GOP Pulls Plug On Controversial Calls
The New York state Republican Committee said it had stopped calling voters with a phone message linking Hillary Rodham Clinton to the bombing of the USS Cole.
The message had said Senate candidate Clinton took money from a group that supports the type of terrorism responsible for the Oct. 12 bombing of the U.S. destroyer which killed 17 sailors and injured 39 others in the harbor of Aden, Yemen.
Clinton lashed out at Republican opponent Rep. Rick Lazio after learning about the message Saturday, saying he and the party should apologize to the Cole victims' families.
| Another Upstate Paper Backs Hill size> BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Buffalo News on Monday endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton for U.S. Senate, calling her "early and strong grasp of the economic challenges faced by this region" the decisive factor. While praising Clinton's "specific and targeted proposals," the newspaper said Long Island Congressman Rick Lazio had "squandered any advantage he may have enjoyed as a native New Yorker by insisting on across-the-board initiatives that fail to take into account the disparity between downstate regions that joined in the national economic recovery and upstate regions that didn't." Lazio was given credit for pushing for a soft-money ban and for his eight-year legislative record and scandal-free background. "Clinton, however, would bring national stature and impressive intellectual depth to the state's Senate delegation," the editorial board wrote. "She would be far more effective than the average first-term senator in promoting this state's interests on Capitol Hill. In addition, she and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., a proven friend to upstate New York, would make an undeniably powerful team." The Buffalo paper joins The Albany Times Union in its support for Clinton, while The Syracuse Herald-American has endorsed Lazio. (AP) |
"We called as many people as we were going to call with that message," Allen said. "We're done with it."
He said he did not know how many calls were made, but he said Republicans were still telling voters Clinton accepted money from an organization linked to terrorism.
Clinton, speaking to reporters after a rally in Rochester, said: "Both Congressman (Rick) Lazio and the state Republican Party still owe an apology to the families who lost their sons and daughters and loved ones on the USS Cole. ... They were embarrassed to have this discovered. Clearly it was something they were trying to do below the radar screen."
But far from apologizingLazio defended the practice, telling reporters outside a campaign stop at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem that he believes these types of "phone calls are entirely appropriate on both sides. I don't think anyone is criticizing the idea of the phone calls."
Sen. Charles Schumer, campaigning with the first lady, added: "I think they've been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. When you do this many calls, you don't finish the program in two days."
The Clinton campaign last week returned $50,000 from a Boston fund-raiser after learning it had been sponsored by a group that supports the Palestinian organization Hamas. The campaign denied knowing the group was involved with the fund-raiser.
Lazio said Sunday that the Clinton campaign was "desperately trying to change the subject from the fact they received donations and Mrs. Clinton attended a fund-raiser involving people that were supportive of the idea of using violence."
A CBS News/New York Times poll released Sunday gave Clinton a 49 percent to 41 percent lead, with a margin of error of three percentage points. Clinton and Lazio are running for the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan.