No Negative Campaign Ads on Sept. llth
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Obama, McCain to Pull Attack Ads on Sept. 11th Anniversary
August 19, 2008 11:59 PM
ABC News' Jennifer Parker reports: A 9/11 victims' advocacy group is urging 2008 presidential candidates Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to observe a "campaign moratorium" on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
MyGoodDeed.org, a nonprofit group trying to establish Sept. 11 as a national day of voluntary service, wrote to both campaigns Tuesday asking them to halt partisan campaign activities, including negative ads.
"The campaign appears to be getting more negative and I think that we were concerned that that might begin to carry over right into 9/11," David Paine, MyGoodDeed.org co-founder and president told ABCNews.com.
"What we want the presidential candidates to do is put aside their differences of opinion for the day, dispense with their normal campaign activities and, instead, spend the day, along with their staffs, if possible, engaging in their own personal expressions of community service and just to reach out and speak to people about the importance of national service," said Paine, who created the group in 2002 to honor an emergency medical technician friend who died when the World Trade Center south tower collapsed.
The Obama campaign told ABCNews.com they will not be running any negative ads attacking McCain on Sept. 11. The McCain campaign said they will pull all of their campaign ads altogether.
"We won�t be running ads on 9/11," McCain spokesman Brian Rogers told ABCNews.com. "It�s a day for remembrance and unity, not political campaigning."
"We hope Sept. 11 is a day when Americans come together and reaffirm our resolve to address our common challenges together," Obama spokesman Hari Sevugan told ABCNews.com.
Both candidates have been invited to speak at Service Nation Summit in New York on Sept. 11, where political and business leaders will meet to discuss how to boost volunteerism in the US.
New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are also scheduled to attend the forum, which is co-chaired by Obama supporter Caroline Kennedy.
While McCain has agreed to speak at the summit, Obama hasn't confirmed whether or not he will attend.
"We feel, and have always felt, that 9/11 is really a sacred day," said Paine, whose group is helping to organize the Service Nation Summit.
"Our big concern is really how will 9/11 be remembered and will there ultimately be something good that comes out of it after all the tragedy that happened on that day?"
August 19, 2008 11:59 PM
ABC News' Jennifer Parker reports: A 9/11 victims' advocacy group is urging 2008 presidential candidates Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to observe a "campaign moratorium" on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
MyGoodDeed.org, a nonprofit group trying to establish Sept. 11 as a national day of voluntary service, wrote to both campaigns Tuesday asking them to halt partisan campaign activities, including negative ads.
"The campaign appears to be getting more negative and I think that we were concerned that that might begin to carry over right into 9/11," David Paine, MyGoodDeed.org co-founder and president told ABCNews.com.
"What we want the presidential candidates to do is put aside their differences of opinion for the day, dispense with their normal campaign activities and, instead, spend the day, along with their staffs, if possible, engaging in their own personal expressions of community service and just to reach out and speak to people about the importance of national service," said Paine, who created the group in 2002 to honor an emergency medical technician friend who died when the World Trade Center south tower collapsed.
The Obama campaign told ABCNews.com they will not be running any negative ads attacking McCain on Sept. 11. The McCain campaign said they will pull all of their campaign ads altogether.
"We won�t be running ads on 9/11," McCain spokesman Brian Rogers told ABCNews.com. "It�s a day for remembrance and unity, not political campaigning."
"We hope Sept. 11 is a day when Americans come together and reaffirm our resolve to address our common challenges together," Obama spokesman Hari Sevugan told ABCNews.com.
Both candidates have been invited to speak at Service Nation Summit in New York on Sept. 11, where political and business leaders will meet to discuss how to boost volunteerism in the US.
New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are also scheduled to attend the forum, which is co-chaired by Obama supporter Caroline Kennedy.
While McCain has agreed to speak at the summit, Obama hasn't confirmed whether or not he will attend.
"We feel, and have always felt, that 9/11 is really a sacred day," said Paine, whose group is helping to organize the Service Nation Summit.
"Our big concern is really how will 9/11 be remembered and will there ultimately be something good that comes out of it after all the tragedy that happened on that day?"
