Planning To Run Wright Ad, N.C. GOP Asks for Donations

The North Carolina Republican Party is going ahead with its plan to run an ad linking two Democratic gubernatorial candidates to Barack Obama and his former pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

If it runs, it will be against the wishes of the Republican National Committee and John McCain, whose presidential campaign has asked the state party not to run the ad.”We have a great relation with the RNC and we fully support John McCain for president,” state party spokesman Brent Woodcox told CBS News. “But this is an ad about two North Carolina candidates for governor. The ad is going to run.”

To help pay for airing the spot, the party is now asking for donations on its Web site.

The advertisement features photos of Lt. Gov. Bev Purdue and State Treasurer Richard Moore with Obama and a video of Wright’s “God damn America” remark. The narrator in the ad criticizes Purdue and Moore for endorsing Obama and says that Obama and Wright are “too extreme.”

Obama, when asked by reporters about the ad Wednesday, said that he knew that both McCain and the Republican National Committee had called for the ad not to run.

“I take them at their word, and I assume that if John McCain thinks that it’s an inappropriate ad, that he can get them to pull it down since he’s their nominee and standard-bearer,” Obama said.