McCain's South Carolina co-chairman resigns

By JENNIFER HOLLAND

COLUMBIA, S.C. (February 28, 2000 6:50 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - Saying he wants no part of the attacks on Bob Jones University that Sen. John W. McCain and rival George W. Bush are lobbing at each other, the South Carolina co-chairman of McCain's Republican presidential campaign has resigned,

"They're growing into a national media vendetta that I cannot associate my name to," state House Speaker Pro Tem Terry Haskins, a Bob Jones alumnus, said Monday.

A crowd of 6,000 gave Bush a standing ovation when he spoke at the Christian school a day after he lost the New Hampshire primary to the Arizona senator. Bush went on to win the Feb. 19 South Carolina primary with strong help from Christian conservatives.

He has been heavily criticized for the Feb. 2 visit to Bob Jones, however, and McCain has portrayed the Texas governor as a captive of religious conservatives and anti-Catholic for speaking at a school whose leaders have criticized the Pope and called the Catholic church a "Satanic cult."

On Friday, Bush wrote Cardinal John O'Connor of New York, leader of the archdiocese's 2.4 million Roman Catholics, saying he regretted "causing needless offense" by making the campaign appearance at Bob Jones.

The school also has a ban on interracial dating or marriage on campus and lost its tax exemption in 1970 because the Internal Revenue Service said it discriminated on the basis of race.

Haskins, who attended the school on Greenville's east side from 1972-78, said the attacks were vicious and unjustified.

"People at Bob Jones are not racist and they don't hate Catholics," Haskins said.

"No doubt Bob Jones University holds religious beliefs that are outside the mainstream and unpopular. But the public lynching of this college has created an environment with threatens the freedom for any individual or group in America to hold unpopular religious beliefs," he said.

A resolution by U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., to condemn Bob Jones University is a threat to religious freedom, Haskins said.

"The prospect of denouncing any religious belief is extremely dangerous," Haskins said.

Bob Jones spokesman Jonathan Pait sent word through a secretary that neither he nor any of the school's officials would any longer comment on the issue.

U.S. Rep. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and one of McCain's chief backers in the state, dismissed Torricelli's resolution merely as a political jab at Republicans.

"This resolution is nothing more than partisan political grandstanding. Even though I disagree with some of the policies and views expressed by BJU, religious freedom in American allow for such views to be held and legislative condemnation can have a very chilling effect on religious liberties," Graham said.

Graham, who received an honorary degree from Bob Jones last year, said he disagreed with the school's policy against interracial dating.