Posted on Fri, Apr. 25, 2008

A Charlotte TV station says it will not air an advertisement from the N.C. Republican Party that uses a sound bite from Barack Obama's retiring minister.

"I just don't think it's appropriate to be on our air," said Joe Pomilla, general manager for WSOC-TV. "I think it's offensive, and I'm not real comfortable with the implications around race."

Pomilla said the station has declined other advertisements in the past. The station is not under a legal obligation to run the ad, as it might be if a candidate and not a party were sponsoring it.

The decision came amid a continuing whirlwind of state and national reactions to the ad, which Republicans released Wednesday on the Internet.

Raleigh television station WRAL also said it will not run it.

Charlie Black, a senior aide to John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said the party would pull the ad, though the party said that isn't true.

And the minister in question said it is unfair for the media to air only snippets of his sermons.

In his first comments since his sermons drew national scrutiny, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright spoke with journalist Bill Moyers in an interview scheduled to air tonight on public television.

"I felt it was unfair. I felt it was unjust. I felt it was untrue. I felt -- for those who were doing that -- were doing it for some very devious reasons," Wright said in excerpts released Thursday.

The sermon that has drawn the most attention discussed the effects of slavery and segregation. After alluding to mandatory prison sentences and alleged CIA drug trafficking, Wright shouted at one point, "No, no, no, not `God Bless America,' `God Damn America.' "

That last phrase is what appears in the N.C. Republican Party's ad. The ad then criticizes Democratic gubernatorial candidates Richard Moore and Beverly Perdue for endorsing Obama, who faces Hillary Clinton in the May 6 N.C. primary.

Republican Chairwoman Linda Daves of Charlotte, at the center of the controversy, said pulling the ad "has never been a consideration." She said the reaction received by the party is running 10-to-1 in favor of the ad.

Republican Party spokesman Brent Woodcox said he was disappointed by the decisions of WSOC and WRAL not to air the ad.

"You're going down a very dark path that could end up saying, `These are the kinds of things you can say in a political debate, and these are the kinds of things you can't,' " he said. "Those aren't the principles this country was founded on."

Woodcox said they would search for another Charlotte station to air the ad. Three other stations said Thursday that no one had approached them.

Pomilla said the issue isn't about limiting debate.

"There are other values that come into play. Ethics come into play," he said, "and you've got to draw the line somewhere."

Jim Hefner, WRAL's vice president and general manager, called the ad "inflammatory" and said his station has turned down ads from conservative and liberal groups, including MoveOn.org.

"We're not just an ATM machine," Hefner said. "We're going to make decisions, and it's not going to be a popular decision with all folks."

Both the Democratic and Republican state parties are using the occasion to raise money.

An untold number of people have seen the ad without GOP leaders paying for a single spot. National cable news has played it, and it's available on YouTube and other Web sites.

McCain and the Republican National Committee have condemned the ad.

"I cannot dictate to the North Carolina Republican Party what their message is, but I condemn it and I can appeal to the overwhelming majority of Republicans in the state of North Carolina," McCain said Thursday.

Democrats say the ad is irrelevant to North Carolina and echoes racial politics from the 1960s.

On Thursday, state Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Meek urged Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole to use her power to keep it off the air.

"As the highest-ranking Republican in the state, you have both the ability and responsibility to erase this stain on our state," Meek said in a letter to Dole. "Your silence tells North Carolinians that you will also sanction similar gutter tactics in your own campaign."

Dole said in an interview that she didn't want to get involved.

GOP candidates for governor gave their reactions. Salisbury lawyer Bill Graham urged a positive campaign and said, "North Carolinians are tired of political bickering."

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory said he condemns Wright's comments and added, "I personally don't need a TV ad to remind me that values and love of country are important in this election."

Former N.C. Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr criticized the ad Wednesday. State Sen. Fred Smith said he had not seen the ad. "I'm just busy concentrating on my campaign," he said.

Decision 2008

THE N.C. PRIMARY