Official calls anti-Obama remarks ‘inappropriate’

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (AP) — Racial remarks about Barack Obama made by supporters of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin were inappropriate, a county Republican chairman said Monday.

The comments recorded by Middle East network Al-Jazeera and posted on YouTube.com were from a Palin rally in St. Clairsville two weeks ago.

Several of the comments, including how Obama thinks “white people are trash,” mirror inaccurate statements that are popular in viral e-mail messages that smear Obama on the Internet.

“I’m afraid if he wins, the black will take over. ... He’s not a Christian. This is a Christian nation,” one woman on the recording said. “What is our country gonna end up like?”

Obama is Christian.

Another voter said Obama was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

A third voter told the English-language channel: “Obama and his wife, I’m concerned that they could be anti-white.”

Belmont County GOP Chairman Kent Moore said the remarks might have been taken out of context and it’s not clear what questions were asked. Even so, he said such talk is not helpful.

“We obviously do not support or condone any of the inappropriate comments contained in this video,” Kent Moore said.

“The overwhelming majority of supporters at this rally were there because they feel that John McCain and Sarah Palin have the character, judgment and experience to lead this country, and ultimately, those are the issues voters will focus on as we get closer to Election Day.”