McCain Repudiates Radio Host’s Remarks

Senator Apologizes For Controversial Comments About Obama And Others Made Before Speech

(AP)  Republican John McCain quickly denounced the comments of a radio talk show host who while warming up a campaign crowd referred repeatedly to Barack Hussein Obama and called the Democratic presidential candidate a “hack, Chicago-style” politician.

Hussein is Obama's middle name, but talk show host Bill Cunningham used it three times as he addressed the crowd before the likely Republican nominee's appearance.

“Now we have a hack, Chicago-style Daley politician who is picturing himself as change. When he gets done with you, all you're going to have in your pocket is change,” Cunningham said as the audience laughed.

The time will come, Cunningham added, when the liberal-leaning media will “peel the bark off Barack Hussein Obama” and tell the truth about his relationship with indicted fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko and how Obama got “sweetheart deals” in Chicago.

McCain wasn't on stage or, he says, in the building when Cunningham made the comments, but he quickly distanced himself from the radio talk show host after finishing his speech. McCain spoke to a couple hundred people at Memorial Hall in downtown Cincinnati.

“I apologize for it,” McCain told reporters, addressing the issue before they had a chance to ask the Arizona senator about Cunningham's comments.

“I did not know about these remarks, but I take responsibility for them. I repudiate them,” he said. “My entire campaign I have treated Senator Obama and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton with respect. I will continue to do that throughout this campaign.”

McCain called both Democrats “honorable Americans” and said, “I want to dissociate myself with any disparaging remarks that may have been said about them.”

Asked whether the use of Obama's middle name - the same as former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein - is proper, McCain said: “No, it is not. Any comment that is disparaging of either Senator Clinton or Senator Obama is totally inappropriate.”

McCain said he didn't know who decided to allow Cunningham to speak but said he was sure it was in coordination with his campaign. He said he didn't hear the comments and has never met Cunningham, but “I will certainly make sure that nothing like that happens again.”

Responding to McCain's apology, Obama spokesman Bill Burton said, “It is a sign that if there is a McCain-Obama general election, it can be intensely competitive but the candidates will attempt to keep it respectful and focused on issues.”

Last fall, McCain faced criticism for initially not repudiating a voter in South Carolina who called Clinton a “bitch.” McCain chuckled in response to the voter's question, but didn't embrace the epithet. A few minutes later, he said he respected Clinton, a New York senator and colleague.

Aside from using Obama's middle name, Cunningham also mocked the Illinois senator's foreign policy statements about his willingness to meet with the leaders of rogue nations. He said he envisions a future in which “the great prophet from Chicago takes the stand and the world leaders who want to kill us will simply be singing Kumbaya together around the table with Barack Obama.”

At one point, Cunningham compared Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Madeleine Albright, whom he said “looks like death warmed over.” He also commented on the difference between former Ohio Rep. Rob Portman, whose wife is named Jane, and Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, an openly gay member of Congress. “Jane's the main difference. But that's a different story,” Cunningham said.

As Cunningham finished, Portman, who is mentioned as a possible vice presidential candidate, took the microphone to introduce McCain.

“Willie, you're out of control again. So, what else is new? But we love him,” Portman said. “But I've got to tell you, Bill Cunningham lending his voice to this campaign is extremely important. He did it in 2000, he did it in 2004. It was crucial to victory then and it's even more important this year with his bigger radio audience. So, Bill Cunningham, thank you for lending your voice.”

Speaking to reporters later alongside McCain, Portman said: “I was backstage so I didn't hear everything he said. Bill Cunningham is a radio talk show host who is often controversial so it does not surprise me that he was controversial.” He added: “That's, I guess, how he makes his living.”

[denn034]

That comment should be denounced.

[j_flood]

People like Mr. Cunningham make a living out of polarizing our country. Shame on you Cunningham! You know how to be cheap and vulgar at the same time - and low brow. Begone!

[remco82]

This Cunningham guy didn,t help McCain any. I''m glad this knothead isn''t on the radio around here.

[sumac61]

If there were a Republican candidate with the name John H.O. Lodge and his opponents contantly referred to him as John HARVEY OSWALD Lodge, would that be at best, irritating, if not outright unfair? What if his initial were P for Peabody and we constantly called him John Peeeeeeabody Lodge? Would you think that was fair, or respectful?

Having said that, what''s wrong with Hussein? Believe it or not, there are hundreds of thousands of people with that name in this world who mean us no harm.

[caliengineer]

I would like to hear more about the "Sweetheart deals". I also would like to see Obama''s earmarks for 2005 and 2006. He said in a debate he had 91 million in earmarks and would give a list for the asking. Truth is, that is just for the year he started campaigning. Before that, what did he do? He refuses to give the earmark numbers for 2005 & 2006.

[rowdytexan2]

Is this guy Ruth Limpdrug''s cousin?

[rowdytexan2]

lol, I mean Rush Limpdrug....

[colvinatch]

Just more of the same old hate mongering from the right, it''s all they have left to offer this country are hate filled words and people like Rush Limbagh, and this guy. Theirs is truly a morally bankrupt ideaology.

[crater7]

WHY WOULD OBAMA, BE UPSET FOR SOMEONE USING HIS NAME HUSSEIN?
THAT''S HIS NAME.
OBAMA, USED THE NAME BARRY, WHILE ATTENDING AN ELITE PREP SCHOOL IN HONOLOLU. SHOULD SOMEONE CALL HIM BARRY?

MAYBE, HE SHOULD BE CALLED MR. BARACK (BARRY) HUSSEIN OBAMA. THAT WORKS....

[myidoncbs]

Cunningham is evil slime, just like O''Reilly and Limbaugh. They make money by fanning the flames of hatred, racism, bigotry, and fear.

As Portman said, these voices of hatred were "crucial to victory then [repug victories in 2000 and 2004] and it''s even more important this year".

Hatred, racism, bigotry, and fear-- that''s the GOP in a nutshell, folks! (And let us not forget the GOP''s main agendas: Eternal war, Death to democracy, and Death to the middle class!)

[waqahi]

This November, if Obama becomes the US 44th president, there will be many who will LOL out of happiness, schadenfreude, or just amusement out of Allah''s sense of humor; of course, with the exception of Pat Robertson whose eggs have been crushed by a donkey''s kick to the abdomen of Robert Giuliani. By the way his predictions for the years 2006 and 2007 were totally wrong, has anyone heard his ''prophecies'' for the year 2008? Have this man predict doom and gloom and God will grant the opposite.
The so called conservatives fume at the prospects of spending a hundred thousand dollars here for the poor or a ten million dollars there for the victims of Katrina but they do not seem to be bothered by the figure of a half a trillion dollars pentagon budget or the loss of $1.2 billion upon the crash of a single stealth bomber. The cost of that bomber would have covered the State of Michigan budget deficit!!

[singingrick]

No wonder the fascists don''t like McCain, he calls them out on their lies.

[realpatriot1]

I applaud McCain for taking the high road and condemning an overzealous supporter.

I wish The Billary Hillbillies had as much class, but clearly they don''t.

[myidoncbs]

Some ignorant all-caps-shouter asks, "WHY WOULD OBAMA, BE UPSET FOR SOMEONE USING HIS NAME HUSSEIN?"

The truth is, Obama is not "upset" that people use his middle name. What is upsetting is the attempt by the GOP to link Barack Obama with Saddam Hussein, bin Laden, and terrorists in general. They are NOT related, not similar, not working together, etc.

But the evil GOP plan is working, despite reality. I have read in.nor.ant fools on here claiming that Obama is a muslim (he''s NOT), that he works for a foreign government (he DOESN''T), that he will give this country to the terrorists (he WON''T), etc. The ig.nor.ant fools hear this cr@p often enough, and they start to believe it. They soon repeat it to all their inbred "cousins", and before long a whole mass of severely mentally challenged people are repeating the same lies.

It''s a very sad example of mass hypnosis, and the GOP uses it to it''s political advantage, much to the detriment of this country and to the world.

[rexrange]

Anyone who would compare this blithering idiot''s moronic remarks with BILL O''Reilly and RUSH Limbaugh is too stupid to save, or to even be worth saving. Good luck lining up with all the other non-thinking lemmings who basically have "on" and "off" buttons while those of us with the equivalent of about 50 power settings try to help you ascertain the shades of gray that make up most of life.

[harp1963]

Just like the puritans who oppressed our ancestors and forced their conversion to the Church of England, these anglo-christians are the same. "Praise the Lord while we lead you into a phony oil war and create a working poor class to replace the middle class of your fathers, we''re the good guys."

[taddles-2009]

"At one point, Cunningham compared Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Madeleine Albright, whom he said %u201Clooks like death warmed over."

That useless slag isn''t fit to eat Madeleine''s $hit. 3,000 dead Americans at her doorstep, her ignorance and arrogance allowed the attack on 911. If she hadn''t been so convinced her $hit didn''t stink she might have condescended to actually LISTEN to the warnings of an imminent attack and 3,000 Americans might not be dead. She shouldn''t be Secretary of State, she should be federal prisoner #3445387.

[irliberal]

Well if Hillary didn''t win the primary my vote was going to be a little bit in question between McCain and Obama. Now my vote is for Obama. If the right wing radio talk show hosts hate him, he''s *got* to be good.

[taddles-2009]

"Truth hurts Obamamuslimhidadingdong! Doesn''''t make it right, but it HURTS!!!

Posted by badaxmofo at 04:23 PM : Feb 26, 2008"

What truth? the "truth" you pull out of your a$$ every day and post here? The garbage you pass off as information? The juvenile rants and ignorant attacks and baseless lies? You''re a f**king useless Republiscum tool.

[irliberal]

I 97% certain that badaxmofo is singinrick''s inner black child.

[jack3213]

Give me a break- those who who criticize McCain for having he balls to take responsibility for others actions in regards to him should be praised notcondemened. Perfect example of a DEmocratic society where whatever you do is not good enough. REASON 22,067 not vote DEMOCRAT.

[dsproull]

Good for McCain!!!!
I wish we could say the same for Hillary an ole Stud Muffin Bill!!! I would imagine that this upset for Hillary has taken a toll on her. I think she is getting the message that "Business as usual" in Washington" is NOT what the American people want.

[jack3213]

Give me a break- those who who criticize McCain for having the balls to take responsibility for others who misspeak in regards to him should be praised not condemned. Perfect example of a Democratic society where whatever you do is not good enough. REASON 22,067 not to vote DEMOCRAT!

[gkc99]

Nothing new here--members of the U.S. Fascist Party are showing themselves to be the same slime boat scum suckers they were in 2000 and 2004. These nazi vermin will stop at nothing in their greed to hold on to power.

To McCain''s credit, he may not be quite such a puppet as the Darth Cheney--George Bushit axis has proven to be for the Neocon-scum cockroaches.

[taddles-2009]

"They soon repeat it to all their inbred "cousins", and before long a whole mass of severely mentally challenged people are repeating the same lies.

Posted by MyIDonCBS at 04:32 PM : Feb 26, 2008"

But those inbred''s are Republiscum and wouldn''t have voted for Obama or any Dem ever anyway. They come on here and post stupid $hit to get a rise out of people because they have nothing better to do with their pathetic lives.

Keep in mind, the Dem turn out has been, and will be historic. We will wash the stink that is Republiscumism from government in November. We will have a Dem House, a Dem Senate and a Dem President and with any luck we will be able to replace some of those zealots in the Supreme court too. Then we can take back the reigns of government and get this country back on a road away from those ignorant inbred mouth-breathing neo-con religious nut-jobs.

[usbrit-2009]

I still don''t understand how Limpbore and his raving, hating acolytes have been allowed to hijack the republican party. Only 3 million people listen to them, so that means there''s at least 47 million replicans who are relatively sane. It just goes to show what happens when the fascists are in charge. Goebbels would be proud.

[can3il]

When your president has 24% approval ratings and the Republicans have controlled Congress most of last 8 yrs,and with our nation in debt for this war unpaid for ,,, you resort to petty name calling, poking fun at my Senator''s name. I think it is funnier that we still have not found out where this appointed president was during Vietnam.(or vice president).anyway, if Sen. McBush (,it will be a third BUsh term, 50 year or more war,higher taxes to pay for it) cannot control who is involved in his campaign or who speaks, how will he control what happens with his , hopefully, non-administration, not to mention, his well known temper? on a lighter note: Why has nothing been said ,to any degree ,about a McBUsh co-chair, a sitting Arizona congressman, who was recently indicted? YOu can bet that if Hillary, Barack or any Democrat had this happen , it would be splashed all over the repubs national channel, Fox, by hater Hannity.. wake up repubs, your thinking wing of the GOP , moderate to liberals, are seeing the light. thank you Susan Eisenhower and family(Ike''s granddaughter), and ex sen. Lincoln Chaffee for endorsement of Obama...and also, how about backing off Hillary, repubs,,,let those who are perfect cast the first stone....more later.

[jkbowman-2009]

As an Obama supporter I''d like to thank Senator McCain. His repudiation is rightfully noted.

[taddles-2009]

"I 97% certain that badaxmofo is singinrick''''s inner black child.

Posted by IRLiberal at 04:54 PM : Feb 26, 2008"

I''m 100% sure he''s his bend over buddy.

[miles1967-2009]

This is not surprising at all. The close-minded wing of the GOP take their cues from the hatemongers like Cunningham, Rush, Coulter, and their disgusting ilk. Rep Portman obviously approved of the remarks and even chuckled at them. He exemplifies what is wrong with America these days. Distortions, dirty politics, and bigotry. Obama is not at all ashamed of his middle name or his heritage, but he should be ashamed of the close-minded Americans who feel the need to use his name to try and plant seeds of doubt about his patriotism and allegiance. I know I am ashamed of to call these ignorant people my fellow Americans.

[usbrit-2009]

But those inbred''''s are Republiscum and wouldn''''t have voted for Obama or any Dem ever anyway. They come on here and post stupid $hit to get a rise out of people because they have nothing better to do with their pathetic lives.

Keep in mind, the Dem turn out has been, and will be historic. We will wash the stink that is Republiscumism from government in November. We will have a Dem House, a Dem Senate and a Dem President and with any luck we will be able to replace some of those zealots in the Supreme court too. Then we can take back the reigns of government and get this country back on a road away from those ignorant inbred mouth-breathing neo-con religious nut-jobs.


Posted by taddles

GO TADDLES!!!!!

[boatdocster]

The GOP Swift Boats, spewing "Horse Byproducts" are starting early this year!

[taddles-2009]

"Perfect example of a DEmocratic society where whatever you do is not good enough.

Posted by Jack3213 at 04:54 PM : Feb 26, 2008"

Who''s criticizing McCain for doing the honorable thing??? Or are you again pulling this out of your a$$.

[irliberal]

Posted by taddles at 05:00 PM

Okay that was cheap and uncalled for. You usually dont stoop to that level of dialogue.

[taddles-2009]

"Okay that was cheap and uncalled for. You usually dont stoop to that level of dialogue.

Posted by IRLiberal at 05:03 PM : Feb 26, 2008"

I haven''t even started. The end comes when the last Republiscum stops sucking up my air.

[crater7]

myldoncbs;

WOW, YOU MUST BE A REALLY SMART PERSON?

SO YOU ARE UPSET THAT SOMEONE IS USING CAPS, OR SOMEONE USING HUSSEIN, OR BARRY, OR BARACK.

SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE A LITTLE CONFUSED. IT WAS JUST A QUESTON. WHAT WOULD YOU CALL HIM? I''M SURE WHAT EVER YOU CALL HIM, WOULD BE THE APPROPRIATE.

[irliberal]

Posted by taddles at 05:05 PM

You can''t blame republicans for your own bad judgement and very poor choice of words.

[erpcat]

this was planned. he is just a surrogate of mclame and the repugs....

[kenbomc]

They can say all they want about Obama -it will not work. McCain has so much dirt on him -it''s there if the DFL needs it.

[leksan-2009]

test

Why did McCain laugh when Hillary was called a *** by a supporter? Did he secretly enjoy the epithet? For McCain, it''s laughable to call a woman a *** but it is really shameful to emphasize Obama''s name. Actually, he is reminding the voters about Obama''s name in a very devious way. What a hypocrite!

[leksan-2009]

Once again Cincinnati distinguishs itself as the laughing stock of the USA. I do not understand how Cunningham maintains his law license.

[thisandthat1]

McCain wouldn''t have hesitated to say the same things if he thought he could get away with it! I have no doubt that he''s called Obama a lot worse behind closed doors. I think this was just a case where McCain thought he might be able to score a few easy "aww shucks" points with the gullible. (as for the idiot Cunningham .... who the heck is he anyway?)

[ramos937]

I heard Cunningham''s hateful talk on TV. It says an awful lot about the intelligence and class of the folks that support Cunningham.

I am a Democrat and support the Democrat nominee. But, McCain''s response did honor to McCain. One more reason to respect him.

[j-whitman]

Calling all republicans, Calling all republicans

Here''''s your chance at getting into government --- Senator Wide Stance is accepting applications for internship

[wango2007-2009]

I rememebr Dennis Miller commenting on that fact that he couldn''t imagine a president with the name Huckabee.

But somehow a name like Barack Hussein Obama is okay, as long as downplay the Hussein part.

What a joke. We are complete idiots for even considering this guy. The kind of "change" he represents just sucks.

[berkeleyusmc]

Hussein it is.

[alphaa10-2009]

Can the Democratic Party''s Superdelegates Decide This Election?

1. If the Democratic party is committed to the democratic process its party label implies, how can superdelegates have any influence on the outcome of the primaries?

2. If superdelegates are NOT chosen at random, how can the body of superdelegates be distributed fairly and equitably between Obama and Clinton to reflect the outcome of the primaries?

3. And even if distributed between Obama and Clinton by outcome of the primary, superdelegates are not bound to vote for either. If democratic selection of the party nominee is the objective, why have superdelegates, at all?

4. If the body of superdelegates was chosen long before the Obama-Clinton race began in earnest, and well before primary voters made clear their preference, how could the superdelegates be anything but an obstruction to democracy in the party?

The superdelegates now become party machine politics at its worst, reminding many of the way the Democratic Party handled the 1968 Chicago convention. That convention nominated Hubert Humphrey, LBJ''s VP, who had won fewer party primaries than his opponents (McCarthy and RFK).

Humphrey, as the Democratic Party''s "pre-selected" nominee, lost the election to Richard Nixon, another GOP soldier with a long party record.

[arthurcl1]

This guy is probably Buddies with Bush and Cheney, Karl Rove and McCain tries to say he''s resentful about this guy! This was all approved ahead of time for this guy to speak at McCains rally! This guy works for the KKK! What a Racist Dog! Like all the Repubs are! How Embarrasing to the Party!

[singindick]

It''s a little known fact, but "Hussein" is the middle name of another great figure. That''s why people often refer to him as "Jesus H. Christ."