he South Carolina primary is history, but the religious antagonisms stirred up by the bitter contest just won't go away.
George W. Bush's campaign yesterday launched an attack on John McCain for allegedly making phone calls accusing Bush of anti-Catholic sentiment.
After initially denying knowledge of the phone calls, the McCain camp admitted to them but insisted that nothing in the calls accused Bush of being anti-Catholic.
''Our campaign was making phone calls to point out that George Bush made a speech at Bob Jones University and did not have the courage to condemn those associated with the university for their anti-Catholic statements,'' said Todd Harris, a spokesman for McCain. Harris added that campaign press secretary Howard Opinsky had been asked about the calls and ''in fact, he was not aware that calls were being made by our staff.''
A transcript of the calls, released by the Bush camp read: ''This is a Catholic voter alert. Governor George Bush has campaigned against Senator John McCain by seeking the support of southern fundamentalists who have expressed anti-Catholic views. ... Bob Jones has made strong anti-Catholic statements, including calling the pope the antichrist and the Catholic Church a satanic cult. John McCain, a prolife senator, has strongly criticized this anti-Catholic bigotry, while Governor Bush has stayed silent.''
Said Harris: ''I defy anyone to find one word in this that is not true. I find it curious that the Bush campaign would chose to highlight ... one of the most shameful events of their campaign.''
