GOP Says Vandalism at Offices Prompts Beefed-Up Security
By SUSAN SCHMIDT and EVAN PEREZArticle
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The Republican National Committee said it will spend $2 million to beef up security at campaign offices around the country in response to recent vandalism. The move comes as supporters of both presidential candidates have ratcheted up the rhetoric.
RNC Chairman Robert M. "Mike" Duncan said in a statement over the weekend that "violent intimidation tactics" have been adopted by some supporters of Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama. Mr. Duncan cited vandalism at a McCain-Palin campaign office in Missouri and harassment of campaign workers by members of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, known as Acorn, who staged a rally outside a McCain-Palin campaign office in Pennsylvania.
The Obama campaign declined to comment on the issue.
Meanwhile, the Obama campaign has charged that negative advertising by the McCain campaign, including a commercial overstating Sen. Obama's acquaintance with former radical William Ayers, is stoking anger and unfounded fears among voters.
Sen. McCain has sought to quell some of the harsh statements made at rallies by some of his supporters about his Democratic rival. Friday, the Arizona senator said Sen. Obama "is a decent person" and "not a person you have to be scared about" being president.
Democratic Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, in comments published by the Washington Post on Sunday, compared the tone of the McCain-Palin campaign to "another destructive period in American history," when late segregationist Alabama Gov. George Wallace "created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans."
Sen. McCain called the comments "shocking."
Sen. Obama's campaign said he "does not believe that John McCain or his policy criticism is in any way comparable to George Wallace or his segregationist policies." But the campaign said Rep. Lewis was right to condemn claims that Obama "pals around with terrorists." Republican vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin made such a statement on the campaign trail last week.
The heated contest between Sens. McCain and Obama has fueled dozens of vandalism cases and threatening incidents around the country in recent weeks. In New Jersey, a school library removed a book on Sen. Obama from an election display after it was defaced with a drawing of a noose. Campaign officials took down an Obama billboard in Michigan after someone painted Ku Klux Klan and swastika symbols on it. In August, police said vandals broke glass windows and a door to an Obama campaign office in St. Paul, Minn.
The RNC pointed to a break-in on Oct. 2 at a campaign office in a suburb of Kansas City. Police said a rock was thrown through a window and vandals gained entry and stole a laptop computer.
Mr. Duncan said the RNC will set up 24-hour security at campaign offices around the country, using money budgeted for get-out-the-vote efforts. He also said a Colorado campaign office had received a letter containing white powder, creating an anthrax scare, and a New Mexico campaign worker was physical assaulted earlier this month after trying to stop a man vandalizing a McCain-Palin campaign sign.
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