A campaign truce — for the most part

Up and down the ticket, Republican and Democratic campaigns are coming to a screeching halt Thursday in observance of the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks just as the political season is reaching a new level of intensity and negativity following the two parties’ conventions.

Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain have pledged to refrain from advertising and campaigning, and the two men will come together at Ground Zero in New York City to commemorate the anniversary.

{mosads}Officials at the Democratic and Republican National Committees also said they would be going dark, refraining from advertising, though it is still possible that behind-the-scenes political battles could be waged; there have been no promises made that either side will call a truce in the seemingly endless press release war.

Obama’s campaign last month hastily canceled a fundraiser the Illinois senator had planned for the day in Washington, and the campaigns appear willing to let their guns go relatively silent on a day when few voters would tolerate electioneering at any level.

At least some state-level Obama staff in Massachusetts and at least one McCain enthusiast in Maryland, however, didn’t get the message, as they planned meetings on a day when everyone else seemed to be calling a time-out.

The Obama meeting, set for Thursday night at Western New England College, was to be attended by Obama’s Massachusetts state director and the chairman of the state Democratic Party, according to an e-mail from state field director Sarah Compton. The Obama campaign confirmed the meeting.

The campaigns’ uneasy truce comes as the election has hit a fever pitch this week, with the McCain campaign unloading on Obama for what it says are sexist attacks against McCain’s running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

With less than two months to go until the election, both campaigns are moving at full speed, but the candidates put out a rare joint statement over the weekend making it clear that they don’t see Sept. 11 as a day appropriate for politics.

{mospagebreak}“All of us came together on 9/11 — not as Democrats or Republicans — but as Americans,” McCain and Obama said in the statement. “In smoke-filled corridors and on the steps of the Capitol; at blood banks and at vigils — we were united as one American family. On Thursday, we will put aside politics and come together to renew that unity, to honor the memory of each and every American who died, and to grieve with the families and friends who lost loved ones. We will also give thanks for the firefighters, police, and emergency responders who set a heroic example of selfless service, and for the men and women who serve today in defense of the freedom and security that came under attack in New York City, at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pa.”

Campaign officials declined to say whether either candidate would speak at the commemoration.

The decision to go dark was reached by almost every candidate for every national office.
Kate Bedingfield, a spokeswoman for Senate candidate and former New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen (D), said the campaign would suspend advertising, not hold any fundraisers and the candidate would have no public events.

A number of congressional challengers pre-emptively sent out press releases to reporters to inform them that the candidates would disappear from the campaign trail for the day.

{mosads}“Thursday is a day for remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice on that terrible day,” Chris Gorman, a Republican congressional candidate in Louisiana, said in a statement. “Our campaign will join Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin in removing our paid television advertising from the airwaves on this day.”

And on the Hill, congressional leaders of both parties are joining together to commemorate the day.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and House Republican Leader John Boehner (Ohio) were planning to gather on the West Front Steps of the Capitol “to honor those who lost their lives and heroically saved others in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.”

President Bush and first lady Laura Bush are scheduled to have a moment of silence on the South Lawn of the White House at 8:46 a.m., and later Bush is planning to attend the dedication of a Sept. 11 memorial at the Pentagon.

Even some outside groups were going dark. The conservative group Freedom’s Watch announced an ad buy earlier this week, noting that it would not run on Thursday but could be seen again on Friday.