The back-and-forth over Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama's support for abortion rights dragged on for a third day, with the Clinton camp mailing a letter to voters yesterday from two dozen pro-choice activists touting Clinton's record.
It was the second Clinton mailer in three days scrutinizing Obama's record on pro-choice legislation. A glossy flier sent out over the weekend said Obama voted "present" instead of "yes" or "no" on anti-abortion legislation in the Illinois state Senate. Yesterday's letter - signed by leaders from state affiliates of Planned Parenthood,, NARAL Pro-Choice, the National Organization of Women and the YWCA - reiterated the criticism.
"The difference between Hillary's repeatedly standing up strong on choice and Obama's unwillingness to vote 'yes' or 'no' is a clear contrast, and we believe the voters in New Hampshire deserve to know the difference," the letter said. "We support Hillary Clinton because she never ducked when choice was at stake."
Obama spokesman Reid Cherlin said the accusations were false and had backfired in Iowa. Obama launched an automated phone message from a Planned Parenthood official defending his support for abortion rights Sunday. But the Clinton campaign claimed the Obama campaign violated state election laws because it had called people on the federal-do-not-call registry and failed to identify the sponsor of the calls within 30 seconds.
The Obama campaign said the calls adhered to federal election laws.
With only a few hours left to compete for votes in New Hampshire, negative tactics popped up in other campaigns yesterday, too.
• The Romney campaign said dozens of supporters received calls yesterday that claimed to be from the Log Cabin Republicans, a group that supports gay rights, who said they were endorsing Romney because of his support for same-sex marriage and the right of gay people to join the Boy Scouts of America.
A Romney spokesman said the calls were "completely false," and the president of the Log Cabin Republicans said the group had not endorsed Romney. In fact, it has run television and radio ads in Iowa and New Hampshire criticizing Romney's record on gay rights.
"It's clear that Mitt Romney's a phony, and I think a lot of people understand that," said Patrick Sammon, president of the Log Cabin Republicans.
Sheila Avery, a voter from Goffstown who said she is leaning toward Romney, said a caller told her he was from Log Cabin Republicans. When she questioned him about the endorsement and asked for the group's website, the caller hung up. Avery said when she called the number back, she got a generic voicemail message for a cell phone.
• Politico's Jonathan Martin reported that anti-Romney fliers were dropped on cars at St. Joseph's Cathedral in Manchester during Sunday Mass.
The flier gives a side-by-side comparison of Romney and McCain, and says, "John McCain is the best choice for Catholics in 2008!" It accuses Romney of having a mixed record on abortion, supporting taxpayer funding for abortion, supporting measures to force the Boy Scouts to allow gay Scout leaders and distancing himself from Ronald Reagan. It also says McCain has a better chance of winning the general election.
The flier said it was "prepared by a concerned citizen."
The McCain campaign denied having anything to do with the fliers.
Romney spokesman Craig Stevens said Romney "shares the values of faith-based people and social conservatives all over the Granite State."
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