McCain: Release Obama-Khalidi tape

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin accused the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday of protecting Barack Obama by withholding a videotape of the Democrat attending a 2003 party for a Palestinian-American professor and critic of Israel.

The paper said it had written about the event in April and would not release the tape because of a promise to the source who provided it.

McCain and Palin called Rashid Khalidi a former spokesman for the Palestine Liberation Organization, a characterization Khalidi has denied. Both candidates said guests at the party made critical comments about Israel.

Khalidi is a professor of Middle East Studies at Columbia University and a longtime friend of Obama's. Khalidi has publicly criticized Israel, but he and Obama have both said they hold different opinions on Israeli issues.

McCain also has ties to Khalidi through a group Khalidi helped found 15 years ago. The Center for Palestine Research and Studies received at least $448,000 from an organization McCain chairs.

On Wednesday, McCain said 1960s radical Bill Ayers had attended the same party in 2003. McCain and Palin have criticized Obama for his ties to Ayers and questioned what the videotape of the party might show.

"Among other things, Israel was described there as the perpetrator of terrorism rather than the victim," Palin said at a rally in Ohio. "What we don't know is how Barack Obama responded to these slurs on a country that he professes to support." In a story published in April, the Times said Obama spoke out at the event on the need for common ground on the Israel-Palestinian issue. Obama has said during the campaign that his commitment to Israel's security is "nonnegotiable."

"More than six months ago the Los Angeles Times published a detailed account of the events shown on the videotape," Jamie Gold, the newspaper's reader's representative, said. "The Times is not suppressing anything. Just the opposite — the L.A. Times brought the matter to light."

"If there was a tape of John McCain in a neo-Nazi outfit, I think the treatment of the issue would be slightly different," McCain said in an interview with Hispanic radio stations. Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor dismissed the complaints as a "recycled, manufactured controversy" meant to distract voters.

"Barack Obama has been clear and consistent on his support for Israel, and has been clear that Rashid Khalidi is not an adviser to him or his campaign and that he does not share Khalidi's views," Vietor said.

Complaint targets Palin family travel

ANCHORAGE — A new ethics complaint against Sarah Palin accuses the Alaska governor of charging the state when her children traveled with her.

The complaint released Wednesday claims that the Republican vice-presidential nominee used her official position as governor for personal gain.

Frank Gwartney, a retired electrical power lineman from Anchorage, filed the complaint with the attorney general Friday.

It was reported this month that Palin charged the state more than $21,000 for her three daughters' commercial flights since she became governor in December 2006.

She later ordered changes to travel forms to specify official business on the trips.

The complaint says Palin charged the travel costs for events her children were not invited to and where they served no legitimate state business.

Earlier this month, a legislative report found Palin violated state ethics laws when she fired her public-safety commissioner.

Also

University of Kentucky authorities were investigating Wednesday who hanged an effigy of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama from a tree on campus. A spokesman said the effigy was found Wednesday, and police immediately took it down.

Seattle Times news services