The Trail

Rabbi Pushes McCain to 'Hammer' Obama on Wright

WESTERVILLE, Ohio -- John McCain ducked a direct invitation Sunday morning to criticize Barack Obama over Obama's relationship with his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr.

"The issue of Pastor Wright has been pretty well known" by Americans, McCain told Jewish participants in a telephone conference call this morning, when asked by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin why he won't "hammer" Obama hard for this association. Riskin, from Brooklyn, is a leading rabbi in Efrat, Israel, where he resides.

McCain told the listeners that his campaign is more interested in highlighting Obama's relationship with onetime Chicago radical William Ayers, saying the issue is whether the Illinois Democrat has given a "complete account" of his relationship with someone McCain described as an unrepentant terrorist.

The comment reflected McCain's general uneasiness about trying to go after Obama about Wright, despite a desire by many in his campaign that he make more of an issue of Wright's incendiary statements, which were a source of controversy during the Democratic primary.

On "Fox News Sunday," McCain also vigorously defended the "robo-calls" his campaign has been making about Ayers and said they were quite different from calls attacking him during the 2000 GOP primary in South Carolina. Some Republicans, including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, have called for the campaign to stop the calls, but McCain told host Chris Wallace he would not do so.

"These are legitimate and truthful," McCain said.

During the call with Jewish leaders, McCain and his friend, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), also tried to reassure Jewish voters about running mate Sarah Palin, whose association with the Wasilla Bible Church has worried some Jews. Lieberman said that Palin holds some views on social issues that he does not agree with -- but that she is "respectful" of different views.

McCain cited Palin's background as a mayor and a governor in Alaska when asked directly whether she is qualified to be president: "How in the world would someone think she is not qualified when she has this wealth of experience and background at a relatively early age?"

-- Michael Abramowitz

'A LINE THAT WE DON'T CROSS'