RoadsEnd
Thu, 21 Jan 1999 10:31:33 -0500
RNC Chair Wary of Right-Wing Group WASHINGTON (AP) -- The head of the Republican National Committee wants his fellow party members to quit the Council of Conservative Citizens because ``it appears that this group does hold racist views.'' ``A member of the party of (Abraham) Lincoln should not belong to such an organization,'' GOP Chairman Jim Nicholson said in a statement released Tuesday. Nicholson also appealed directly to Buddy Witherspoon, one of the party's national committee members from South Carolina, to resign from the council. Witherspoon, an orthodontist from Columbia, told Nicholson he would do nothing of the sort. He insisted the council's South Carolina chapter holds no racist views, but is simply an advocate for conservative causes, especially the right to display the Confederate flag in the South. ``Never have I heard anything said about race in any way, shape or form,'' Witherspoon said in an interview. The St. Louis-based council has caused the RNC grief recently because of reports that both Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., and Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., spoke at council meetings. Barr and Lott have said they were not aware of the council's racist positions. Barr said last month he disagreed ``with many of this group's ridiculous views.'' Last week, Lott also distanced himself from the group. The council's Web site includes numerous articles suggesting that the white race is under siege. On Tuesday, visitors were urged to forget ``petty pretenders'' such as Martin Luther King Jr. and celebrate the birthday of ``the greatest American who ever lived'' -- General Robert E. Lee, leader of Confederate forces during the Civil War. ``There is no room for racist views in the Republican Party,'' said Nicholson. ``I never heard of the CCC until a few days ago, but it appears that this group does hold racist views. The Republican Party rejects and condemns such views forcefully and without hesitation or equivocation.'' The issue is likely to come up at this week's RNC's winter meeting. At the meeting, Witherspoon is also planning to propose a resolution that would require the GOP to stop taking donations from gambling interests, and require that party donations be withheld from any candidate who supports legalized gambling. Common Cause, a government finance watchdog, reports that from 1988 to 1998, the gambling industry made $7.2 million in so-called soft money donations to the GOP, versus $6.3 million to the Democratic Party. The video poker lobby also played an instrumental role this fall in defeating South Carolina Gov. David Beasley, a Republican who opposed creating a state lottery. Witherspoon said he supported Beasley.