GOP leaders urge McCain to attack Obama

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- Some U.S. Republican Party officials are urging presidential nominee John McCain to step negative attacks on his Democratic opponent Barack Obama.

With recent polls showing McCain, a U.S. senator from Arizona, losing ground to Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois in at least eight key battleground states, some state GOP chairmen say McCain should put relentless focus on Obama's relationships with controversial figures, the Washington Web site Politico reported Wednesday.

They hope McCain can shift the voters' focus from bad economic news -- which polls indicate Republicans are receiving most of the blame for -- back onto Obama's fitness as a person and a leader, Politico said.

Indiana Republican Party Chairman Murray Clark said he wants Obama's "troubling relationships" to be aired, adding, "I think those things will come up in Indiana again and they do have an impact on mainstream voters in Indiana."

Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Robin Smith told Politico he's urging the McCain campaign play up Obama's connections to his controversial former Chicago pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and to convicted Illinois state government influence peddler Antoin "Tony" Rezko.