*t that''s coming to the country). WOW what have you been smoking?
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"Demoncraps, the 2 faced party of hate drooling rage and screaming libel and slander."

And what you just said was full of peace, love and happiness...how sweet!

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"Poor little whiney babies can dish it out by the buckets but can''''t take a few teaspoonfulls back."

Yup, we sure can see that from the way you are acting.

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"Payback is never fun to hypocrites."

You betcha! So how does it feel?; Reply to this comment


by latrocinor-2009 October 12, 2008 6:42 PM EDT: For 8 years the hate drooling haters of Bush, GOP and Republican have made slime and smear and acually created a cash making industry of hating Bush, the GOP and the Republicans.

Payback is never fun to hypocrites.

2 faced hypocites who are now getting a taste of their own medicine that helped depress and trash this country for the last 8 years.

Demoncraps, the 2 faced party of hate drooling rage and screaming libel and slander.

Demoncraps, they wrote the rules on throwing filth at Repubs and GOP and Bush now they are so hpocritically two faced angry anyone would DARE to use thier own filthy tactics against them.

Poor little whiney babies can dish it out by the buckets but can''t take a few teaspoonfulls back.; Reply to this comment


by justsurfing-2009 October 12, 2008 8:12 AM EDT: It''s unquestionably wrong to shout "kill him". That''s either an Obama plant... or... someone is unhinged. There''s no excuse for that. However, the hatred expressed towards Governor Palin has been pointed and extremely vicious for weeks. People actually booed her at a hockey event... and then people made very vicious comments about her. The hate for Governor Palin is unparalleled in my memory. It''s directed at her on a personally disrespectful and vicious manner. Governor Palin raised legitimate concerns. They need to be addressed and answered honestly by Obama. I''m still waiting for him to tell the truth. LIke about how he endorsed a book by his ally Ayers... whose political views he shares as evidenced by the endorsement. This although Ayers is still a Marxist, states his goals are still to overthrow democracy, and worked towards that event in Venezuela for Chavez. Ayers alliance with Obama is perhaps better understood - their political shared perspectives - not just by the book endorsement Obama provided to Ayers... but also because Obama was a member of the NP Socialist party. That means he has shared political ideologies with his ally, Bill Ayers.; Reply to this comment