North Carolina Ad Will Still Run, Confusion Reigns in State GOP

Despite significant internal and external objections, the North Carolina GOP still plans to run a controversial ad next week that includes the comments of Jeremiah Wright. Both John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, and Mike Duncan, the national party chairman, have called for the ad to be pulled.

On Thursday afternoon, a McCain aide was informed incorrectly that Linda Daves, the North Carolina state party chair, had finally decided to pull the ad, an error that was passed on to reporters, and posted here at Swampland and on The Page.

The information came to the McCain camp in an email from North Carolina national committeewoman Linda Shaw to McCain adviser Charlie Black. "Just a little miscommunication went down," explains Brent Woodcox, a spokesman for the state party.

In an email to TIME, Shaw explained the confusing sequence of events Thursday:

I received an email that our National Committeeman David Lewis sent out and he said he had talked with the Executive Director Chris McClure this morning and was told the ad had been pulled. After I reported this to Charlie Black and to Mike Duncan (RNC) I received a telephone call from Linda Daves wanting to know who told me. To make a long story short, she said that was not true and the ad will not be pulled. I then told Linda she needed to contact Mike Duncan and Senator McCain immediately to let them know. Mike Duncan sent me an email within ten minutes saying he had received a call from Linda. I also received an email David Lewis sent out and he said he must have misunderstood Chris McClure this morning.

I sent Linda Daves a letter this afternoon with a copy to our attorney saying I did not support the ad and felt she needed to run this by our Central and Executive Committee for approval. I haven't heard back from her.

Woodcox said he believes Shaw has the sequence of events right.