Labor group calls on McCain to denounce supporters

The AFL-CIO said Friday afternoon the GOP presidential ticket should object to the heated rhetoric Republican supporters have been using in attacks on rival nominee Sen. Barack Obama.

Crowds at Republican rallies have reportedly shouted "terrorist" and "kill him” when it comes to the Illinois Democrat.

{mosads}John Sweeney, president of the labor group, which has endorsed Obama, referenced those reports, adding that Republican nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and running mate Sarah Palin "have a fundamental, moral responsibility to denounce the violent rhetoric."

"John McCain, Sarah Palin and Republican leaders are walking a very thin line in pretending not to hear the hateful invectives spewed at their rallies," Sweeney said. "McCain should end this line of attack in the strongest possible terms.  Anything less puts McCain in the same camp as the racists and extremists who are bringing their angry rhetoric to his campaign events. "

The AFL-CIO has long been a supporter of Democratic candidates.

Obama, at a campaign stop in Ohio Friday, accused McCain of using fear tactics to try and distract voters from the ongoing financial crisis, a crisis that has led to significant polling leads for Obama in recent days.

"Nothing’s easier than riling up a crowd by stoking anger and division," Obama said, according to reports.

But the McCain campaign fired back that Obama is only insulting McCain supporters and trying to change the subject away from the GOP's recently focused campaign of drawing attention to Obama's past association with 1960s domestic terrorist William Ayers.

“Barack Obama’s attacks on Americans who support John McCain reveal far more about him than they do about John McCain," McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said in a statement. "It is clear that Barack Obama just doesn’t understand regular people and the issues they care about. He dismisses hardworking middle-class Americans as clinging to guns and religion, while at the same time attacking average Americans at McCain rallies who are angry at Washington, Wall Street and the status quo.

Rogers said that Obama is attacking “anyone who dares to question his readiness to serve as their commander in chief in chief."

"Raising legitimate questions about record, character and judgment are a vital part of the Democratic process, and Barack Obama’s effort to silence and shame those who seek answers should make everyone wonder exactly what he is hiding,” Rogers said.