WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- Republican presidential nominee John McCain is at odds with some advisers over whether to attack Democrat Barack Obama over his former pastor, sources say.
Politico reported Wednesday that Sarah Palin, McCain's running mate, and others in the campaign say they should attack Obama on his association with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. McCain, however, says that tactic could appear desperate and racially motivated.
"Wright is off the table," one top campaign official was quoted by Politico as saying. "It's all McCain. He won't go there. His advisers would have gone there."
Obama was a member of Wright's church for about 20 years.
"He was a central figure in Obama's life, shaping Obama's thinking, and he made the extreme radical comments that are borderline anti-American," the campaign official said.
But McCain will not allow a Wright attack, campaign sources said.
"There's a slippery slope in politics on the racial divide, and Senator McCain made it very clear early on that he did not want to get into that area," a top Republican official said. "I don't want to be known as a racist, and McCain doesn't want to be known as a racist candidate."
