Regrets Over Anti-Obama "Holocaust" Email

(AP)  A former Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice apologized Monday for signing an e-mail to Jewish voters that likened a vote for Barack Obama to ignoring warning signals that led up to the Holocaust.

Sandra Schultz Newman called the e-mail, written by a Republican consultant, misguided and said she regrets she did not carefully review the final draft before it was released.

"Some of the language was inappropriate and intemperate," Newman wrote in an e-mail statement Monday. "I apologize to anyone who was offended by this misguided e-mail."

The e-mail sent Thursday to 75,000 Jewish voters in Pennsylvania warns "Fellow Jewish Voters" of the danger of a second Holocaust due to the threats to Israel from its neighbors and touts McCain's qualifications over those of Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate.

Republicans quickly disavowed the e-mail and said they fired the campaign consultant who wrote it. A campaign spokesman for Republican presidential nominee John McCain also repudiated it.

In Monday's statement, Schultz said the original e-mail was drafted by "a worker for the McCain campaign." Asked by a reporter later in the day to identify the worker, Schultz said she was referring to Bryan Rudnick, the fired consultant.

"I believe Bryan was let go before it was approved,'' she said in response to a query from The Associated Press. ``I was not involved in hiring Bryan and so I am not sure for whom he worked.''

A spokesman for the state GOP confirmed that Rudnick was employed by the state party.

"He was our employee and we let him go" on Friday, said the spokesman, Mike Barley.

Rudnick has told the AP that he had authorization from party officials to send the e-mail. He said he was fired Friday morning over "discrepancies with strategy and logistics," and that the e-mail was not mentioned when he was let go.

A copy of the e-mail provided by Democratic officials says it was "Paid for by the Republican Federal Committee of PA - Victory 2008." The signatures of Schultz and two other McCain supporters were on the message.

Sen. Robert Casey, D-Pa., criticized the e-mail as part of a smear campaign that was among the worst he had seen in his state.

Newman also has been involved in the state Republican Party's civil lawsuit against the community-activist group ACORN and Secretary of State Pedro Cortes, the state's top election official.

A hearing in state Commonwealth Court is scheduled for Wednesday on the suit, in which the GOP accuses ACORN of fostering voter-registration fraud. State officials say the county-run election system has built-in safeguards to prevent fraudulent ballots from being cast. Democratic leaders say the allegations are simply demagoguery.

[twig221]

If John McCain is not being negative he is talking about fighting...everything. Maybe it is time to have someone who can think us out of the mess the last fighter got us into. Enough of the knee jerk reactions and a little more careful consideration of options would be appreciated.

[mollybee5]

It%u2019s amazing the level of paranoia and fear in the Republican Party. The world isn%u2019t out to get you, we just don%u2019t want you running the county any longer, that%u2019s all.

[dagrandma]

Gee, all these McCain supporters making the news sure aren''t doing him much good, are they?

[ohioboomer]

Here is another a--hole disguised as a judge, apologizing after the fact. Just like the republicans. Say your sorry and it''s over? Not in my book. How ''bout THINKING before you do things like this? What the heck is wrong with people? Or maybe they just go through life and whine about it later........
Ready for 2008 with Obama at the helm!

[pjc27]

Jews for McCain
is like
Wiccan for Palin

[anya136]

McCain Palin have had no consistent message. They have concentrated on tearing down Obama and even there they havent been consistent: celebrity, terrorist, socialist, whats next? nazi?
And now they are fighting between themselves: Palin going rogue. What kind of leadership is this?
Also, no real leadership on racism and the Ashley Todd hoax and how some GOp officials tried to exploit it instead of thinking bigger than that.
McCain can keep saying he;s a fighter but most of all he''''s fighting his own demons that have kept him from being a powerful leader - in this campaign.

[usclimey]

Obama has proposed a massive tax increase of 500 percent on guns and ammo.Buy all the guns and ammo you can get your hads on. This is just a first step. Obama plans to take your guns.

Posted by mr22585

More lies from 22585 - never any references, never any truth, just mindless GOPig propaganda. You''re going down the tubes on 11/4 and nobody will have a shred of sympathy.

[umtomcat]

If Obama wanted to emulate McCain''s attack ads, we would hear robocalls in the Heartland informing America''s patriots that McCain:

a) was in the pocket of former Lincoln Savings & Loan president and convicted criminal Charles Keating;

b) was buddies with fellow convicted criminal Republicans Ted Stevens, Tom Delay, Scooter Libby, Bob Allen, Trent Lott, Jack Abramoff, Don Young, Larry Craig, Randy %u201CDuke%u201D Cunningham, Tom Feeney, Alberto Gonzoles, Bob Ney, Rick Renzi, Richard Curtis, Steven Griles, Mark Foley...etc;

c) accepted political donations from the Watergate convicted criminal G. Gordon Liddy;

d) picked a runningmate mired in scandal (Troopergate) and has acted "unethical" according to her own people - - and doctored expense reports to bilk her taxpayers;

e) gave up information to his communist captors in North Vietnam, whereas other American prisoners did NOT;

McCain has a lot to answer for. You can%u2019t call yourself a patriot while voting for criminals.

[dnsallday]

There is a good reason why she is no longer a State Supreme court justice.
She is as crooked as any other RepubliCON.!

[dnsallday]

The only thing these hacks are ever sorry for are that they get caught in their slimy acts! A bunch of sorry excuses for Americans!